From Santa Cruz, California:
July 29, 2002
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.
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.
August 1, 2002
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.
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.
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.
