United States High School Yearbooks by County
Rodney Elliott
Services will be Saturday for Rodney Elliott, who died of pancreatic cancer Tuesday at his home in Aptos. He was 64.
Elliott was born in North Hollywood, where he lived until moving to Santa Cruz in 1969. He graduated from North Hollywood High School and California State University at Northridge. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve. When he moved to Santa Cruz in 1969, he began gardening as a profession, and operated Rod Elliott Garden Service for more than 30 years.
Friends say gardening was his love as well as his profession and that he cared for customers’ gardens as if they were his own.
He is survived by his wife, Joan Elliott of Aptos; daughters Alyssa Elliott of San Francisco, Leila Elliott of Los Angeles and Ruth Elliott of New York; son Matthew Elliott of San Francisco; sister Brenda Griffith of Oklahoma; and many nieces and nephews.
An open house will be 1-4 p.m. Saturday at his home, 471 Quail Run, Aptos.
Contributions are preferred to the Hospice Caring Project of Santa Cruz County, 6851 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA 95003.
Santa Cruz Cremation Service is handling arrangements.
August 1, 2002
Barbara Sandoval
Services will be Monday for Barbara Sandoval, who died Tuesday in Royal Oaks of natural causes. She was 97.
A native of Austria, she lived on the Central Coast for 50 years.
She came to Ellis Island in 1921 from Austria with her mother and two sisters, and moved to Nebraska. There, she met her late husband, John Paul Sandoval, and they moved West, settling in the Watsonville area. Her husband died in 1978.
She is survived by eight grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.
Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Davis Memorial Chapel, 609 Main St., Watsonville. Services will be 10 a.m. Monday at the Davis Memorial Chapel. She will be buried in Pioneer Cemetery in Watsonville.
August 1, 2002
Carol Bostad
Services will be Aug. 8 for Carol Bostad, who died Wednesday at her Aptos home. She was 85.
She was a native of San Jose. She spent her childhood in Santa Cruz and graduated from Santa Cruz High School. In 1943, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where she worked at the Oakland Army Base. She later moved to the Midwest, settling in Huron, Ohio, where she lived 35 years. After her husband’s death, she returned to Santa Cruz, where she lived since 1995.
She attended Twin Lakes Church and was an active volunteer. She was a hospital volunteer while living in Ohio and donated time to the Salvation Army. Her family remembered her as a talented musician who enjoyed painting, crafts and gardening.
She is survived by daughters Sandra Wadhams of Watsonville and Barbara Bostad; stepson John Bostad of Minnesota; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Aug. 8 at Oakwood Chapel on Paul Sweet Road in Santa Cruz. Arrangements are by the Santa Cruz Watsonville Cremation Service.
Contributions are preferred to the American Red Cross or the Salvation Army.
August 1, 2002
Kay Green
Services were held Sunday for Kay Green, who died Thursday of natural causes in Santa Cruz. She was 85.
Mrs. Green was a San Francisco native and a graduate of St. Peter’s Academy. She also was a member of New Life Center Church and worked for Santa Cruz District Attorney Art Danner.
Mrs. Green enjoyed reading, music and ice skating.
She is survived by daughters Cathy Bonner of Newport Beach, and Carol Rovegno and Nancy Stiles of Santa Cruz; a son, Stephen Green of Santa Rosa; a sister, Jean Bubak; a brother, John Durney; and 13 grandchildren.
Services were held Sunday at New Life Center Church with private interment following.
Arrangements are by Benito and Azzaro Pacific Gardens Chapel.
August 12, 2002
Edith Parlier
Services will be Monday for Edith Parlier, who died Tuesday in Millbrae. She was 96.
Mrs. Parlier was born in Oakland and lived in Capitola for about 40 years.
She worked as an elementary school teacher for many years, for Patterson School District and at Gault Elementary School in the Santa Cruz City School District.
Mrs. Parlier was a member of Soquel Congregational Church, Islam Temple No. 25 of the Daughters of the Nile, Malta White Shrine No. 18, Santa Cruz Redwood Chapter No. 273 Order of the Eastern Star, San Lorenzo Valley Court No. 99 Order of the Amaranth and the California Retired Teachers Association.
She loved music and was well known in fraternal orders throughout the Bay Area for her piano and organ playing. She also served as presiding officer for several orders.
Mrs. Parlier was a gracious, gentle lady, family members say.
She is survived by daughters Pauline Yetter of Millbrae and Barbara Brewer of Antioch; a son, Donald Parlier of Pleasant Hill; six grandchildren; four great-grandchildren and four great, great-grandchildren.
Friends may call from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at Oakwood Memorial Chapel, 3301 Paul Sweet Road, Santa Cruz.
Services are 1 p.m. Monday at Oakwood’s Crystal Chapel. The Malta White Shrine of Santa Cruz and a Soquel Congregational Church minister will officiate. Burial will be at Oakwood Memorial Park.
A reception will be held after Burial at the Santa Cruz Masonic Temple, 828 N. Branciforte Drive.
Contributions are preferred in her memory to Shriners Hospital for Children, 2425 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95817.
August 16, 2002
Michael Waitzman
At his request no services will be held for Michael Waitzman, who died Tuesday at his Watsonville home. He was 54.
Mr. Waitzman was a longtime Watsonville resident who owned Michael’s Fresh Fish in Watsonville for many years.
He enjoyed collecting jewelry and loved his cat, Mickey, who recently died. His parents had owned and operated Jewelry by Waitzmans in Aptos.
He is survived by numerous nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles.
His parents, Richard and Barbara Waitzman, died before him.
Contributions are preferred to the American Heart Association, 1710 Gilbreth Road, Burlingame, CA 94010, the American Cancer Society, Dominican Hospital Education Building, 1555 Soquel Drive, Santa Cruz, CA 95065 or Hospice Caring Project, PO Box 670, Aptos, CA 95001.
Cremations arrangements are by Mehl’s Colonial Chapel.
August 16, 2002
Rebeca Mendez Batista
Private family services will be held for Rebeca Mendez Batista, who died July 30 in Santa Cruz. She was 42.
Ms. Batista was born and raised in Modesto and lived in Capitola and Santa Cruz for several years.
She graduated from Thomas Downey High School and attended Modesto Junior College, Cabrillo College and Wayne’s Beauty School.
Ms. Batista worked in customer service for a Santa Cruz travel company and had taught preschool.
She loved children and was at her best working with them, family members say, adding that she was an excellent student and a wonderful writer.
She was a member of Twin Lakes Church.
Ms. Batista is survived by her parents, Ramon and Laura Batista of Modesto; sisters Diana Hillas and Norma Batista-Kelm, both of Modesto; brothers Ramon Batista IV of Modesto and David Batista of Claremont; six aunts; three uncles; five nieces; and seven nephews.
Private family services will be Saturday.
Contributions are preferred to The Rebeca M. Batista Memorial Scholarship Fund, Account No. 202224-0, MOCSE Federal Credit Union, 1400 J St., Modesto, CA 95351.
Arrangements are by the Neptune Society.
August 16, 2002
The Rev. Joseph Watt
Services are today for The Rev. Joseph "Father Joe" Raymond Watt, who died Tuesday at Freedom Manor. He was 72.
The Rev. Watt was born in Lima, Ohio, and graduated high school at St. Meinard’s Seminary in St. Meinard, Ind.
He served in the Monterey Diocese for several years, including parishes in Corralitos and Capitola during the 1970s and 1980s.
The Rev. Watt entered Our Lady of Gethsemani Trappist Monastery in Trappist, Ky., in 1950 and was ordained June 29, 1960, the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul.
He came to the Monterey Diocese when he was assigned to St. Patrick’s Church in Arroyo Grande, and also served at St. Angela’s in Pacific Grove, San Carlos in Monterey and St. Francis Xavier in Seaside, where he established a mission church, St. Matthias.
The Rev. Watt helped build Holy Eucharist Church in Corralitos and served there from 1974-1983 before he was reassigned to St. Joseph’s in Capitola.
He left St. Joseph’s in 1985 and took a one-year sabbatical, working at the Center for Attitudinal Healing in Tiburon and St. Patrick’s Church in Larkspur. After a 1990 liver transplant, he served at St. Angeles in Pacific Grove.
The Rev. Watt retired in 1996 and lived in Aptos and then at the Salesian Sisters School in Corralitos before moving to Freedom Manor.
He is survived by a sister, Ruth Jennings of Bluffton, Ohio; a twin sister, Jean Hogan of Watsonville; and several nieces and nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be 11 a.m. Friday at Holy Eucharist Church. Bishop Sylvester Ryan and the Rev. Jerry McCormick will officiate.
Following cremation, his ashes will be taken to Trappist Monastery in Kentucky.
Arrangements are by Davis Memorial Chapel.
August 16, 2002
