Obituaries

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Feb 2, 2008

IDA MAE BROWN

Passed away on January 25, 2008.

Service will be Monday, February 4, 2008 at 11:00am, Baker- Williams Mortuary, 980 8th Street, Oakland. Viewing will be Sunday, February 3, 2008 from 3 to 5 pm, Baker-Williams Mortuary.

She is survived by her loving family and friends. BAKER-WILLIAMS MORTUARY

(510)836-3436

ALBERT GIOVANETTI

AKA THE SALAMI KING AKA BATTO

Son of Lazzaro and Georgina formally of Oakland passed away Wed. January 23, 2008. Leaving behind his wife of 61 years Vina and 3 sons, David, Anthony and Mark He was survived by his sister Irene Crosetti and proceeded in death by his brother Fred. He had 4 grandchildren, Jennifer Lessing, Gayle Nick and Mandi Giovanetti, neices Barbra Rhoads, Stephanie Biegler, nephew Stephen Crosetti, 4 great grandchildren Josh, Logan, Olivia and Nick. The memorial service will be held Saturday February 9th at 10:00 am at St. Theresa church #30 Mandalay Rd. Oakland Ca. 94618. In lieu of flowers please make donations to Hospice of Amador.

ELEANOR M. NEWCOMB

Eleanor passed away on Jan. 27, 2008 in Hayward, California at the age of 92 after a brief illness. Born on June 13, 1915 in Leadville, Colorado, the daughter of David and Annie Parlin. She relocated to California in 1941 with her husband, Frank and two children. They lived in Oakland for many years and her family grew to four children. She and Frank moved to Hayward in 1965.

Frank preceded her in death in 1975 as did her youngest son, Dennis in 1990.

She is survived by her son Blanchard (Frances) of St. Louis, MO; daughters Shirley (Terry) Dolan of San Ramon, California; Leora (Richard) Memory of Castro Valley, California; as well as her sister Jeanette Mehle and brother Fred Parlin of Leadville, Colorado.

Eleanor was a Cafeteria Manager for the Oakland Unified School District for several years. She enjoyed working in her garden, crocheting, reading and spending time with her family. She was active in Westminster Hills Presbyterian Church and attended South Hayward Parish Senior Center on a regular basis. She was well liked by all who knew her and will be sorely missed.

She was the loving Grandmother to 12 Grandchildren: Larry, Joan, Steven Newcomb, Martha Pfeiffer, Gilbert Newcomb, Terri Puetz, Kay Grant, Daniel and Patti Memory, Mark and Scott Dolan and Lisa Slater.

She is also survived by 14 Great Grandchildren: Erin, Callie, Corina and Kevin Newcomb, Eleanor and Brendan Pfeiffer, Joshua Grant, Connor Memory, Christopher, Heather and Ryan Dolan and Joshu, Christopher, and Brandon Slater and several nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008 at 1:30 PM at Chapel of the Chimes at 32992 Mission Blvd., Hayward (510)471- 3363. If desired, donations may be made in her name to Children's Hospital and Research Center at 747 52nd Street, Oakland, California or to your favorite charity.

DONALD HARVEY WHITE

A long-time resident of Monmouth, Oregon, passed away on January 25, 2008, at the age of 76. He was born April 30, 1931, to Adeline and Harvey White, in Berkeley, California. Don was a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather. He is survived by Beverly, his wife of 54 years; five children and their spouses: Jeri and Mike Hamlin, Brett and Annette White, Holly and John Runsten, Scott White, and Erin and John Meyer; 13 grandchildren; and siblings Jerald White and Vernita White

After graduating from Berkeley High School in 1949, he attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he and Beverly Jones met. In 1953, after receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics, he and Beverly married and moved to Ithaca, New York, where he attended Cornell University, graduating with a PhD in Physics in 1960. From 1960 to 1971, he lived in Walnut Creek, California, while working at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he performed basic research. In 1970/71, he taught a physics laboratory course at UC Berkeley. With his father, Harvey White, he co- authored college and high-school text books. He wrote numerous research papers and also wrote articles for the Encyclopedia Britannica. In 1971, he came to Oregon College of Education (now Western Oregon University), teaching physics, astronomy, the science of music, and computer science. He was a recipient of the Faculty Honors Award. He spent three separate sabbatical years in Grenoble, France, performing neutron-capture gamma-ray spectroscopy research at the Institut Laue-Langevin. He retired as Professor Emeritus in 1995.

In spite of the effects of the polio he had contracted at the age of twelve, he was an avid rock climber and mountaineer. For more than twenty years he led burro trips for the Sierra Club. In the 1970s, he co-led OCE natural-history trips to the Sierra Nevada, Three Sisters Wilderness, Grand Tetons, and Canadian Rockies. An avid backpacker, he and Beverly completed the John Muir Trail in the 1990s, and had been hiking the Pacific Crest Trail as late as August, 2007.

Don received his pilot's license in 1948, served in the Civil Air Patrol, was in the UC Berkeley Flying Club, and won the "top pilot" award at a flying meet. He was a musician, playing the piano, guitar, and 5-string banjo; he was especially fond of folk music, opera, classical music, and whimsical camp songs. As well as his acumen in scientific disciplines, he had extensive knowledge of world history, literature, geography, music, art, and languages. (He was in demand as a Trivial Pursuit partner.) He was a past member of Toastmasters and supported the local arts association. He was an elder in the Presbyterian Church and a long-time member of Christ's Church, Methodist and Presbyterian United, where he played in the hand bell choir.