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Tani Robe Hammond
Births, marriages and deaths
Cummings Walker Cummings “Snick” G. Walker, who grew up in Palo Alto and was a lifelong Bay Area resident, died of liver failure on June 19 in San Jose. He was 73. He was born in Palo Alto on March 22, 1941, to John a nd Ann Walker. He attended Terman Junior High and Palo Alto High schools. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, until his senior year when he left to travel Europe. Upon returning, he waited tables at Saint Michael’s Alley in Palo Alto, meeting Marilyn, his first wife, there. They married in 1964 and had two children, Catlin and Justin. He graduated from Sonoma State University in 1966 and went on to participate in the rock ‘n’ roll culture of 1960s San Francisco. He co-founded the poster company Berkeley Bonaparte and collaborated with artists to create some of the era’s iconic posters. He later captured the time in a book called “The Great Poster Trip.” He met his future second wife, Kate, in 1977, with whom he later had two daughters, Amanda and Christina. While working independently as a designer, writer and photographer, he helped both Silicon Valley companies and supported causes including the peace movement and coastal initiatives. He also taught design at San Jose State University and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. He lived most of his life in Palo Alto, Woodside, Portola Valley and Half Moon Bay. He enjoyed cooking, gardening, studying his family’s genealogy and hiking, especially with his dogs. He was predeceased by his parents and sister, Evann Walker. He is survived by his former wives, Marilyn Markkanen of Arnold, California, and Kathleen Stoddard of Reno, Nevada; son, Justin Walker of Burbank, California; and three daughters, Catlin Walker Leonard of San Jose, Amanda
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Walker of Manhattan Beach, California, and Christina Walker of San Francisco. He is also survived by four granddaughters and many friends. A memorial service was held on July 19 on the bluff overlooking Surfer’s Beach in El Granada.
Phil Williams Phillip C. Williams, university architect and director of planning at Stanford University for many years, died unexpectedly on June 26. He was 82. He was born on Sept. 30, 1931, in Chicago. He studied architecture at Oklahoma State University, earning both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. After serving in the military, he joined the firm Caudill Rowlett Scott Architects in Houston as a university specialist. He eventually became a partner and then senior vice president. He met his future wife Ellen at the firm; they married in 1972.
From 1975 to 1992 he worked at Stanford, crafting architectural guidelines that affected many major buildings and open spaces. He strove to preserve the campus and the spirit of the original plan from the 1880s. He led two General Use Plan updates and mentored many young planners. For years he lived with his wife — also a longtime employee at Stanford — in San Carlos. In addition to architecture, he practiced ceramics, photography and other arts. He and Ellen were also longtime Stanford basketball season ticket holders. He is survived by his wife, Ellen Williams, of San Carlos; his brother, Jim Williams of Helendale, California; his three children, David (Laurie Peller) Williams of New Orleans, Laurie (Rusty) Von Sternberg of Houston and Sherrie (Doug) Winokur of Atlanta; and five grandchildren. A memorial service will be held Saturday, Aug. 23, at 2 p.m. in the Gunn-SIEPR Building, 366 Galvez St., Stanford. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Peninsula VolunteersRosener House, 500 Arbor Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
Edith Eleanor Malott - La Bonte October 30, 1929 - July 9, 2014 On July 9th 2014 Edith Malott-La Bonte, 84, left our world after a courageous 3Year battle with cancer. She was an independent, strong and proud woman who never surrendered without a fight. She was one of the truly brave few. He greatest passions in life were her home, art, and world traveling. As an avid reader, the Palo Alto library was her favorite place to spend free time. She was a long time enthusiastic fan of the SF49ers and the Stanford Cardinals. Edith was born in Honolulu, HI, to Deane and Eleanor (Sisson) Malott in 1929, She spent her youth in Waban, MA while her father taught at the Harvard Business School. When in high school, her family moved to Lawrence, KS where she went on to earn her Bachelors’ degree in English from the University of Kansas and was an active member in Phi Beta Kappa sorority. After graduation she moved to Ithaca, NY with her family where she met her future husband, Harold R. La Bonte Jr. They were married in San Francisco, CA in 1954. Edith and Harold lived in San Francisco until 1957 when they settled in Palo Alto, CA where she raised her children, eventually retired and remained until death. She was preceded in death by her parents Deane and Eleanor Malott, Harold R. La Bonte Jr. and her close companion of nearly 40 years, Leonard Porter. She is survived by her sister Janet M. Elliot of Atlanta, GA, her brother Robert Malott of Chicago, IL, two children Starr Blair La Bonte Bales of San Clemente, CA and Harold “Trey” R. La Bonte III of Lakeport, CA., 3 grandchildren and 3 Great Grandchildren. At her request no services are being held. Her last wishes for friends and family are to take time to reflect on the good memories of her life. The family requests that donations be made to one of her favorite charities - Doctors Without Borders (www.doctorswithoutborders.org) UNICEF (www. unicef.org) or Public Television (www.pbs.org). PAID
Tani Robe Hammond passed away peacefully in her sleep on July 29, 2014. Tani will be remembered for her generous spirit, warmth, devotion to her family but most of all, her beautiful smile. Tani is survived by her two children, Kevin Robe and Marla Alders, grandchildren Alec Alders, Ryan Alders and Kate Alders and her husband of 8 years, Don Hammond. Funeral Services were held at Alta Mesa on July 31st . PAID
OBITUARY
Madeline Ettin July 20, 1945 – July 16, 2014 Madeline Ettin was born in New York City, on July 20 1945, to Abraham and Ruth (nee Rheingold) Ettin. She has one sister, Judy, five years younger. Madeline showed evidence early on of significant artistic ability and studied at the Art Students League in NYC, from age 12. On the basis of a portfolio, she was accepted into New York’s High School of Art and Music. She graduated from the school -- now the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School -- in 1962. She continued to work at her art til the end of her life. For most of the last 15 years, she was an active member of the Gallery House Coop Gallery in Palo Alto. She received her BA (in Fine Arts) from Hunter College of the City College of New York in 1966. She later discovered a love of working with kids, especially high-school students, and received her Masters in Psychology from Tufts University in 1975. For most of the remaining 40 years of her life she worked as a School Psychologist, for the last 12 years at Los Altos High School, a school and a staff she admired enormously. In 1968, Madeline moved out to Berkeley, for an indefinite stay. She had spent some part of the two previous summers in Berkeley and had formed some very close friendships, friendships that were to last for 45 years. Sometime very early in 1969 she met her future husband, David Israel. They were married on September 13, 1970, in the Tufts Chapel, as her husband was about to begin his first teaching job. They were together for the 45 years left to her. On July 20, 1978 - her 33rd birthday - Madeline gave birth to a daughter and only child, Nicole Susan Israel. After graduating from Palo Alto High School in 1996, Nicole went to Brown, graduating in 2000, and from there moved directly to New York. On September 29, 2007, Madeline was the proud mother of the bride at the wedding of Nicole Israel and Josh Kaufman. On July 13, 2010, Nicole gave birth to William Lucas Kaufman and on April 20, 2013, to Louisa Jane Kaufman, bestowing on her mother the gift she came most to prize: two wonderfully beguiling grandchildren and the proud title of Grandma. Madeline was diagnosed with cancer on May 2, 2014. That diagnosis was tragically partial. Later that month she was diagnosed with a quite independent cancer of the pancreas and it was the latter that killed her, ruthlessly and quickly. She died in Palo Alto CA, in the very early morning of July 16, 2014, less than 3 months after the original diagnosis and – much, much more importantly -- just days after spending a last glorious week with Nicole and Josh and William and Louisa. She is survived by her husband, by her daughter and son- inlaw, by her two grandchildren -- and by many, many friends. Madeline was buried Saturday, July 19, at Skylawn Memorial Park. Memorial donation may be made to either: https://alumniandfriends.org/give/madeline-ettinmemorial-art-fund or for those wishing to support young artists in the Bay Area, to: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/1419713
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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • August 1, 2014 • Page 17