Merry Christmas

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

Marie Gwendolyn "Gwen" (Lloyd) Hanks

Former Saratoga resident Marie Gwendolyn Hanks died May 17 in Hurricane, Utah, where she had been residing. She was 103.

A native of Logan, Utah, Hanks attended the University of Utah to become a kindergarten teacher. She also did secretarial work for her father. Her family was her life; gardening, flower arranging and yoga were her passions.

Survivors include son Richard Hanks of Hurricane, Utah; daughter Nancy Hanks Hoppe of Morristown, N.J.; 13 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Memorial services have been held, with interment at Madronia Cemetery in Saratoga.

Saratoga News June 12, 2002

Ephraim Knowlton "E. K." Hanks (1896 -1984)

E.K. Hanks, Saratoga sales manager, author

Funeral services will be held today of Ephraim Knowlton "E.K." Hanks, 88, a Saratoga author who sold tailor made clothing throughout the western United States.

Mr. Hanks died Monday at Kaiser Hospital in Santa Clara after short illness.

He was a sales manager for Leonard Custom Tailors for 30 years before retiring in about 1966. Mr. Hanks sold custom made clothing "never by canvassing - just by word of mouth," said Mr. Hanks' wife, Gwen Hanks of Saratoga. "He loved that because it gave him a chance to talk with people. If he was contacting someone on the farm, he would roll up his sleeves and say, `Let's go milk the cows.'

"He could take care of people who needed special measurements. So many people can't just take something off the rack and wear it. This company always had his name at the head of the list as the very best. Friendship was his
theme rather than anything material.

"He was a very convincing speaker. His personality was dynamic. He influenced them - influenced their lives. That was what he liked. He wanted to leave footprints on the sands and leave the world just a little bit better than it was."

Mr. Hanks was born in Caineville, Utah. His late parents, Walter and Mary Hanks, were early Utah settlers.

He established a high jump record in high schoool track and field while a student in Loa, Utah. Mr. Hanks majored in animal husbandry at the Utah husbandry at the Utah agricultural College.

"He was a bronco rider," Mr. Hanks' wife said. "He rode broncos at the state fair since he was kid. He broke wild horses all over the county. If anybody had a wild horse to break, he broke him."

Mr. Hanks wrote several books on the philosophy of living a happy life, including "Scouting for the Mormons on the Great Frontier," which has gone into several printings. The book is the life story of his late grandfather, Ephraim Knowlton, for whom he is named. Ephraim Knowlton was an early Mormon frontier scout and mail carrier.

"He (Mr. Hanks) was a voluminous writer," Mr. Hank's wife said. "Until recently he put out a publication every month that he sent out all over the world to missionaries and friends.

"He was a rugged individualist. He did what he thought was right. He sent these periodicals to Europe, to China, to people that he knew and would appreciate his writing. He published his periodical monthly and scattered it all over the world.

"It was not essentially religious, but it had a religious overtone. It was faith-promoting things to give people hope and happiness in whatever they were doing. It was full of philosophy and fun things, quotes and humor, as well as food for thought.

"He's a quote man. He has books and books of wonderful quotes from Emerson and all the great writers in the world. He combined a lot of these things and put in his own personality."

Mr. Hanks and his wife celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary last November.

Besides his wife, Mr. Hanks is survived by two sons and a daughter. J. Wayne Hanks of Thailand, Richard Hanks of Utah and Nancy Hoppe of New Jersey; a brother and two sisters, Urban Hanks of Utah, Retta Gilbert of Albany and Nellie Rymer of Utah; and 12 grandchildren.

Services will be today at 10 a.m. at Saratoga Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 19100 Allendale Ave., Saratoga.

(San Jose Mercury News - Saturday, January 28, 1984)

Margaret Anna Dolge (1919 - 2002)

Margaret Dolge

Longtime Saratoga resident Margaret Anna Dolge, who spent her last 5 1/2 years living at The Terraces of Los Gatos, died Nov. 27 at the age of 83.
Born April 18, 1919, in Tacoma, Wash., in 1945 Dolge moved to Saratoga, where she became an active member of the Saratoga Federated Church and the Saratoga Foothill Club.

Survivors include cousins Ruth Parris of Long Beach; Jessie Eversoll of Newport Beach; George Parris of Las Vegas, Nev.; Charles E. Morris, Maureen Fauman and Tim Morris, all of Vancouver, British Columbia; Jim Morris of Tacoma, Wash.; Liz Hoover of Seattle, Wash.; Hank Taylor of Fairfax; and Kathie Hubbard of La Conner, Wash.

Memorial services will be held Dec. 12 at 3 p.m. at the Saratoga Federated Church, 14370 Saratoga Ave. Donations can be made to the church as well, in honor of Gordon L. King, Dolge's good friend and favorite minister.

Saratoga News December 11, 2002

Sara Rozella Boze (1872-1948)

Sara Rozella Boze
Father: Richard Boze
Mother: Mary Crabtree
Born: 24 Jun 1872, Howell,,Missouri,USA
Died: 20 Jun 1948, Campbell, Santa Clara, California, USA


Census:
1920 in Oak Grove, Oregon, Missouri

Isaac Alfred Armstrong (1858-1950)

Issac Alfred Armstrong
Father: George William Armstrong
Mother: Lydia Norman
Born: 4 July 1858, , , Mississippi, USA (Franklin,,Alabama,USA)
Died: 7 Aug 1950,Saratoga, Santa Clara, California, USA

Married:
Sara Rozella Boze
25 Dec 1887, Alton, , Missouri, USA

Children:
Virgil Alfred Armstrong (1888- 1955)

Census:
1920 in Oak Grove, Oregon, Missouri

Victor Arena (1904 - 1987)

Victor Arena
Mother: ? Albright
Born: 14 September 1904, ?, ?, New York
Died: 27 Feb 1987, Riverside, Riverside, Caifornia

Estelle Florence (Rentkowski ) Arena (1901 - 1993)

Estelle Florence (Rentkowski)Arena
Mother's Maiden Name : Zelenski
Born: 4 May 1901, New York
Died: 18 December 1993, ?, Santa Clara, California

Clara Alida (Coppersmith) Gresham (1908-1996)

Clara Alida Gresham

Clara Alida Gresham died March 20 in Aptos after an illness.

A Saratoga resident from 1948 to 1971, she and her husband were co-owners of Hakone Gardens before selling it to the city in 1965.

She was very active in the Saratoga Federated Church, serving on many committees including the board of directors. She was also a member of the Saratoga Foothill Club.

She is survived by her daughter, Darlene Harms of San Mateo; three sons, Eldon Gresham of Santa Clara, Ronald Gresham of Penryn, and Lowell Gresham of Prunedale; and 15 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by a son, Conrad Gresham.

A celebration of life and a gathering of family and friends will be held April 27 at 11 a.m. at the Saratoga Community Center.

Contributions can be made to the Second Harvest Food Bank or a preferred charity.

This article appeared in the Saratoga News, April 24, 1996.

Charlotte Cunningham Finkel (1912-1996)

Charlotte Cunningham

Charlotte Cunningham, 83, member of an early-day Saratoga family, died Jan. 17 of complications from a hip injury suffered when she fell on the ice at her home in Southbury, Conn.

Cunningham, who took her maiden name in 1979 after the death of her husband, J. Manfred Finkel, was the daughter of Charles and Eva Cunningham, whose families came to Saratoga in the late 1800s. Eva Cunningham's father, J.M. Lipscombe, maintained an orchard at the present site of Saratoga High School. Charles Cunningham's father, E.M. Cunningham, had an orchard on Saratoga Ave.

Charlotte Cunningham attended Saratoga Grammar School and graduated from Los Gatos High School in 1930 because there was no high school in Saratoga. After she left Saratoga in the early 1930s to live in the East, she maintained close ties with Saratoga and was a frequent visitor here.

She had an abiding interest in local history and assisted her aunt, the late Florence Cunningham, in compiling material for the book Saratoga's First Hundred Years. She maintained her membership in the Saratoga Historical Foundation and was instrumental in establishing local historical societies when she lived in New York State.

She is survived by a stepson, Jack Taylor of New York City, and by several cousins.

A memorial service will be scheduled later at Saratoga Federated Church, followed by inurnment at Madronia Cemetery.
(Saratoga News 1-31-1996)

Virginia Wassum (c 1899 - 1997)

Virginia Wassum

Former Los Gatan Virginia Wassum died Oct. 16 in a Santa Cruz convalescent hospital. She was 98.

Born in Charleston, W. Va., she moved to the Santa Cruz area from Los Gatos following the 1989 death of her husband, Kemp. She was preceded in death by her son, William Hicks, a U.S. Air Force pilot who was killed during World War II. She was also predeceased by her brother and sister, Daniel Burns and Helen VanArsdale. She is survived by many nieces and nephews.

Memorial services have been held, with interment at Madronia Cemetery, Saratoga.

This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, October 29, 1997.

Diane Allen Irion (1930 - 1999)

Diane Irion

Diane Allen Irion of Saratoga died on Jan. 5 in Los Gatos at the age of 67.

Born Feb. 10, 1930, in Portland, Ore., she attended the Anna Head School in Berkeley and later graduated from UC-Berkeley in 1952 with a degree in liberal arts.

In 1954, she married Richard Fales Irion, who was a vice president and manager of Bank of the West branches in Los Gatos, Sunnyvale and San Jose. She was active in the Montalvo Service Group, Foothill Women's Club, Pi Beta Phi and Panhellenic.

Irion was known for her love of gardens, flowers, birds, dogs and beauty and nature in general. She also enjoyed organizing gatherings of family and friends and helping anyone who needed her. Together with her small stature, these attributes earned her the nicknames "the original mighty mouse" and "super chick."

Survivors include husband Richard Irion of Saratoga; daughters Susan Nonnenberg of Rocklin and Sherrill Kuc of Ellicott City, Md.; and two grandchildren.

Memorial services have been held. Donations may be made to the American Cancer Society or to the Diane Irion Memorial Garden, in care of the Los Gatos Rotary Club, P.O. Box 1018, Los Gatos, 95031.

This article appeared in the Saratoga News, February 4, 1998.

Leonard Feldheym (1916 - 1997)

Leonard Feldheym

Leonard Feldheym, 80, a Saratoga resident for 48 years, died Dec. 29 of natural causes at O'Connor Hospital in San Jose.

Feldheym was an architect who designed a number of houses in Saratoga, including one that received an award from Better Homes and Gardens, said his wife, Betty.

Feldheym was born in Chicago in Jan. 29, 1916, and was educated at UC-Berkeley, where he obtained a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in economics.

He began his architecture practice as a sole proprietor, then joined Allen DeGrange and Twain Reid in the San Jose firm of Feldheym, DeGrange and Reid, where he was able to pursue his dream of building affordable housing, said Betty Feldheym.

"This was something he always wanted to do," said his wife. "He was on the Affordable Housing Committee of the Santa Clara County Council of Churches and on the Social Responsibility Committee of Los Gatos Unitarian Fellowship."

Feldheym was active in the Saratoga Senior Center and the Los Gatos Unitarian Fellowship.

In addition to his wife of 56 years, Feldheym leaves a daughter, Ellen Jackson of Sacramento, and two granddaughters, Jessica and Joycelyn Jackson, both students at UC-Davis.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Fellowship, 15980 Blossom Hill Rd., Los Gatos.

This article appeared in the Saratoga News, January 8, 1997.

John E. Cox MD ( 1909 -1999)

John E. Cox

Longtime Saratoga resident John E. Cox, M.D., died in his home Nov. 14 at the age of 90.

Born April 10, 1909, in Toronto, Alberta, Cox and his family emigrated from Canada in 1916, at which time his father took a job as a printer at a New York City newspaper. Two years later, Cox's mother died of tuberculosis.

Cox quit school as a young teen and began working as a lithographer's assistant in New York City. He also joined the Boy Scouts, which began a lifelong dedication to the scouting movement. Cox later moved to Ridgefield Park, N.J., where he spent a number of years. In 1928, he learned he, too, had tuberculosis, so he packed up and drove with a friend to the warmer, drier climate of the Southwest.

He settled in New Mexico, where he was hired to work in a veterans hospital. After four years, he was transferred to California to work as an orderly and surgeon's assistant at the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital. By the time he was transferred to another such hospital in San Francisco, Cox decided to go back to high school, earn a diploma and then obtain a degree in medicine.

While pursuing his bachelor's degree at Stanford University, Cox met his future wife, Flora Martens, who was walking along Palm Drive on campus. A few months later, a friend set him up on a blind date that coincidentally turned out to be Flora again. The couple were married two years later, on June 21, 1941. At the time, Cox was working at a Boy Scout camp in the Sierras to help pay his college expenses and had to take his new wife there for their "first" honeymoon. Fifteen years later, he made up for it by taking Flora to Hawaii. In later years, Cox held titles including Scoutmaster and commissioner to the Northern California Boy Scouts Council and the National Council. He held the Scoutmaster's Key, the Silver Beaver and the Silver Antelope awards.

In 1944, Cox received his M.D. degree from the Stanford University Medical School, completed a residency at Santa Clara County Hospital and became a partner of Dr. Louis Mendelsohn, a longtime family practice doctor in Saratoga. He also joined the Saratoga Men's Club around this time. In 1949, the growing Cox family built their dream home on a road the city later named Jacks Road in Cox's honor. Cox was known throughout the community as a doctor who didn't mind making house calls and got to know his patients on a personal basis as a good friend.

In 1952, Cox became active in Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential campaign. He later was elected to the Saratoga School District's Board of Education and served there for eight years. He also played a key role in the founding of the Saratoga Good Government Group, which had its genesis in the Cox living room in the mid-1950s.

At age 55, Cox had the first of five heart attacks, which forced him to retire early. This, however, gave him more time to invest in his family, community and Christian ministry. He taught high school-age youth at the Los Gatos Christian Church and served as board member for San Jose-based City Team Ministries. Most recently, he was a member of Lone Hill Church in San Jose.

Survivors include wife of 59 years, Flora Cox of Saratoga; son and daughter-in-law John E. and Marianne Cox of Northridge; daughters and sons-in-law Margaret and David Johnson of San Jose and Lotte and Jim Tasker of Scotts Valley; and grandchildren Katie and John Cox, Michele and Lotte Johnson, and Emily and Jenny Tasker.

Memorial services have been held. Donations may be made to the John E. Cox Camping Scholarship Fund in care of City Team Ministries, 2302 Zanker Road, San Jose, 95131-1137.

Saratoga News November 24, 1999

Frank C. Clawson ( - 1996)

Frank Clawson

Frank Clawson, 69, a landscape contractor and a Saratoga resident for the past 30 years, died July 12 at El Camino Hospital after a brief illness.

Clawson was born in San Mateo and lived in Burlingame for 26 years. He graduated from Burlingame High School in 1945 and then served in the Army in Japan during the postwar occupation. He attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UC-Davis.

He started Frank Clawson Inc., a landscape contracting company, in 1960. During the 1960s and '70s, he worked with some of the Bay Area's notable architects. His work included South Bay high schools and community colleges, civic parks and many commercial developments. He retired in 1985.

Clawson volunteered his time at Sunnyview Manor Retirement Home, Our Lady of Fatima Convalescent Home and other community organizations serving the elderly and children. He was an avid golfer and fisherman who enjoyed the outdoors, camping and taking recreational vehicle trips with his family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Foundation Fighting Blindness, Executive Plaza I, Suite 800, 11350 McCormick Road, Hunt Valley, MD 21031-1014, or the Sempervirens Fund in Mountain View, (415) 968-4509.

This article appeared in the Saratoga News, July 24, 1996.

Marion Card (-2002)

Marion Card, 1986 Citizen of the Year

Marion Card, Saratoga's Citizen of the Year in 1986, died Oct. 22. She was 86. She and her husband of 60 years, Col. Ernest M. "Bud" Card, resided in Saratoga from 1946 until 1997, when they moved to Paradise Valley Estates, a retirement resort community in Fairfield.

The Cards were instrumental in starting the Sister City relationship between Saratoga and Muko-shi, Japan. This program involves adult and student visits, as well as artistic exchanges between the cities. She was a docent instructor at Hakone Gardens, and served as a director and auxiliary president at Villa Montalvo. She produced video documentaries on both Hakone and Montalvo.

Card taught for 10 years at De Anza College in Cupertino and was a trustee emeritus of the California History Center on that campus. She was a past president of the Saratoga Parent Teachers Association, the Foothill Club, Friends of the Library and the local chapter of the American Association of University Women. She was the first woman elder of the Saratoga Federated Church and was also honored for 20 years of leadership by the Girl Scout Neighborhood Council.

Born in Chicago, Card attended the University of Puget Sound and earned her degree in art history from the University of Washington. During college, she worked at Mount Rainier National Park, and after graduation she was a training director at Marshall Field & Co. in Chicago. Later she was Saratoga's correspondent for the Los Gatos Times-Observer before devoting her life to family, community service and foreign travels.

She is survived by her husband, their four daughters and their families: Carol Moore of Santa Ana, Ashley and H.B. Williams of Punta Gorda, Fla., Janice Card and John Parker of Davis, and Melinda and Stan Dittman of Napa and grandsons Derek and Tyler Dittman.

A memorial service will be conducted Nov. 2 at Paradise Valley Estates. As the resident historian there, she had photographed the community activities and celebrations and documented them in scrapbooks which are displayed in the visitors' lobby of the community center.

Friends are invited to inurnment ceremonies at 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4, at Madronia Cemetery. The Rev. Arvin Eggleston of the Saratoga Federated Church will officiate. Donations can be made to Hakone Gardens.


Saratoga News October 30, 2002

Tombstone Tuesday - Norman Koepernik

This is such an interesting marker with the bronze tree branch.

I would like to learn more about this one.

Norman was 10 during the 1930 Census and was living with his parents (William & Louise Kaminski) and sister (Marjorie - 16) in Buffalo, NY.

It looks as though he enlisted as a Private for WWII in the Army at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Marion Francis "Frank" Dutro (1917-1998)

I actually had the honor of meeting this man - he was very intersting and had stories to tell of the photos that he took from the sky during war time.

Here is the obit from the local town paper:

Frank Dutro

Marion Francis "Frank" Dutro died in his Saratoga residence Jan. 15 at the age of 80.

Born Feb. 21, 1917, in Colorado Springs, he graduated from Grass Valley High School, Sacramento City College and the Los Angeles Art Center. During World War II, he belonged to the 165th Signal Photographic Company and worked as a combat photographer with the U.S. Army. Although assigned to the 1st Army unit, Dutro's three-man team did not limit themselves to one division or regiment. Among the images he captured on film was the D-Day invasion at Utah Beach.

For six months, Dutro was a prisoner of war, held by the Germans. Dutro was able to slip past German troops and rejoined his unit for the remainder of the war.

Dutro began working for Lockheed Corp. after the war's conclusion, but then picked up his camera again as a Korean War combat photographer. After rejoining Lockheed, he was assigned to the Missiles and Space Division at White Sands testing range near Holoman Air Force Base in New Mexico. This gave him more photographic opportunities.

From 1960 to 1983, Dutro worked at Lockheed Missiles and Space in Sunnyvale in the motion picture department, where he did cinematography and writing. He also made a historical video of Saratoga, where he was a member of the Saratoga Historical Foundation, the Saratoga Heritage Preservation Commission, Friends of Villa Montalvo and Friends of Hakone Gardens.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Lynn Dutro of Saratoga; sons Frank Dutro Jr. of LaCrescenta and John Blake of Woodland Hills; and grandchildren Kelly Blake and Charles Dutro.

Memorial services have been held. Donations may be made to the Saratoga Historical Foundation, the Saratoga Federated Church, or to the Diabetes Society of Santa Clara County.

This article appeared in the Saratoga News, February 18, 1998

Reverend Jacob S. Moser (1849-1940)

There appears in the 1880 Census a Reverend Jacob S. Moser (Lutheran Minister) in Ashby, Shenandoah, Virginia. It shows that he was born in Tennesee and that his father was born in North Carolina and mother was born in Tennesee.

The record shows:
Name Age
Jacob S. Moser
30
S. E. VA. Moser
27
Charles K. Moser
2
Virginia D. Moser
1
Alice G. Walton
21


Will have to do more research on him.