JAMES EDWIN WESTENBERGER
James Edwin Westenberger of Palo Alto, CA went to Heaven on August 10, 2006 at age 69. He passed away peacefully at the Washoe Medical Center in Reno, NV following cardiac arrest and a deep coma suffered in Lake Tahoe on August 2, 2006.
James Edwin Westenberger was born on September 13, 1936 in Hanover, PA to Luke and Dorothy Westenberger who are resting at the Lutheran Church Cemetery in Bellegrove, PA.
James Westenberger graduated from Stanford University in the class of 1958. He joined the United States Army in April of 1960. Jim retired as a Major in 1980 at Fort Ord, CA. Jim was a veteran of Viet Nam and served in Hawaii, Thailand, Germany, Korea, Maryland and California.
Following military retirement in 1980 Jim founded the High Energy Battery Corporation of Santa Clara along with Adrian Zolla PHD. Jim was an active member of Peninsula Bible Church and had been a Sunday School Teacher in Palo Alto since 1973.
Jim was a lifetime member of the Antique Automobile Club of America, and was also a member of the Lincoln Zephyr Club and he spent many happy hours working on his early thirties Lincoln classic automobiles and driving them across the country to Lincoln shows which gave him much pleasure and enjoyment.
He was devoted to his family giving them all much love and attention. Jim always enjoyed telling his grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and many other children imaginative stories and teaching and playing games with them.
Survivors include his wife Gretta Elizabeth of Palo Alto; brother David Westenberger and sister Susan Strasser of Williamsburg, VA; His children are Yvonne Feather, Jeanine Young and her husband Steven of Cupertino and James Adam Westenberger; Jim’s grandchildren are Andrea Britt and her husband Jameson of West Linn, OR, Ruby and Skylar Feather, Tyler, Justine, Ian and Cole Young; and Jim’s great grandchildren are Gabriel, Trevor, Zachariah and Liliauna Britt, and Damian and Felicia Feather.
A memorial service will be held at Peninsula Bible Church at 3505 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA at 5:00pm on Thursday, August 24th, 2006. Please, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Veterans Hospital of Palo Alto, CA.
HERMINE (JUDY) GRAHAM
Hermine (Judy) Graham, who for years was an outstanding English teacher at Mountain View High School, passed away on July 18, 2006. She was 92.
Born in Bellingham, Washington on December 12, 1913, Judy moved to Oregon with her family when she was in elementary school. After completing high school, she earned an A.B. and an M.A. in English at the University of Oregon and began teaching in Oregon, where she met Bruce Graham. They were married in June of 1937 and remained together until he died in May of 2002, just before their 65th anniversary. They remained in Oregon while Bruce earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry, after which they moved to Rochester, New York, where Bruce worked at Eastman Kodak. Their 5 children were born during their years in Oregon and New York. In 1952, they moved to Los Altos when Bruce accepted a position at Stanford Research Institute.
Judy returned to teaching in 1957, when she joined the English Department at old Mountain View High School. She later became head of the English Department, and was named Teacher of the Year for the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District. Outside the classroom Judy particularly enjoyed both acting in and directing student and faculty plays and musicals. She retired from classroom teaching in 1982, but continued to tutor students and grade papers for many years thereafter. Even after becoming a patient at a rest home at 90, she often helped employees of the home who were taking English classes. Judy was a teacher to the end.
Judy was also a wonderful mom and a great friend who could be counted on for kind words and good advice. She is survived by her five children and their spouses, Bruce Graham and wife Bonnie of Portland, Oregon, Kim Graham and wife Sue of Mountain View, Paul Graham and wife Kathy of Salem, Oregon, Alan Graham and wife Frederique of Lixhausen, France, and Janice Riley and husband Bill of Vashon, Washington. She is also survived by thirteen grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
There will be a celebration of life for Judy in Los Altos in the fall. The family will announce the location, date and time. The family will also announce plans to set up a scholarship fund in memory of Judy.
