Obituaries

October 6, 1924 – November 23, 2019 Dr. Bert G. Hickman, Stanford University Professor Emeritus of Economics, loving husband, father and grandfather, passed away peacefully surrounded by family in Palo Alto on November 23, 2019. Dr. Hickman was born in Los Angeles, CA on October 6, 1924 to Bert George Hickman, Sr. and Caroline Elizabeth (Douglas) Hickman. He graduated with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1951. From 1954-1965, he served on President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Council of Economic Advisors and was a member of Senior Staff at the Brookings Institute from 1958-1966. He joined the Department of Economics at Stanford University in 1966 where he served as Department Chairman from 1975-1978. In 1969, Dr. Hickman co-founded and served as Chairman of Project LINK, a continuing international collaborative research group for econometric modelling sponsored by the United Nation’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs. He retired from Stanford in 1996 as Professor Emeritus of Economics.

Adele Van Straaten passed away November 3, 2019 in Cameron Park, CA with her three daughters by her side. She was 90 years of age. Born July 23, 1929 in San Francisco, CA Adele was orphaned as a baby. She was raised by her maternal Grandmother until age 8, when her grandmother passed. Adele then lived with her uncle, George and Anita Carroll. In 1949 she married C.N. “Neil” Van Straaten and moved to Los Altos. They raised their daughters in the house that Neil built for her on Gordon Way. After Neil’s passing in November 2012, she moved to assisted living in Cameron Park, but her heart never left Los Altos. Adele is predeceased by her husband Neil. She is survived by her daughters, Sharon(Kevin) Ellsworth, Sandra Mitro and Linda Mosto. She was “Nanny” to 7 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren. Also survived by her beloved dog, Dutchess. Family services were held at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. From our hearts to God’s arms. We love you Mommy

JoAnne Connelly passed away peacefully at her home in Los Altos on October 21, 2019. She was 75 years old. Born in 1944, she grew up in Joliet, Illinois, and graduated from Joliet Township High School in 1962. She attended Purdue University, graduating with degrees in French and Humanities. After college, she moved to Chicago, working in the nascent computer industry. In 1967 she married her high school sweetheart Thomas G Connelly, and they moved to Tennessee while he pursued post-graduate work at Oak Ridge. They traveled extensively during this period, living briefly in Bermuda and Puerto Rico. By 1970, they settled in Ann Arbor, where Tom taught at the University of Michigan, and JoAnne did freelance work in education, later starting her own small-scale bakery. In 1990, with two teenage sons in tow, they moved to Sunnyvale. JoAnne worked in the Economics department at Stanford, and Tom eventually become the CEO of a company which manufactured scientific instruments. Tom succumbed to Parkinson’s Disease in 2015. Always an avid cyclist and gardener, JoAnne enjoyed the outdoors. As an active member of the Los Altos Garden Club, she loved cultivating and experimenting with different varieties of roses. She is survived by her two sons. Donations in her memory may be made to the Los Altos Garden Club.

Irene L. Brown PhD passed away November 14, 2019, she was 87. Irene was born in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1932 and moved to Los Gatos, California when she was 16. She graduated from Los Gatos High School and subsequently received her BS and MS in Biology from San Jose State University where she met Robert Brown who she married in 1955. She received her PhD in Biology from Stanford in 1971. Irene touched the lives of many in the community and inspired generations of colleagues and students with her scientific knowledge, scrupulous writing and editing, quick wit, warm heart and joy in spending time outdoors. Everyone who knew Irene can recount organisms she identified for us, mysteries she explained, homegrown apples and figs she shared, or life lessons she imparted; most of us can recount all four.  She did all of those things with a chuckle and a twinkle in her eyes.  We knew she was sharing the things she loved, and we were inspired to love them, too. Irene was a profoundly rigorous scientist. 

Harold F. (Hal) Schoenborn,age 92, passed away peacefully among family on Thursday, November 14, 2019. Formerly of Hebron North Dakota he had resided in Los Altos California since 1962. Born on November 8, 1927, in Hensel North Dakota to Mary Anna (Mayme) and William Schoenborn , Harold grew up in Hebron North Dakota and graduated from Hebron high in 1945. After attending the Wahpeton state school of science, He joined the Air Force in 1946 and became a radio operator on the B-17 flying Fortress. Following his service he graduated from Spartan school of Aeronautics, worked as an aircraft mechanic for Frontier Airlines, began as a flight engineer for United Airlines in 1951. He Married Liane Crawford in 1954 and had a 44 year career as a pilot, attaining the rank of Captain, for United Airlines, flying the Convair, DC -6, DC-7, DC-8, DC 10, Boeing 727 and Boeing 747. His hobbies included light airplanes, camping, fishing, river rafting, boating, skiing, SCUBA diving, traveling, handyman(handled all the home repairs), gardening :known for his most amazing tomatoes, and finally his computer.

Grete Santucci (Gullikstad), loving wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, November 16, 2019, at age 62. Preceded in death by her Pappa Magnus Gullikstad, Grete is survived by Joe, her husband of 40 years; children Kristoffer, Monika and Andreas; mother Inger (Solli) Gullikstad, sisters Berit and Anne Marie and their families. Grete was born on Lille Julaften ‘Little Christmas Eve’ December 23,1956, in Sandvika Bærum, Norway. She attended elementary and secondary schools: Evje, Gjettum and Hauger. In 1978 she traveled to New York, and met her future husband on a blind date with friends. Some months later, Grete returned to Oslo to work for a television station. Joe visited a few times and at Christmas gave her a ring. They were married on March 17,1979, in a tiny church built in A.D. 1111 in Tanum, Norway, and returned to New York to start their life together.