Obituaries

On Wednesday, October 9, 2019, Raymond Johns Davis Egan, loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, passed away at age 88. Ray was born on August 22, 1931 in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Florence Carter and Raymond Davis. As a boy in Hawaii, he observed the bombing of Pearl Harbor from a hillside. As a result of the outbreak of WWII, his family moved to the Yukon Territory, where his step-father, James Egan, worked on the Alcan Highway. Ray served in the Air Force during the Korean War as a raido operator at March Air Force Base. After completing his military service, he earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1960. Ray began his career at the Electronics Research Labs at Stanford, researching the physics of radio wave interaction with the ionosphere. He soon moved to Granger Associates in Santa Clara, where he was Vice-President of Research and Development. Before his retirement he worked at NEC America, where he served as Vice President and General Manager. His engineering work required extensive travel to many countries as well as many remote locations around the world. He worked in the field of telecommunications for over 35 years.

Rosa (Trumler) Dieffenbach, 84, peacefully passed away on July 10, 2019 in Poulsbo, WA, after complications from Alzheimer's. Rosa was born in Gleisdorf, Austria on August 17, 1934 to Josef and Maria (Wilfling) Trumler. She grew up in war-torn Austria, the fifth of seven children. After WWII, at age 16, she left home to find work in Switzerland. She became a governess for an American family, who later sponsored her, allowing her to emigrate to the United States. Arriving on the Queen Mary, she embarked on a courageous adventure, working first for the sponsoring family, then later in the cafeteria of Gallaudet University before finally heading west, to San Francisco, CA. On an outing with the Northern CA Swiss Club, she met her future husband, William Dieffenbach.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dean Lewis Johnson of Los Altos on October 4, 2019. Dean was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota on June 8, 1929. He was the firstborn child of George Lawrence Johnson and Lillian Alice Lewis Johnson. His family moved to Robbinsdale, Minnesota when he was very young. His favorite birthday present was his sister (Alice) Joy who was born on his fifth birthday. Dean’s lifelong enthusiasms were driving, flying and Dixieland Jazz. He took his first solo flight in 1946 at Crystal Airport and graduated from Robbinsdale High in 1947. He joined the Air National Guard, serving in Wichita and Santa Maria, California, graduating from the University of Minnesota, College of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics in 1952. His first job was at Cessna where he was proud to have helped design the Cessna 620. He then moved to the Bay Area to work at Lockheed Missiles and Space, where he was employed for the next 30+ years. He married Patricia Lamb of San Francisco in 1961. They moved to Los Altos with their daughter Kathleen in 1967.

1955 - 2019 Lori Marie Clarke, 64, of Santa Maria, CA passed away on August 20th, 2019. Lori was born in Oakland, CA on July 29th, 1955. She attended grade school in Mountain View, CA and junior and senior high schools in Los Altos, CA. Lori married Michael Clarke and lived in Sunnyvale, CA. She worked for her stepfather, Robert Strain, at his automotive shop, Custom Alignment, for 15 years as Office Manager. Lori then decided to follow her passion for food and cooking and became the owner/operator of The Backdoor Eatery in Los Altos, CA. In addition to other food retail and catering work, Lori started her own candy business and made unique and delicious toffees. In 2014, she relocated to Santa Maria and continued working in food services and home care aid. Lori loved her dogs, especially her pitbull Hank and her mini pinscher, Ruby. She was a talented artist, loved music and was a big fan of Janis Joplin, The Doors and other great bands from that era.

Howard Lowell Neff, born December 26, 1941, passed away at his home on October 2nd, 2019 surrounded by his family. Before meeting and marrying Sheri, the love of his life, Mr. Neff was proud to have served three years in the United States Army. Howard and Sheri were married for nearly 49 years. Howard’s allegiance to family was his number one priority including his nieces and nephew. He was a farm boy from Indiana where his parents, Thelma and Lowell Neff, taught him life’s important lessons – hard work, responsibility and integrity. These are the very attributes that took him from the farm to Dartmouth College and onto challenging jobs at Johnson & Johnson, Consolidated Aluminum and Applied Materials where he worked for 23 years. Howard Neff was named to Senior Executive staff and served as Group Vice President, Applied Materials, Inc. of Global Operations and Planning, Interconnect Systems and Modules Product Business Group. The most recent position was Group Vice President Applied Materials, Inc., President and Chief Operating Officer, Applied Komatsu Technology.

Former Junior High School Librarian Former Los Altos resident Gertrude “Trudy” Marie Johnson passed away September 26, 2019, in Thousand Oaks, California. She was 96 years old. Trudy was born on July 19, 1923 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Iowa State Teachers College in 1945 (now the University of Northern Iowa). In 1946, she married her beloved Elmer Johnson with whom she shared 62 wonderful years. In 1957, the family moved to Los Altos, California. She went on to become a second grade teacher in the Mountain View School District, and then after earning her Library Science Degree, became a Librarian at Covington Junior High School. In their retirement years, Trudy and Elmer enjoyed traveling in their motor home, which included frequent outings with the Palo Alto Elks Club group, “The Wheelers.” 1997 was the year that the Johnsons moved to Westlake Village, California to be near their daughter and her family. She is survived by her son Doug, daughter Judy, and four grandchildren, Erik, Kirsten, Brett and Ryan.