United States High School Yearbooks by County
Charles C. Mambretti
Services will be Tuesday for Charles C. Mambretti, who died Saturday at a local convalescent hospital. He was 88.
Mr. Mambretti was born in Connecticut, but grew up in Santa Cruz. He lived much of his adult life in San Francisco. He returned to Santa Cruz upon his retirement in the 1970s.
Mr. Mambretti is a former member of the Italian Catholic Federation and the Family of St. Joseph.
He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Lena of Santa Cruz; daughter Anna Marie Sreckovic; and one grandchild, both of Nice, France.
A memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be at noon Tuesday at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, 126 High St., Santa Cruz. A private interment will be at Santa Cruz Memorial Park Mausoleum.
Arrangements are by Benito & Azzaro’s Pacific Gardens Chapel, 1050 Cayuga St., Santa Cruz.
Contributions may be made to a favorite charity.
July 29, 2002
Patricia G. Stafford
Services will be Tuesday for Patricia G. Stafford, who died Friday at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Clara. She was 76.
Mrs. Stafford was born and raised in Oak Park, Ill. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in biological science in 1947. She married Curtis Stafford that same year. After living in MIchigan for a few years, the pair moved to San Jose in 1957. Twenty years later they moved to Santa Cruz. She taught for many years at Dartmouth Junior High School in San Jose.
Mrs. Stafford was a member of the Resurrection Catholic Church and the Sweet Adelines singing group in San Jose. She loved to cook, read and sing.
She is survived by husband, Curtis of Santa Cruz; son M. Chad of Merced; daughter Megan Siegel of Tokyo; brothers Robert Gaynor of Texas and William Gaynor of Arizona; and three grandchildren.
Her parents, Matthew and Marie Gaynor, and brother Bud Gaynor died earlier.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Resurrection Catholic Church, 7600 Soquel Drive, Aptos. Internment will follow at Oakwood Memorial Park on Paul Sweet Road in Santa Cruz.
Arrangements are by Benito & Azzaro’s Pacific Garden Chapel, 1050 Cayuga St., Santa Cruz.
Contributions may be made to a favorite charity.
July 29, 2002
David Robert Gradone
Services will be Tuesday for David Robert Gradone, who died at his home in Corralitos Tuesday. He was 53.
Mr. Gradone was a lifelong resident of Watsonville. He graduated from Watsonville High School in 1967 and attended Cabrillo College. He served in the Air Force.
He is survived by his wife, Leslie Gradone of Corralitos; sons Mike Gradone, Cody Gradone and Chris Gradone, all of Watsonville; daughters Summer Gradone of Hayward and Tracy Gradone of Corralitos; parents Marian and Tony Gradone of Watsonville; brothers Dino and James Gradone, both of Watsonville; and sister Karen Rogers of Watsonville.
A Mass will celebrated Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Valley Catholic Church in Watsonville. Burial will follow at Pajaro Valley Memorial Park, 127 Hecker Pass Road, Watsonville
The family asks that donations be made to an educational trust set up for Michael and Cody Gradone at the Pajaro Branch of Wells Fargo Bank in Watsonville, Account No. 0178847885.
Arraignments are by Mehl’s Colonial Chapel.
June 2, 2002
Rolland W. Davis
Services will be private for retired Chief Petty Officer Rolland W. "Bill" Davis, who died Friday in Watsonville after a long illness. He was 69.
Mr. Davis began his military career in the Army, serving in the 51st Signal Battalion during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Five years after he was discharged - 1958 - Mr. Davis joined the Coast Guard. He served in Vietnam aboard a Coast Guard cutter and on an icebreaker that plowed through ice near Greenland to allow other ships through. He had several assignments stateside, including a stint as chief inspector in Cleveland. His last assignment was on Governors Island, N.Y. He retired in 1981.
Mr. Davis, a Watsonville resident for 17 years, was born in Columbus, Ohio. His last job was with Baldwin’s Cabinet shop, where he worked for three years.
He had been a member of the national Chief Petty Officer’s Association, as well as the Golden Gate chapter; Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1716; the National Association for Uniformed Services; and Church of the Nazarene.
He is survived by his wife of 23 years, Ruby "Sammy Sue" Davis of Watsonville; daughters and sons-in-law Pamela and Jeff Hiatt of Wilmore, Ky., and Janet and John LaJoie of Roseville; Diane Healy of Red Lion, Penn.; stepdaughter Judy Pattison of Hayward; stepdaughter and son-in-law Kelly and Daniel Richards of Concord; brother John D. Davis of Hilliard, Ohio; and 12 grandchildren.
Mr. Davis will be interred with military honors at Pajaro Valley Memorial Park.
Contributions are preferred to the National Kidney Foundation or the American Diabetes Association.
June 2, 2002
Agatha George
Services will be Saturday for Agatha George, who died May 29 in Santa Cruz. She was 67.
Ms. George was a native of Creston, B.C., and a member of the North American Kootenay Tribe. She lived in Santa Cruz for 45 years, was an avid Oakland Raiders fan and was known as "mom" to friends.
She is survived by sons, Tony Salazar, Robert Salazar, David Salazar and John Salazar.
Her daughter, Gloria, died before her.
A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lighthouse Christian Fellowship, 4525 Soquel Drive, with a reception at the DeLaveaga Park Cathedral section.
Arrangements are by Santa Cruz Memorial Park and Funeral Home.
June 6, 2002
Dorothy Faye Harper
No services are planned for Dorothy Faye Harper, who died Tuesday at her Santa Cruz County home from cancer.
She was 80.
A native of Tonica, Ill., she had been a county resident for 43 years. She enjoyed playing bingo and will be remembered for her wit and sense of humor, her family said.
She was most recently a homemaker and at one time worked at a Chicago advertising agency. Mrs. Harper was a member of Santa Cruz Methodist Church.
She is survived by daughter Nancy Falcon of Soquel; sons Steve M. Harper of Salem, Ore., and George M. Harper of Santa Cruz; and sister Eileen Dilts of Tucson, Ariz.
She was preceded in death by husband Ted. E. Harper; sister Marguerite Sheffield; and brothers Glen Morris and Gene Morris.
No services are planned. The Neptune Society will handle cremation and Burial at sea.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Hospice Caring Project of Santa Cruz, 6851 Soquel Drive, Aptos.
June 6, 2002
Gordon Ashworth
Services will be Saturday for Gordon Ashworth, who died Sunday. He was 72.
Ashworth lived in Santa Cruz for 40 years. He worked as a banker and appraiser for Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco and Watsonville. He later worked for Salinas Valley Savings and Loan, which eventually became Washington Mutual, where he became a manager before retiring in 1977.
He was a member of the Exchange Club and Kiwanis, the Chamber of Commerce and St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. He was active in Little League and was a member of the Aptos High School Booster Club. He was an avid San Francisco 49ers fan.
He is survived by his wife, Shirley Ashworth of Aptos; daughter Lisa Kincade of Eugene, Ore.; son Michael Ashworth of St. Louis; stepdaughter Diane Ruby of Chico and stepson John Kuehl of Monterey; and sister Patricia Hall of Pleasant Hills.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Cabrillo College Stroke Center, 501 Upper Park Road, Santa Cruz or to St. Andrews Presbyterian Church.
Arrangements are by Santa Cruz Memorial Park and Funeral Home.
June 6, 2002
Roscoe Frank Thomas
Private services are planned for Roscoe Frank Thomas who died Tuesday in Santa Cruz. He was 83.
Thomas was born in Denver and raised in Santa Fe, N.M. He served with the Army engineers in the Pacific during World War II.
He earned a degree in civil engineering in 1951 from the University of New Mexico, and moved with his family to Santa Cruz in 1957. He worked at Bowman and Williams, where he retired as president in 1988.
He was a member of the American Society of Engineers, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, California Council of Civil Engineers and Land Surveyors and the Society of American Military Engineers. Before he retired, he served on the city Water Board and the county Planning Appeals Board.
He loved lawn bowling and playing golf and bridge.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy D. Thomas; son Doug Thomas of Santa Monica; daughter Rhys Maruska of Santa Cruz; stepmother Olga Thomas of Caledonia, Minn.; and brother Jim Thomas of Hemet.
Arrangements are by Benito and Azzaro Pacific Gardens Chapel.
June 6, 2002
