Obituaries

Age 76 Los Altos, California Died February 28, 2019, unexpectedly of heart failure Born September 23, 1942, in Tampa, Florida, to Marcus Henry Cohen, Sr., and Gretchen Geiger Cohen Married to Doreen van Assenderp Cohen Dec. 28, 1970. Resident of Los Altos CA since 1971. Received his BS in Electrical Engineering from MIT in 1964, MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford in 1966, and MBA from Santa Clara University in 1975 Marc began his career in Space Communications at Watkins-Johnson in 1966 where he and his team developed and produced amplifiers and transmitters used for guidance and telemetry systems in the Saturn V rocket, which in 1969 propelled the Apollo 11 manned spacecraft destined to be the first mission to land astronauts on the Moon and the first successful Mars lander, Viking 1 and other deep space probes.

May 3, 1924 – March 2, 2019 Resident of Los Altos Rhona passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her family. Beloved wife of John Gilkey for 63 years. Loving mother of Leigh Joyce Gilkey and Jann Lisa Gilkey. Grandmother of Allyson Gilkey and Malcolm Myles, and sister of Joyce Smith and her family. Rhona was a loving and devoted wife and mother. Born in British Columbia she came to the states in the 1950’s and met the love of her life a fellow teacher at Edison High School in Stockton. She loved singing, antiquing and taking walks in the beautiful outdoors. She loved her family and will never be forgotten. May she continue singing up in heaven. A funeral mass was held March 8 at St. Simon Church, Los Altos. Interment was at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Los Altos.

Whit Newton passed away at Stanford Hospital on Wednesday, February 27, 2019, surrounded by his large and loving family, who had watched him face his declining health with his trademark buoyancy and strength. He was and is incredibly loved by his wife, Marcia, his four children and their families including his nine grandchildren, and all the many other people (and animals) he nurtured and loved throughout his interesting and exuberant life. Whit was born and raised in Honolulu and graduated from Punahou School. He also lived in the Philippines, Guam and Hong Kong, moving to “the mainland” for college. He attended Oregon State and then University of California, Berkeley, where he met his wife Marcia. They lived in Hong Kong for 16 years, where Whit, his brother, John and his father, Robert founded the company American Marine, Ltd., which became best known for Grand Banks yachts.

It is with great sadness that the family of Patricia (Patty) J. O’Keefe announces her passing on March 1, 2019 at home in Mountain View. She was born on April 20, 1929 in Flagstaff, Arizona. She attended Nativity School, Flagstaff High School and graduated from the University of Arizona in 1950. In college, she was a Gamma Phi Beta sorority member, Phi Beta Kappa society member and captain of the golf team. She married fellow University of Arizona graduate John C. O’Keefe and they moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. Together they raised three daughters, Maureen, Marcy and Kelley. Patty was greatly loved by family and friends alike who appreciated her zest for life, her wisdom, strong convictions, and the energy with which she undertook all her pursuits. After raising the girls she became a docent for the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford, especially enjoying leading guided tours of the Rodin Sculpture Garden.