In Memoriam
Walter Howard Girdlestone ‘40, 1921 - 2016 Walter Howard Girdlestone, a loyal alumnus passed away on July 26 at his San Carlos home. Girdlestone attended Menlo College and graduated from University of Oregon in 1942 with a B.A. in economics. Seven days after graduation, Howard reported for military duty in Hollywood, FL. He became a pilot in the United States Marine Corps and for nearly two years, flew transport missions in Northern China. He was proud of his service to his country as a Marine and shared countless stories of his adventures here and abroad. In 1945 he married his college sweetheart, Lorraine Davidson. They had two children, Lester and Wendy. The family moved to San Carlos where he spent the remainder of his life. After 53 years of marriage and working together on their real estate investments, Lorraine passed away in 1999. In January 2002, Howard married Martha Miller of Los Altos Hills, an interior designer and educator with whom he shared the last 15 years of his life. Following in his father's career path, Howard worked for 37 years in the financial district in San Francisco as an insurance executive, first with the American Home Assurance Company, then American International Group and Cravens Dargan, retiring in 1985.
Wilfred (Bill) Davis Fletcher ‘42, 1922– 2016 Bill Fletcher ‘42, of Palos Verdes Estates, California, passed away on June 22, 2016. After graduating from Menlo College, Bill attended Stanford University, and volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corps.
He was especially supportive of San Carlos youth, education, civic improvement and Peninsula environmental issues. He was a board member of The Sequoia Hospital Foundation, the San Carlos Youth Center Foundation and Youth & Family Enrichment Services and the San Carlos Parks and Recreation Foundation. He was honored as San Carlos Citizen of the Year in 2001 and Silicon Valley Community Foundation's Philanthropy Citizen of the Year in 2008, jointly nominated by the Alzheimer's Association and Sequoia Hospital.
After school and military service, Bill joined the family business in Los Angeles, Fletcher Oil and Refinery, and became the purchasing agent and secretary-treasurer of the company. In the late ‘70s, Bill began what was to become a lifelong passion of collecting art. Bill’s love of art came from his childhood experiences with his artistic mother and his grandmother who was a painter. Bill focused on acquiring abstract and contemporary works from the 1960s into the 21st century and his collection eventually grew to hundreds of pieces. He has donated much of his collection to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Long Beach Museum of Art, and the Boise Art Museum. Bill included a donation of rare books as part of his gift to Menlo, to pay tribute to the education and guidance he received as a student beginning his visionary development. He said in an article in the Spring 2010 Menlo Advantage, that he hopes that other students may follow in his footsteps and gain inspiration from the books and the story of his personal quest for the greatest finds in art. 3 4 W I N T E R 2 017
Above and below, Wilfred (Bill) Davis Fletcher ‘42 with his art.