The only child of Avis (Besk) and Leland Dewitz, Clare grew up in Wisner, Nebraska, a town of just 1,200 people. As a Girl Scout, she earned the Curved Bar Award (now known as the Gold Award). After graduating from high school, she attended the University of Nebraska, majoring in Business Education and joining the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority. In her senior year, she lost her father to brain cancer a...

In Loving Memory of Katherine Stiplosek-Pirslin 1928 – August 2026 Katherine Stiplosek-Pirslin passed away peacefully in early August 2026, leaving behind a legacy of resilience, determination, family, and extraordinary accomplishment. Katherine is survived by her beloved niece, Danielle Pirslin, and Danielle’s four children; nephew Tomislav Pirslin; and niece Emily Banks, along with ...

Author, historian, teacher, and world traveler Eleanor “Lee” Herz Swent died on May 24, 2026, surrounded by loved ones and just short of her 102nd birthday. Eleanor Martha Herz was born June 4, 1924 in her family’s home in Lead, South Dakota to Janet Herz Kimpston and Nathaniel Herz. She graduated from Lead High School, and graduated from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts in...

Joy Jean Cox Swift passed away peacefully on June 24, 2026, surrounded by family. The world is profoundly and forever brighter because she was here. Joy was born in a chicken coop in Oklahoma on November 4, 1932 to Beula and Beatrice Cox. She was raised in Muleshoe, then Bugscuffle, Texas in sharecropping communities where she helped pick cotton and watch her younger siblings. Joy began to coo...

Mary Lou Oldham (Judd) Taylor passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on March 14, 2026, at age 86. Mary was born September 20, 1939, to Dr. Ernest Whitney Oldham and Ruth McBride Oldham. She was the second of four children, growing up as the doctor’s daughter in the small town of Coalville, Utah. After losing both parents by age 14, she and her older sister worked to keep the family to...

Carolyn Tucher was a Colorado girl, born in small-town Longmont in view of her beloved Rocky Mountains. She attended the University of Colorado, staying in-state because her parents didn’t want her going East for fear she’d marry far away and not return. Ironically, in Boulder she fell in love with a student from Germany, Tony Tucher. They married, moved to the Boston and New York areas, had f...

Rachel passed away peacefully on May 20th at the age of ninety. Deeply loved by her family, she will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Born Rachel Crawford in Emporia, Kansas in 1935, Rachel graduated from Emporia State University in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in Education. Following graduation, she put her creative talents to work as the continuity writer for the local radio statio...

Isanild (Lucena) Wakefield passed away on March 23, 2026, in Los Altos, California, at the age of 92. Born Isanild Barreto de Lucena on November 14, 1933, in Monte Alegre, Brazil, to Donatilla Barreto de Lucena and Ornilo Lucena, she was one of thirteen children. In her twenties, she moved to Rio de Janeiro, where she met and married American engineer Kenneth Wakefield. They relocated to Californi...

Richard Allen Walston, a man of remarkable ingenuity, dry wit, and steadfast devotion to his family, passed away peacefully at his home in Palo Alto on March 13, 2026, following a courageous and stoic three-and-a-half-year battle with cancer. Born on May 31, 1944, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Viola (Pangburn) and George Walston, Richard lived a life defined by insatiable curiosity and a "jack...

Jane Edwards Williams peacefully passed away on July 11, 2026, having twice turned back cancer. She was born May 29, 1945, to Elmo Wendall and Shirley Fredericka (Poland) Edwards in Antioch, Illinois. After graduating from University of Michigan with a Bachelor’s of Art in Education in 1966 Jane and her friends ventured West in pursuit of adventure. On Valentine’s Day 1968, she met her soon to...

John Baer Woodworth, 89, of Palo Alto, passed away peacefully at home with his family at his side. Born and raised in Gilroy, California, he left home at 14 to attend Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose and later the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. He worked at Fairchild Semiconductor as an electrical engineer in the early days of the semiconductor industry. He later became a...