Transitions Births, marriages and deaths
Paul Scribner DeCarli Paul Scribner DeCarli, born in 1930 on the DeCarli family dairy farm in the delta near Stockton, Calif., died on Aug. 4. He began his college career at Stanford University in 1948, taking two years from 1952-1954 to serve with the U.S. Army. After his service, he returned to Stanford and finished his Bachelor of Science in Materials Science, graduating in 1956. He went on to work on shock effects in materials at the Stanford Research Institute, now known as SRI International. He and his colleagues were the first to use shock to form amorphous quartz and to synthesize diamond, maskelynite and stishovite. They were also the first to experimentally demonstrate the shock origin of melt veins in meteorites and the entrapment of noble gasses in shocked meteorites. When he retired, he turned his attention to meteoritics and planetary science.
He also played the bassoon, a wind instrument, and his wife Anne, an oboe. They played woodwind chamber music with friends in their home weekly for most of the 53 years of their marriage; in recent years he also played in the South Bay Community Orchestra. He is survived by his wife, Anne; son, John, and daughterin-law, Rhea; daughter, Elizabeth and son-in-law, Thomas Quirk; sisters Madeleine Murphy and Elisabeth Baker; brothers Peter and Ralph; and many cousins, nephews, nieces, grandnephews and grandnieces.
,/ Adam Hall and Alison Parrin Mountain View, Aug. 24, a girl.
Carolyn Jex Schwartz Nov. 20, 1934-Aug. 26, 2013 Carolyn Jex Schwartz, 78, passed away peacefully on August 26, after a brief, courageous battle against cancer. Carolyn was born on November 20th, 1934 to Heber and Ruth Jex of Ogden, Utah Carolyn was a cum laude graduate of the University of Utah, where she met the love of her life, Herbert C. Schwartz. They moved to Palo Alto in 1957, and resided there until 2005. Since then they have lived in Nevada sharing time between Incline Village and Minden-Gardnerville. Carolyn was an immensely talented artist, attending Cranbrook Academy of Art and obtaining her Master’s of Arts Degree from Stanford University; her figurative drawings and paintings, watercolor landscapes and flowers will brighten our lives forever. Carolyn was a loving and devoted wife,
caring mother and grandmother. She had an unmatched compassion for all living things. She and her husband shared their love of art, music and travel with all those around them, particularly their children and grandchildren. Carolyn is survived by her husband of 55 years, Dr. Herbert Schwartz, her brother, William Jex. Their three children and their spouses: Michael and Jean Schwartz, Rebecca and John Chamberlain and Sara and Dan Heller, their nine grandchildren: Jennifer, Jessica, Alex, Amanda, Laura, Sarah, Kate, Rachel, Aaron, Asher, their two great grandchildren, Madeline and Camden, and niece and nephews: Maya Jex, Will Jex and Alon Jex. “…For yesterday is only a vision, but today well lived makes every yesterday a memory of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope Look well, therefore, to this day.” Sanskrit Poem PA I D
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Itay Fainmesser and Yi-Ping Ong Palo Alto, Aug. 26, a girl. Evan and Curt Herberts Menlo Park, Aug. 27, a boy.
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Lasting Memories Go to: www.PaloAltoOnline.com/obituaries
Steven Scheer Wegener September 23, 1946 – August 14, 2013 Steve Wegener passed away peacefully in his sleep on Wednesday, August 14, 2013, in Fairbanks, Alaska, in the midst of an adventurous road trip, exploring the wild frontier of Alaska with two of his brothers. Born in Detroit, Michigan on September 23, 1946, Steve moved with his family to Woodland, California, where he spent his childhood and graduated from Woodland High School in 1964. He served in US Air Force before graduating with a degree in civil engineering from UC Davis in 1973. After several moves, Steve settled in Menlo Park at the US Geological Survey in 1978, where he worked for many years until his career took him to the NASA. At NASA, Steve tackled the new frontiers of high-altitude atmospheric research and later airborne science missions from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). Steve retired from NASA in 2004 and settled in Nevada City with Mahala O’Brien. Steve’s legacy is to live everyday to it’s fullest, which he did right up until the end; he will forever be admired, missed and loved. He is survived by his wife Mahala, his children Whitney and Daniel; his brothers, Gary (and wife Joan), Mark, and Scott (and wife Joan); and his stepchildren Kassie Hoglund and Shauna Gareth. He also leaves behind dozens of loving nieces, nephews, grandchildren, friends and colleagues. He was preceded in death by his parents, Margy Lou and Eliot Brede “Bud” Wegener. He was previously married to Paula Wong Wegener, and to Laurel Leone, mother of Whitney and Daniel. A Celebration of Life will be held at the NASA Ames Conference Center in Mountain View on September 7 at 11:00am, see http:// steve-wegener.muchloved.com for full details. PA I D
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Thomas Davy Sharples Sept. 3, 1916-June 20, 2013
An extraordinary life, well lived. Thomas Davy Sharples, born on Sept. 3, 1916 near Philadelphia, Pa., passed away in Vancouver, Wash., on June 20 at the age of 97, after a brief illness. He is survived by his wife Renate B. Sharples, his sons Tom and Hendrik, his daughters-in-law Shirley and Karen, his granddaughter Andrea, his sister Catherine, and many nieces, nephews, and good friends. We all miss him terribly. Tom was the youngest son of famed Philadelphiaarea industrialist Philip M. Sharples, inventor and manufacturer of the Sharples Cream Separator, and talented illustrator Jean Watt Davy of Philadelphia. Young Tom grew up at Greystone Hall in West Chester PA, and spent as much of his time as possible learning everything he could about science, literature, art, mechanical engineering. chemistry, and photography from his father, mother, and several uncles who were heavily involved in the daily operations of the Cream Separator Works. A birthright Quaker, Tom attended George School and Westtown Academy - their yearbooks speak in awe of the “quiet genius” that was already emerging. He graduated high-school in 1934 and went on to study at Swarthmore college and later, after his father retired and moved to Pasadena, Calif., studied engineering at California Institute of Technology. During this time Tom also operated his own photography studio where he experimented with advanced color film processing and development. When WWII broke out, Tom left college and enlisted in the U.S. Army, first serving as a corporal, then attending OCS where he graduated and received his commission as a U.S. Army officer. He served as a Second Lieutenant in Sardinia, and later as Captain in post-war Germany, where he used his expertise in photography and engineering to helped the Leica, Leitz, Minox and Zeiss optics plants rebuild after the near total destruction of their manufacturing infrastructure. While serving in Germany, Tom met his wife Renate, who was working as a technical translator
for the American Military Government. Tom and Renate married in 1948 and moved to Schwenksville and then Plymouth Meeting, a suburb of Philadelphia, where Tom went to work at the Sharples Corporation as Director of Research in charge of design and development of the Sharples line of industrial process centrifuges. Tom and Renate raised two sons, Tom Jr. and Hendrik in Plymouth Meeting and later at a 54-acre horse farm that they purchased in Skippack, Pa. In 1966 the family moved to Atherton in the California Bay Area, where Tom worked in senior technical design and management roles including Chief Engineer designing analytical centrifuges and amino acid analyzers and synthesizers at the Spinco division of Beckman Instruments in Palo Alto. Tom retired after 25 years at Spinco in 1991 at the age of 75, and he and Renate moved to a beautiful ranch in the hills above Eugene, OR where they lived together until just a few months before his death. His sons Tom and Hendrik, daughters-in-law Shirley and Karen, granddaughter Andrea, and many other relatives and personal friends were frequent visitors and guests throughout that period. During this time, Tom acted as a member and senior adviser to the Emerald Valley Model Engineering club, and provided substantial assistance to the Linus Pauling Institute in Corvallis, where one of the research laboratories is named after him. Over his lifetime, Tom was awarded nearly 50 US and international patents in the fields of scientific, medical and industrial technology. He played a vital role in the development of lifesaving medical devices, and acted as an adviser and mentor for many successful young engineers and entrepreneurs. A private memorial gathering of the immediate family was held in Vancouver, Wash. The family is requesting that any memorial donations be made to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR 97331. PA I D
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