Betty Jean Walker passed away peacefully at her residence at Merrill Gardens, San Jose on Thursday, May 2, 2013, she was 85. She died of natural causes after a two year decline from Alzheimer’s.

Betty had worked for over 40 years with her husband Hal, at the roofing company they began, Cardinal Roofing, in Mt. View. She did volunteer work as a “pink lady” at El Camino Hospital in Mt. View for many years and was an active member at Wesley United Methodist Church for over 60 years. Betty played tennis into her eighties, competing in local seniors tournaments. She and her sister-in-law, Jackie Holbein travelled and teamed up in tennis games together for the past 10 years.

Douglas Stewart McCandless, son of Lenora (Lee) Donnel, died the day after his 51st birthday in Branson, MO. He had lived there the past four years to be near his two daughters, Heather and Brittany, and stepdaughter, Lisa.

He enjoyed being “grandpa” to his grandchildren; Zachary (8 yrs), Evan (3 yrs), Aubree (3 ½ yrs), and step grandchildren, Austin and Emily Beth.

Marguerite “Marge” Louise Hordness passed away on Feb. 17, 2013, at the age of 95. She was born in Los Angeles on Sept. 23, 1917, to Blanche A. and Isaac R. Wilson. She resided in Davis since 2002.

Marguerite enjoyed gardening, music, playing bridge, needlework and golfing and was very proud of her hole-in-one. She was a member of PEO Chapter WJ and the Embroiderers’ Guild of America as well as an active member in the Episcopal Church in Los Altos and Morgan Hill.

April 19, 1984 – April 6, 2013

March 6, 1915 - April 21, 2013

1958 – 2013

September 24, 1933 - April 25, 2013

Long time resident of Los Altos Hills, Rena Bower Young passed away peacefully at the age of 85 on April 27, 2013. She was born on July 18, 1927 to Goldie and Chester Bower in New Oxford, PA, and grew up there with her older sister, Arlene, and brother, Edgar. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania nursing school in 1948, she followed her sister west to Santa Maria, CA, where she worked as a nurse. It was at a St. Patrick’s Day dance that she had her first date with William (Bill) Young, who was in Santa Maria finishing up his aeronautical engineering degree from USC. They were married in July 1949 and moved to Redwood City in 1950.

Their five children – Tobey, David, Valerie, Jeff, and Jim – were born from 1950 to 1956, and in 1961 the family moved to the home they designed and everyone helped build in Los Altos Hills. Rena’s husband of 63 years survives her, as do her children, their spouses, nine grandchildren and five great grandchildren, and her sister Arlene Rutherford of Santa Maria and her family.

October 12, 1930 to March 26, 2013

Dorothea Louise (Gray) Deitchman, 91, recently of Bernardsville, NJ, passed away peacefully on March 8 at the Bridgeway Care Center.

Born on April 23, 1921 in Kenosha, WI, she was the daughter of the late Charles and Camilla (Kulik) Gray. She graduated from the Felt - Terrent Business College in Milwaukee, before moving to San Francisco in 1943, where she worked as an auditor for the IRS. She was also a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Interior Design in Newport, RI. After living in multiple locations around the United States, she and her husband were 44 year residents of Los Altos, CA. She was a loving wife, mother, and homemaker. She enjoyed music, and had a wonderful singing voice. She also enjoyed gardening, joining with her husband in caring for their beautiful orchids.

June 23, 1917 – April 15, 2013

June 4, 1920 to April 3, 2013

Beverly Jane Brown died peacefully and full of gratitude, after a brief illness, in her Los Altos home on November 15th, 2012. She was 86.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Herbert and Ida Sack of Piedmont, California, and by her husband of 52 years, Gordon Alfred Brown. She is survived by her 3 children and 1 grandson: Marta Lyn Fowler of San Diego; Gregory Richards Brown of Kentfield; Hilary Anne Brown of Utrecht, The Netherlands; and grandson Nicolas Gordon Brown of San Anselmo.

1925-2012

From the Orchard to the Sea.....

Eleanor Anne Gropper passed away November 3rd, succumbing to an especially aggressive form of Lymphoma. At the time of her death, she had been in the care of doctors at Stanford Hospital for less than a week. She was 76 years old.

Eleanor was born August 1, 1936 in Philadelphia, Mississippi to William and Eleanor Buckwalter. Along with her only sibling, Sandra, she was raised in Pacific Palisades. Eleanor graduated from Stanford University in 1958 with a degree in French. That same year, she married Lee Gropper. The couple raised two sons in Los Altos Hills. While they eventually divorced, she never remarried.