Obituaries

December 14, 1923–January 18, 2020 Jere Jeffrey Austin, age 96, passed away on January 18, 2020, in Cupertino. He is survived by his 3 children: Pamela Starkey (Mike), Peggy Austin, and Edward Austin (Denice); 5 grandchildren; and 11 great grandchildren—all residents of California. His wife of 71 years, Jean Anderson Austin, passed away in 2018. Raised on an orange ranch in Exeter, California, Jere left home to serve in the Navy from 1942 to 1946 and earn his degree in mechanical engineering from UC Berkeley. For most of his professional career he worked at Westinghouse Electric Corporation's Marine Division in Sunnyvale. In retirement, Jere continued as an active member of Union Presbyterian Church of Los Altos; volunteered for the El Camino Hospital Auxiliary; and enjoyed the company of buddies from Westinghouse and friends in the Sons in Retirement (SIR) organization, Branch 5.

June 29, 1938- January 22, 2020 Margaret Ann ‘Mardi’ Berkner entered into peace with our creator on January 22, 2020 at Villa Siena Skilled Nursing in Mountain View, California. Mardi was born in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, daughter of Robert F Berkner and Sarah-Cecelia Madden Berkner. Mardi, along with her sister Marian and their four brothers Robert, George, Jim and Tom grew up within a close-knit Irish-German family in the small town of Mahnomen MN. The family-owned Mahnomen Milling Company bought and processed grain grown in the fertile Red River basin of northwest Minnesota producing feed and seed as well as selling fertilizer to farms in the region with its processed bulk grain sold to the larger milling companies.

Mar 31, 1943 – Jan 9, 2020 Longtime Los Altos resident Sidney (Sid) John Everett, age 76, passed away on January 9, 2020 after a five year battle with Lewy body dementia. He is survived by his wife of 32 years, Becky Everett, and his three children (daughter Jennifer (Sean) De Lapp, son Greg (Aimee) Everett, granddaughter Jade Anaya, and daughter Annemarie Everett).  Sid was born in Plainfield, New Jersey to Sidney Ellis Everett and Ann Sangiuliano. He spent his early childhood in Cranford, New Jersey and Sunbury, Pennsylvania before his family relocated to Detroit, Michigan. There he attended Cass Technical High School and graduated in 1961. Sid inherited a fascination with aviation history from his father, who was the superintendent of aircraft maintenance for the General Motors air fleet. Sid grew up listening to stories about the barnstormers of the 1920s and learned about the beginnings of air mail and commercial aviation from pilots and mechanics who were part of it all. This exposure strongly influenced his early educational and professional choices.

Edwin Hale passed away peacefully in Mountain View on January 6, 2020 at the age of 86 after a long illness, from complications of Parkinson’s Disease. Ed was born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois and attended Oak Park River Forest High School. He went on to MIT where he lettered in track (pole vault) and soccer.  After graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, he started his engineering career working on the design and testing of the Mercury and Gemini modules for NASA In St Louis.  He moved to Chicago to work for Liquid Carbonic in research and development of cryogenic technologies in food processing and recycling applications. He was a past president of the American Cryogenic Society and was considered an “icon” in the industry. He was a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) and of the Palo Alto Friends Meeting. He was a pacifist and an advocate for military tax reform.

Josef Gebhard Duller was born on October 11, 1931 in Amtzell, Germany to Josef and Anna Duller. Joe went to his heavenly home on January 3, 2020. He grew up with four beloved siblings: Herma, Bruno, Wilfried, and Artur.    Joe became a cabinet maker and met his late wife of 61 years, Agnes of Rorschach, Switzerland when he worked for her family’s cabinet shop. In 1954, Joe migrated to the United States to start a new life in Los Altos, CA. Agnes soon followed where they married and raised their four children: Peter, Joe, Mark, and Gabriele. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather.    Joe was a man of strong faith with his family being his main priority. He was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed hunting, fishing, and camping. Everyone knew him as a strong and hard-working man, who worked on his 42-acre property well into his 80’s. 

October 26, 1931-January 18, 2020 Al Traficanti passed away after a long and distinguished legal career and a record of outstanding service to his community. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather, and an honorable advocate who endeavored to be fair, demonstrated a genuine respect for all and did so with humility and integrity. A memorial service to be held at a later date.