Joan Bruce
Memorial services will be held Friday, June 20, for Joan Bruce, a gifted teacher who devoted her 40-year career to thousands of students in the Palo Alto Unified District and overseas. Ms. Bruce died June 3 at Stanford University Hospital after a short illness.
Ms. Bruce moved to The Sequoias, the Portola Valley retirement community, after retiring in 1993.
Services are scheduled for 11 a.m. in Christ Episcopal Church, 815 Portola Road in Portola Valley.
Ms. Bruce, who received two Fulbright exchanges, taught in a Maori school in New Zealand, a nursery school in England, and an Indian reservation in Arizona. During her career in the Palo Alto district, she taught at Ross Road, Walter Hays and Escondido elementary schools.
She was a mentor to many students at San Francisco State University, and also shared her expertise with colleagues and younger teachers.
Ms. Bruce helped her students take responsibility for their own learning and to work together collaboratively with others, expanding their interests, according to parents of her former students.
During summers, Ms. Bruce as a young woman traveled to almost every country in the world including Indonesia, New Zealand and African countries. She enjoyed hiking on the Peninsula, in the Sierra, and in Washington and Switzerland.
Ms. Bruce was born Oct. 22, 1928, in Long Beach. She graduated from Occidental College in 1951 and received a master’s degree in education from Stanford University in 1965.
Memorial gifts may be sent to the Trust for Hidden Villa, Joan Bruce Fund, at Hidden Villa, 26870 Moody Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022.
Patricia Roberts
Patricia Wingate Roberts, founder of the Roberts School, a small preschool and kindergarten in the Willows neighborhood of Menlo Park, died at her home in San Mateo on May 15. She was 89.
In 2001 Ms. Roberts passed management of the school to her daughter, Brenda Roberts, and Elisa Barrett, director for the previous seven years.
Ms. Roberts was born in Chesterfield, South Carolina. She earned a bachelor of arts degree from Lander College in South Caroline. She married Howard N. Roberts in 1938.
After her husband died in 1970 and her children were grown, Ms. Roberts pursued her life-long dream of opening her own school, say family members. At age 57, with a degree in early childhood development from Canada College, she launched and directed the Roberts School.
Ms. Roberts is survived by her daughters, Brenda Roberts and Sandra Carr, and two grandchildren.
Services for Ms. Roberts were held May 19 at San Mateo’s Hope Lutheran Church, followed by a graveside service at Skylawn Memorial Cemetery.
Redwood City attorney sues ‘First Amendment auditors’ after Menlo Park disputeApril 2, 2026 11:31 am
