In Our Care
Jackson Claflin Stromberg
Surrounded by family, Jackson (Jack) Claflin Stromberg passed away in his Mill Valley, CA home on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. He was 88 years old.
Jack was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Jackson C. Stromberg Sr., whose family had recently immigrated from Germany, and Jeanette Stromberg who could trace her lineage back to 1619 Jamestown. With little formal education, Jack Senior used his training as a tailor to become a successful entrepreneur building a men’s clothing business in the growing southwestern city. Jeanette put herself through Mount Holyoke College by working as a librarian. Once back in Albuquerque, she became a committed community volunteer and eventually a philanthropist who is remembered for her passion for education. The Jeanette Stromberg Library at the Community College of New Mexico is a source of family pride.
The combination of their father’s work ethic and mother’s love of learning were instilled in Jack and his two sisters, Gretchen and Ilsa, and younger brother, Kurt, at an early age. In high school, Jack became a ribbon-winning calf-roper, captain of his football team, long-jump record holder, and class valedictorian. After what he remembered as his ”idyllic” childhood, Jack left New Mexico to attend Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.
At Dartmouth, Jack majored in philosophy, competed on the track team, skied alongside the Dartmouth Ski Team, and proudly belonged to Casque and Gauntlet, a senior society devoted to the “fellowship of men.” He was active in the rich intellectual life at Dartmouth and made many lifelong friends at his beloved “college on the hill.”
After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth, Jack was selected to become a Rhodes Scholar. He studied philosophy at the University of Oxford in England where he met his soon-to-be-wife, Elizabeth Hoem. Born during World War II and raised in the reconstruction of war-torn Norway, Elizabeth was sent to England to study business at St. Clare’s Hall. There Jack and Elizabeth were introduced by Jack’s friend and fellow Rhodes Scholar, Kris Kristofferson. For years afterward, Kris teased that Jack had stolen Elizabeth from him, but Jack was smitten from day one and insisted, “Kris was never even in the competition.”
After Oxford and their wedding in Norway, Jack and Elizabeth moved to the U.S. where Jack attended Stanford Law School eventually becoming an editor of the Stanford Law Review. After Jack graduated from Stanford in 1963, he became a corporate lawyer at Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges in San Francisco. He, Elizabeth, and their new baby daughter moved to Mill Valley where they put down roots and would remain for the rest of their lives.
Jack soon rose to become a partner at Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges, where he specialized in corporate and securities law. He was recruited by Bechtel Enterprises, Inc. to become their Assistant General Counsel under Casper Weinberger. Jack was soon tapped to become Treasurer of Bechtel Group, Inc. then he became Senior Vice President of Bechtel Corporation, and eventually was promoted to President of Bechtel Financing Services, Inc. where he was responsible for global project financing and development and ownership of various Bechtel projects. He retired as Managing Director and Executive Vice President of Bechtel Enterprises, Inc.
Jack served on the Board of Trustees of the World Affairs Council of Northern California, was a member of the San Francisco Committee on Foreign Relations. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the British American Chamber of Commerce, served on the Advisory Committee of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and was a member of the Board of Directors of J.P. Morgan Securities Asia, Ltd.
Beyond his illustrious career, Jack was also an adventurer. He traveled to nearly every continent and was an avid skier. He spent endless days skiing the terrain at Squaw Valley in Tahoe (now The Palisades). He was also a regular at CMH (Canadian Mountain Holidays) where he skied over 1M vertical feet of Heli-Skiing. He only stopped skiing in his late ‘70s when his doctor told him his knees and hips couldn’t take much more. Jack also loved golf. He was a regular at The Meadow Club in Fairfax and loved the camaraderie and sportsmanship that golf brought into his life, especially after retirement from Bechtel.
While he nurtured his friendships and was exceptional in maintaining them, family was also a priority for Jack. He and Elizabeth had three children, Lisen, Chet, and Kirsten. He was a father who loved debating at the kitchen table and opening his children to a wider world. At the same time, he could make you laugh at his quirky, silly jokes, and see the world through his optimistic approach towards life. He and Elizabeth created many great family traditions in Mill Valley and Lake Tahoe that will be sorely missed. They were lucky to have six grandchildren nearby and two more in Italy who visited frequently.
Jack’s strong character and high integrity were personal hallmarks. He was a heroic partner to Elizabeth when she was diagnosed with PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy) five years before her death in 2020. Their relationship was always loving, but when Elizabeth’s health declined precipitously, his love and care for her were truly inspiring. Though he wasn’t a religious person himself, he recognized Elizabeth found great strength in her church community and he regularly joined her on Sundays and participated in church activities. He loved international travel, as did Elizabeth, but when she could no longer travel far from home, he planned short trips for her enjoyment.
Jack Stromberg will be remembered for his devotion to family and friends, consistent enthusiasm and optimism in life, and insatiable curiosity, all anchored in a value system that guided his everyday actions. He was a friend to many, a role model to all, and an example of a life well-lived.
He leaves behind his daughters, Lisen and Kirsten Stromberg; son, Chet Stromberg; son-in-law, Bill Rossi; and grandkids: Will, Maret, and Soren Rossi; Savanna, Graydon, and Caleb Stromberg; and Kai and Liam Ridolfi. Known as “Daddy Daddy” to all, he will be deeply missed.
Family and friends will be gathering at the Meadow Club on December 21st for a Celebration of Jack Stromberg’s Life. If you would like to join us, please RSVP here.
For those who can’t attend, in lieu of flowers, please consider donating to The International District Library, the All Faith’s Children Advocacy Center , or to your preferred charity in his name.
Susan English Fetcho (Miller) January 22, 1953 – July 31, 2024
Susan English Fetcho (Miller) January 22, 1953 – July 31, 2024
Anyone touched by Susan Fetcho will miss her deeply. Her knowing smile, her thoughtful pauses, her regal presence, her pleasing voice—all her unique traits are remembered and recounted time and again by those she encountered along her epic, influential journey. Out of many amazing qualities, one rare gift that stands out to close friends and colleagues was her wisdom when conflicts surfaced. You could always count on Susan to listen intently and respond compassionately with a calming presence. Along the way, Susan cultivated a broad, grateful community of friends and artists, neighbors and gourmands with her soulmate, David. They filled the world by wholeheartedly sharing their music, wit, and light. They were so well paired that sometimes it is hard to find the thread where one begins and the other ends.
Susan entered the world in New York City on January 20th, 1953 as the first of three children born to Lois Edith (Reichhard) Miller and Ryland Duke Miller, starting life on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. She is descended from the Adam Miller family, who befriended Daniel Boone, as the first settlers to farm Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and erect a log cabin, which still stands.
The Millers moved to Deerfield, Illinois in 1958, where Susan excelled in gymnastics, dance, concert viola, snow skiing and horsemanship. She loved riding the family’s sturdy Belgian/quarter horse cross, Apollo, named to honor NASA’s moon missions, and skillfully competed in the arcane art of Barrel Racing (!) and other equestrian events. Susan graduated from Deerfield High School in 1971 and the University of Denver in 1975 after a year in Heidelberg, Germany, studying abroad and traveling extensively throughout Europe.
Throughout her life, Susan developed close friendships with all the family’s animals—especially the dogs—and picked up an encyclopedic appreciation for flowers, birds, and hummingbirds in particular. In recent years, Susan and David delighted in the antics and attitudes of their Belgian Tervurens, BeBop and Tango.
Susan married her soul mate David on June 25, 1977. Separating their efforts can be challenging, as they mentored each other for 45 years, distinct and yet conjoined in their efforts and intellect. Together, they gifted hundreds of individuals with their talents, wit, and warmth, combining their innate creativity and spiritual energies to countless and amazing projects as well as many earnest conversations, always driven by a passionate love for the arts and for truth. They eagerly shared their awe of the possibility of infinite creativity at arts conferences and workshops that took them from Oakland to Australia, New Zealand, Bali, Chile, and Oxford.
For over 25 years, Susan taught music, dance and art as a Performing Arts faculty member at St. Paul’s Episcopal School in Oakland, California, never ceasing to be surprised and delighted by the imaginations of her young students. The opportunity to open up a young person’s eyes to the joy that the arts can produce always drove her to put 200% of herself into teaching. Susan’s love for music wove a thread through her entire life, from elementary school to high school church choirs, to joyful participation right up to the end in Appalachian Shape-Note and Sacred Harp meetings around America and with a local Balkan Community Choir called Zele. In recent years, her foundation supported artists like Kitka, an Oakland-based women’s choir performing Balkan and Slavic music. Instruments, guitars, whistles, ocarinas, tambourines and keyboards were available for ready music making complimented a beautiful collection of original art work throughout the Fetcho home.
In the 1980s, Susan and David co-founded the New Berkeley Performance Consort, an intermedia and collaborative performance ensemble. They ultimately composed, produced, directed, and performed in more than a dozen original dance/music/theatre productions for theatrical, collegial, and liturgical venues over a fourteen-year period. As a dancer, Susan remained close friends with her beloved core group of dancers all her life. NBPC performed and taught in the greater San Francisco Bay area and internationally, by invitation. During the unwieldy age of film and non-digital media, NBPC incorporated original film, live acting, sculpture, recordings and video segments as integral creative components, collaborating with college students and professional artists. Such works intentionally challenged the creative status quo and the clichés that so often characterized in religious art at the time.
In the late ‘80s, the Fetchos founded BàCAN, the Bay Area Christians in the Arts Network, overseeing a fellowship of artists based at Berkeley’s First Presbyterian Church and New College Berkeley for more than a decade. They taught liturgical design at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, and accepted invitations to lecture widely on issues pertaining to the need for spiritual expression in the contemporary arts and artistic expression in theological studies. Susan and David collaborated as liturgical designers/consultants with many churches and national organizations here and abroad. They strove to bridge the divide between theology and the arts during conference workshops for IMAGE: A Journal of the Arts and Religion (1992, 1993), New College Berkeley, CIVA/Christians In the Visual Arts (1995), and the C.S. Lewis Foundation (1998) in Oxford. Susan served as a trustee of Radix Magazine, a thoughtful and incisive interfaith publication, for years. They also co-produced many documentaries at great personal expense, eventually through Found LightTV, including Out of Bounds, a refreshing look at seven emerging Bay Area artists (1995); Los Dias de los Muertos for the Oakland Museum of California (2001); and I Can Feel Another Planet in My Soul, about the renowned outsider/visionary artist, Howard Finster, which debuted at Lehigh University (2008). Found Light TV also produced programs for educational, religious, non-profit and corporate markets.
Susan is survived by her brother Craig Montgomery Miller (Judy Danskin) of Alexandria, Ontario, Canada; her cousins Penny Payne Olson (Michael) of Port Washington and Greenport, NY and Holly English-Payne of Proctor, Vermont; John Miller of Evanston, Illinois; Liz Miller Leonard of Wilmette, Illinois; and Laura Miller Bala of Cleveland, Ohio; her niece Cassady Rebecca Johnson Einglett (Bradd) of Hohenwald, Tennessee; and great-nephew Adam Johnson (Ashley) and their daughters in Columbus, Georgia.
Over the past decade, Susan bravely met the medical challenges of her life with courage, grace and a great sense of humor. A devoted researcher, Susan and her close-knit circle of friends quickly determined diet and exercise regimens to improve her prognosis. Her first bout with cancer came and went more than a decade ago, and life went on for years afterwards. Facing her own mortality during this time, she bravely elected to travel, to sing, to perform, and to live life even more fully. As she wrote in the East Bay Times:
My brother is a professional harmonica player. From him I’ve learned that the instrument is animated by two actions: blowing and sucking. Sounds rude, but it’s true. Inhale and exhale. Ebb and flow. Yin and yang. Life’s all about balance. When cancer shows up, you realize that yours has become—as in the film Koyaanisqatsi—a life out of balance, a microcosm of our planet’s crisis.
Learning that her first cancer treatment had been successful, she reflected:
You resolve to excise the phrase ‘sometime we should’ from your vocabulary. You pray for deliverance from the demon of multi-tasking, discipling yourself to your Zen-master dogs and your kindergarten students who practice presence in the now. You keep gratitude lists: artichokes, Bebop, bees, David, family, friends, pesto, Tango, zydeco. You become an omnivore, a slow-food flexitarian, each colorful fruit and vegetable, grain and legume bringing unique cancer-blocking phytochemicals to the healing potluck. You sing your heart out, your attention so completely absorbed that time disappears. Ellington and Elvis. Balkan women’s music and sacred harp. You sail past Angel Island into the sunset and back to Berkeley under a sky full of stars, your gaze rising to meet the curved embrace of their flickering benediction. You give thanks for the ecology of kindness that has sustained you, and hope that the pursuit of balance, of work and rest, passion and play, mission and creativity might just save your life. You remember to breathe. Out and in. In and out.
In February 2021, David unexpectedly passed away, and shortly after this shocking loss, cancer challenged a different area of Susan’s body, requiring surgery and a protracted and difficult chemo management protocol. Friends were relieved when this regimen extended her life once more, enabling joyful reunions and travel to Mendocino (a favorite getaway with David), Spain, and the Northwest USA. Susan also rejoiced that the treatment somehow resulted in ‘the best haircut’ of her life—so good that she could retire her trademark hats, essential in the past for corralling her wild and wayward hair. Silver linings indeed.
Susan mentored hundreds of children as the Fetchos responded to their inability to have their own by gathering a vibrant village of ‘multi-talented artists and good people’, as Susan would put it, who benefited from their companionship immeasurably. All who knew her are thankful for this community of helpers and advisors, who contributed with all their hearts during Susan’s efforts to coordinate David’s memorial, and the last days that followed. We are thankful that Susan now knows where we go in the hereafter that she sang and danced and wrote about so beautifully, in anticipation.
From “The Farthest Field” by David Dodson, selected by Susan for David’s memorial service:
There is a land high on a hill
Where I am going, there is a voice that calls to me…
…The fragrant flowers, the days and hours
Will not be counted, and peaceful songs will fill the air
Walk with me and we will see the mystery revealed
When one day we wend our way up to the farthest field.
Oh my dear friends, I truly love
To hear your voices a-lifted up in radiant song
Though through the years, we all have made
Our separate choices, we’ve ended here where we belong.
Vyolet Chu
Celebration of Life
August 9, 2024 at 11:00am
Vyolet Chu, at 101 years old, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her children, Dorinne Low and Alan Chu. She is predeceased by her loving husband, Daniel and her 2nd daughter, Liane. She was the last of her family of 9 children to leave this life.
Vyolet is survived by her daughter, Dorinne Low, son, Alan Chu; grandsons, Christian Low, Ryan Low (Panner), Todd Low, Kumar Corcoran; great grandchildren, Santino Low, Nina Low, Simone Low; and many nieces and nephews.
Vyolet was a pillar of the Chinese community having been a founding member and past president of the Chinese Historical Society of America. She served as an officer for the Chinese Cultural Center and was appointed by Dianne Feinstein and served as Asian Art Commissioner for the City of San Francisco for 12 years.
Vyolet and Daniel came to San Francisco from Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1954 with their two daughters, Dorinne and Liane. In 1957, their son Alan was born. Vyolet worked for Singer Sewing Company and after some years, took a position with Trader Vic's as buyer for all of the restaurant's gift shops.
She opened her own wig and cosmetics store aptly name Ultra Vyolet's in the 1960's. She furnished hair pieces to cancer patients and made such an impact for so many cancer patients that she received an award from the American Cancer Society.
At the age of 45, she went back to school to earn her bachelor's degree and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of San Francisco. She never slowed down with her fundraising efforts for worthy projects into her 80's and even then, was mentoring her juniors. Even after retirement, Vyolet continued to give her time toward community fund raising.
One of her fund-raising efforts was for building a school computer lab in Xishuangbana in Yunnan Province, China, for the indigent teenage girls in the region.
Not one to let moss gather, Vyolet and Daniel traveled extensively. Their trips took them to China, Russia, Europe, the Middle East, Turkey, Egypt, Southeast Asia, Taiwan and of course Hawaii. One of the last things she said she wanted to do was to go back to Honolulu in June 2024 to see the King Kamehameha Day Parade "one last time" as she put it, as traveling was getting to be just too difficult for her.
Vyolet is dearly missed by her family and friends, all whose lives she touched. We send her our love and aloha.
A celebration of Vyolet’s life will be held on August 9, 2024, 11am-2pm, at Fernwood Cemetery, 301 Tennessee Valley Road, Mill Valley, Ca.
There will be a Zoom recording starting at 11am,
Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/2526248888?pwd=rrOR7z2wQikGmhwaWGZbHPkVW9z5q5.1&omn=83215295288
Passcode: 315315
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Vyolet Chu’s name to your favorite charity or to The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco or The American Cancer Society.
Eric Thor Churchwell
Celebration of Life
July 27th, 2024 at 1:30pm Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica, CA
Today, and every day moving forward, we will celebrate the life of our brother, an all-around kindly loyal soul, Eric Thor Churchwell. A longtime resident and beloved member of the Westborough community, who departed on June 22, 2024, at the young age of 51 in South San Francisco, California.
Eric was born on March 15, 1973, to his loving parents, Dr. Caesar and Ruth Churchwell in San Francisco, California.
Beginning at a young age, and throughout his high school, and college years, “E. Church” was known as an outstanding athlete. Energetically playing basketball, football, baseball, and running track. As an adult, “Uncle Bubble” loved watching the youth play sports. He was continuously cheering on the sidelines with a big warm smile on his face.
In his early adult life, “Loc” travelled to Texas and lived there for several years. In the year 2000 he met Iselle Correa, and together in 2003, they had the astounding Caesar Jahmal Churchwell, the light of Eric’s life.
“Bubble” was a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan and a die-hard 76ers fan. The love of his favored teams would often have him in several spirited debates with friends and especially his crew. Eric brought immense joy and happiness to everyone around him. His charming smile and infectious laugh will be deeply missed.
Eric is preceded in death by his father, Dr. Churchwell, his mother, Ruth, and his brother, Budd.
Our brother is survived by his son Caesar, sister Gabrielle, brother Jonathan, nephew Jason, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends.
Eric’s Earthly presence was genuinely felt by all who were fortunate to have known him. His spirit will live on in the memories we hold dear.
Rest Peacefully in Paradise Eric Thor Churchwell
A celebration of life will be held at
Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica, CA
July 27th, 2024 at 1:30pm
Barbara Anne Ferst
April 3,1934 - June 23, 2024
Barbara Anne Ferst passed away in her home in Larkspur, California on Sunday June 23rd, 2024 surrounded by her family and loved ones. Barbara is survived by her five children Kathleen Sell (Paul), Susan Berger (Don), Stephen Ferst, Daniel Ferst (Daphne), David Ferst (Melissa), and her ten grandchildren. She had been battling chronic physical pain from a back operation twenty years earlier. Despite her constant pain, she remained a loyal and caring mother and grandmother – she will be sorely missed.
Barbara, or Bobbie as we endearingly called her, was born in Long Island, New York on April 3, 1934. She attended Hofstra University and immediately began a career with Time and Life Magazine in New York City.
While working for Time and Life she met our father Richard Edward Ferst. This would be the beginning of a sixty-two-year marriage which yielded six children and a fascinating life in six countries—Havana, Cuba; Caracas, Venezuela; Mexico City, Mexico; Los Gatos, California; São Paulo, Brazil; and Toronto, Canada before retiring to Los Gatos in 1985 with Richard. It is safe to say that if two people were meant to be together it would be our parents. Their love was strong and abiding.
Barbara was a loving, happy and devoted wife and mother. She was also an avid tennis player throughout her life, a successful real estate agent, talented bridge player, and an excellent hostess to our father’s overseas business and social engagements. Bobbie was always positive and supportive of our father and her children. When assigned to a foreign post, she quickly immersed herself in the new culture creating a comfortable home for her family where they could feel safe and thrive in their new environment.
While she struggled the last twenty years of her life, she maintained a positive outlook and was there for her five surviving children and ten grandchildren in the best possible way she could. She loved her family and would do anything for them. She will be greatly missed by all of us, and the friends she accumulated in her travels abroad.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to one of her favorite organizations, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation by clicking on the Donate Now button on www.t2t.org and clicking the “Dedicate donation in memory of” box and entering her name. Alternatively, you can email [email protected] in memory of her, or contact the organization at 718-987-1931 to make your donation by phone.
Service and interment will be held in Los Gatos, California where she will be buried next to Richard, her husband, and loyal companion of sixty-two years.
Elsie Schiff Yeager
December 23, 1927 – June 11, 2024
Elsie Yeager of Walnut Creek, CA passed away peacefully and with dignity on June 11 in her Rossmoor home. She was 96 years old and remained fiercely independent throughout her final days. Born and raised in Montreal to a family of Jewish immigrants who emigrated to Canada from Poland, Elsie excelled at school and had a passion for classical music She loved playing the piano from an early age and studied the instrument seriously into young adulthood, taught piano for a few years, and then played for her own enjoyment for most of her life.
In 1950, Elsie Schiff married Jack Yeager after meeting him while taking lessons from the same piano teacher. The couple shared their love of music and their lives for the next 63 years. When her only son, Mark, was born, Elsie devoted herself to being an exceptionally devoted mother and meticulous homemaker and took pride in maintaining a spotless home and becoming an extraordinary cook and baker, preparing delicious meals and baked goods for which she was renowned.
After 40 years in Montreal, Elsie, Jack, and Mark moved to Boston where Jack accepted a managerial position with the Gillette Company. In 1970 they settled in the town of Dover, southwest of Boston, where Elsie and Jack enjoyed small-town life and the pastoral countryside for the next 43 years. In 2013 when declining health made it too difficult to maintain the Dover home, Elsie and Jack moved to a new condo in the nearby Boston suburb of Natick. Elsie was instrumental in advocating for this change and finally convinced Jack, after years of perseverance, that downsizing to a one-level condo was a necessity. Elsie loved the ease of condo living but unfortunately Jack’s failing health led to his passing away 9 months later. Faced with an exceedingly difficult life choice, Elsie agreed (after being persuaded by her son) that she should relocate to the San Francisco Bay Area to be close to Mark and his spouse, Tim.
In December 2014, Elsie moved into a newly renovated condo in the Rossmoor community in Walnut Creek. At age 86 she adapted well to her new California life, loving the mild weather, enjoying attending concerts and exploring new cuisine in the Bay Area’s fine restaurants for several years until chronic pain severely limited her mobility. Despite many health challenges, she remained determined to live independently, which was made possible by her son's care, and the additional assistance of dedicated outside caregivers in her final months.
Elsie was predeceased by her husband Jack Yeager, her brother Harry Schiff and is survived by her son Mark Yeager, son-in-law Tim Blevins, nephew Jack Yeager, niece Linda Schiff and their respective families. A celebration of her life will be held at Fernwood Cemetery in Mill Valley on June 27 at 2:30 pm. She will also be remembered at a private reception at the home of her cousin in Wellesley Massachusetts on July 12.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Elsie’s honor to the Music at Menlo Chamber Music Festival and Institute. Click the below link to donate.
https://musicatmenlo.my.salesforce-sites.com/donate/?dfId=a0nHr000007zatfIAA
