Barbara Pace, center, on her deck, with members of the West Marin Chorus, circa 1970. |
Barbara Bullis Pace – matriarch of music
Obituary by Larken Bradley
Longtime Bolinas resident Barbara Bullis Pace, a founder of the West Marin Community Chorus and the West Marin Music Festival, died at home Easter Sunday, April 4, of natural causes. She was 94.
An alto singer and flutist, Ms. Pace opened her home and garden on Horseshoe Hill, hosting rehearsals and concerts of classical works and musicals. “She was the matriarch of the West Marin musical community,” said neighbor and fellow singer Susie Stewart. “Barbara loved above all things music, flowers, good food and good company.”
Well-known to musicians locally and from over the hill, Ms. Pace was involved in the production of 12 musicals including South Pacific; Fiddler on the Roof; and Carmina Burana. “We lived our entire summers at the [Bolinas] Community Center,” said Susie Stewart.
Ms. Pace moved from Berkeley to Bolinas in 1970, though her local roots stretch back to the 1890s, when her maternal grandfather, an early land surveyor for the county, built a cliff house on Terrace Avenue. It washed into the Pacific in the 1940s.
Hearth and home
“She dove right into the culture of Bolinas in the 70s and 80s,” said her daughter, Susan Pace.
Born in San Francisco on November 19, 1915, to Edward and Mabel Dodge Bullis, young Barbara grew up in Berkeley and San Rafael. She earned a degree in Botany from UC Berkeley and married a fellow student, Nello Pace, who became a professor of physiology at UC. The two divorced in the 1950s.
Ms. Pace worked as a medical secretary at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley.
Reserved and quiet, Ms. Pace was a homebody who enjoyed her house and garden. “She loved plants – that was a big part of her life,” said her daughter. “And cats and dogs.”
Family members
She eventually became something of an Anglophile, making several trips to England, though overall she preferred to be at home in Bolinas.
Ms. Pace is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Susan Pace and Jeff Labovitz of Sausalito and Bolinas; and Cindy and Ron Barber of Union City; four grandchildren; and one great-grandson.
Family members suggest any memorial contributions be made to West Marin Senior Services; the Marine Mammal Center; or to the Point Reyes Bird Observatory.
Plans for a memorial service to be held on May 1 are pending.
West Marin Citizen, April 22, 2010.
|
“The very most important thing that came through all the many positive associations we all had with Kathy, was how glad we always were to see her, to have her in the room, to just be with her, “said friend Kris Brown. “A poem by Julia Bartlett about Kathy expressed this beautifully.” (Photo credit: Dewey Livingston) |
Kathy M.
When your friend dies
you get another guardian angel maybe —
a bird tapping on your window
unexpected shower for your sweet pea starts
the perfect parking place
when you’re late.
But that doesn’t make up
for missing her squint-eyed laugh,
the way she bowed her head
when she listened to music,
or how good you felt
seeing her come into the room.
Julia Bartlett, Point Reyes Station, Feb. 4, 2010
|
Published in the West Marin Citizen February 18, 2010
Kathy Munger - educator who loved life, loved people
Obituary by Larken Bradley
Longtime Inverness resident Kathy Munger died unexpectedly at home Wednesday, February 3, from an apparent heart attack. She was 82.
A beloved community member, Mrs. Munger stood apart from the crowd in the way she related to others. She liked people, and it showed. “She was absolutely present with everybody,” said her daughter, Kerry Livingston.
Mrs. Munger performed on KWMR’s Turning Pages, on which she brought life to classic children’s stories including Anne of Green Gables and The Railway Children. “Kathy had a beautiful voice,” said Lyons Filmer, the station’s program director. “Her reading was full of character.”
She read also at West Marin School, the Inverness Library and to seniors at Stockstill House.
Santa Inez Valley
In mothering, her voice was an anchor for her five children. “It was never loud or mean, always calm and clear,” her son Ben Munger wrote in an e-mail message. “It was a major part of her life force. We all needed that voice in our lives as a calming, settling pool where we could gather ourselves.”
Mrs. Munger’s singing voice strengthened the alto section in the annual Messiah sing-a-long at the Dance Palace.
Katherine Griffith Landreth was born October 15, 1927, in Pasadena. Her father served as a Superior Court judge in Los Angeles. Young Kathy was sent north for high school, graduating from Katherine Branson School in Ross. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and met her future husband, Carl Munger, through a classmate. The two married the day after Christmas in 1948.
Her husband went into academics, eventually serving as headmaster of the Midland School in Los Olivos, Santa Barbara County, a boarding school where students live close to nature. At Midland, Mrs. Munger became librarian, dietician and head faculty wife. Her brother had attended Midland, and she was happy to return there. Family members continue to teach at and attend the school.
Landreth-Munger Meadow
The Mungers’ next scholastic stop was at the Urban School in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, where Mr. Munger was again headmaster. Mrs. Munger’s ability to connect with students made her his right hand.
In 1986 the couple retired and moved to a home on the three-acre Inverness meadow Mrs. Munger’s mother bought in the early 1960s.
In their retirement years the Mungers took up long-distance bicycling, pedaling from Inverness to the East Coast, around New Zealand and in England.
Locally they advocated for affordable housing and helped found CLAM, the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin.
Deep thinker
After her husband’s death in 2004, Mrs. Munger embraced a quieter life than the one she’d enjoyed with her gregarious spouse. She focused on family, playing the piano and reading. “Everything she did, she did well,” said Kerry Livingston.
“She was incredibly bright,” said another daughter, Kate Munger. “She had an incisive interest and perspective.”
She kept up with current events and was sought after for her opinions about politics. Said friend Kris Brown, “We knew Kathy’s sources - often The New Yorker - were reliable. She could address the complexity and subtlety of issues.”
Survivors
Mrs. Munger was predeceased by her husband, Carl Munger; and brother, Jim Landreth.
She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Kate Munger and Jim Fox; and Kerry and Dewey Livingston, all of Inverness; daughter, Louisa Munger of Los Alamos, New Mexico; sons and daughters-in-law, Jim and Esther Munger of The Sea Ranch; and Ben and Laurie Munger of Los Olivos; grandchildren, Kalloch Fox and his partner, Kristal Jones; Reuben Munger and his wife, Mindy Munger; Molly Livingston; Ben Livingston; Nora Livingston; Emma Munger; and Allie Hoof; and her great-grandchildren, Louis Carl Munger; and Sierra Rose Munger. A third great-grandchild is due in May.
Family members suggest any memorial contributions be made to Community Land Trust of West Marin (CLAM), PO Box 273, Point Reyes Station 94956; or to a favorite local charity or organization. |
Published in the West Marin Citizen February 11, 2010
Tomales resident Sandra Leicester died at home Sunday, February 7, of complications from breast cancer. She was 56.
Befitting Valentine’s Day this Sunday, the following is an essay by Ms. Leicester contributed by her family.
Goddess in overalls
By Sandy Leicester
I love you. Just so you know.
It doesn’t matter that we haven’t been introduced. We will probably never meet. But I am pretty sure that if we spent an hour together in honest engagement, you would know that I love you, and I would know that you love me. Our personalities may clash. We may not share the same political views. Our tastes may be poles apart. It is possible that we won’t have a single thing in common if our conversation isn’t daring enough. To get to the love, we have to go a little deeper, beyond the personality to the places where pretending that we don’t love each other seems like just too much work.
If we take an accounting of our distinctions before we affirm our bond, we will feel separated from each other. Yet, in the simple act of remembering that we have come from the same source and will one day return to it, our divine kinship will startle us into a loving connection, even if we are strangers. And this is why I can tell you that I love you. Why I must tell you. I need you to know that I support you in your journey, and that you are not alone. I pray for you all of the time that whatever you need is on its way to you. I want your joy to be full, and your suffering to be complete, brief and generous with wisdom. Though we never meet face to face, I encourage you to take risks and live your dreams, to be healthy and full of life. Your happiness, success and fulfillment are vital to me. I can surrender to my own joy more easily when I remember yours first. Our God is a brilliant God.
Beating around the bush is not something gardeners are inclined to do. We bend down and pull the weeds, freshen the mulch, adjust the line on the stake, prune dead branches, and offer a drink of water. The fruits of our labor are mostly spiritual, even when they are about practical ends such as putting food on the table for ourselves and others. If we were to adopt gardener’s behavior in the world at large, we would instantly grok the profound beauty in the Golden Rule, and how we could transform the entire planet into Paradise in the span of a single generation. Gardener is another name for God and Goddess.
In the business world, things are said to be done for profits. This is why the business world can believe in other lies such as ruthless competition and spinning reality for self centered aims. And it is why governments cease to represent all people. Spiritual reward seems to come to those who recognize the true value of their efforts regardless of the size of the paycheck. Big money without spiritual intent and understanding is a weapon of mass destruction. It is time for us to own up to the fact that we love each other. It is time for a new collective premise.
I’ve been a goddess in overalls for about ten years now. Before that, I was a marketing goddess in a business suit preparing to be a gardening goddess in overalls. The business world is about the flow of money; and gardening is about the flow of love. Over these ten years in overalls, of not flying, or wearing a watch, or mascara, and of faithfully watching the sun rise and set over my seven country acres, I have thought a lot about my experience as a marketing professional, about being strategic and focused on behalf of products and services superficially sold and superficially consumed. And I want to rush in with bouquets of perfumed flowers, potted trees, beautiful fabrics, and soft lighting to office complexes the world over. I want everyone to have a pet companion at all times. I want decision makers to be softened and warmed and inspired. We’re not all called to serve the same realities, to be sure. But we can and should be called to remember the One Reality that connects everything to everything else in our daily exchanges. We must learn to recognize love and point it out whenever we witness it, no matter who we are or where we are. Let’s not feel we must make a big fuss about it. Let’s take it in, and let it go...
So, now that you know I love you, I can speak more easily from my heart. I can share my Self with you. Encouraging you to love more liberates me to do likewise. The more we can do this for each other, the more we can trust what unfolds. And that’s where the really good stuff is. Its all about the bloom.
|
Published in the West Marin Citizen January 28, 2010
Don McIsaac - rancher, community leader dies at 93
Obituary by Larken Bradley
West Marin ranching patriarch Don McIsaac died January 15 in Sun City, Arizona, of complications suffered after taking a fall. He was 93.
A Nicasio native, for several decades Mr. McIsaac operated a ranch in Tocaloma now run by Ted McIsaac, one of his five sons. Originally a dairy operation, in the 1970s Mr. McIsaac switched over to beef cattle.
In an oral history interview given in 2004 to Citizen historian Dewey Livingston, Mr. McIsaac said, “A lot of people think because you have a dozen or a hundred cows, that you’re a millionaire, but it doesn’t work that way. We had some rough years. We had some good years. It was a good life. I wouldn’t change it, I don’t think.”
As one-time president of the Marin Resource Conservation District, Mr. McIsaac helped smooth relations between ranchers and environmentalists dealing with erosion issues in acreage adjoining local watersheds. “He certainly could listen, that was one of his traits,” said his son, Allan McIsaac of Novato. “He saw that we have to be working together.”
Lifetime achievement
Mr. McIsaac was a member of the Marin County Farm Bureau for more than 70 years and received the Farm Bureau’s 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award. He also served on the Marin County Grand Jury; was a West Marin Lions Club director; served as trustee on the boards of the West Marin and Olema school districts; and belonged to the California Cattlemen’s Association.
Donald Joseph McIsaac Jr. was born on the family ranch in Nicasio on July 16, 1916, to Donald and Nellie McIsaac. His maternal grandfather came from Ticino, Switzerland, and bought the Tocaloma ranch around 1870.
In his younger years, up until he was in his 40s, Mr. McIsaac played semi-pro baseball on the weekends. In those days, every little town had its own team.
After he graduated from San Rafael High School, he married his high-school sweetheart, Lorraine Jessie Janes. At the time of her death in 1994, they had been married for 54 years.
A few years later Mr. McIsaac was remarried to Arletta Robertson. In recent years, the two divided their time between a home in Sun City, Arizona, during the cool months and an Arizona mountain cabin during the summer. During frequent visits to West Marin, Mr. McIsaac made the rounds visiting old friends, making a special effort to see those who weren’t doing well.
Good listener
Mr. McIsaac had a sweetness and warmth about him. When talking with an individual, he had the habit of interjecting that person’s name into the conversation at regular intervals.
“He was probably a lot more emotional than people thought,” said Allan McIsaac. “He would always be concerned about what people were feeling.”
When he had a few hours to himself, he enjoyed hunting and fishing.
In addition to his first wife, Lorraine McIsaac, he was predeceased by his brother, Neil McIsaac.
Mr. McIsaac is survived by his wife, Arletta McIsaac of Sun City, Arizona; son, Douglas McIsaac of Scotia, Humboldt County; sons and daughters-in-law, Donald Jr. and Margaret McIssac of Sparks, Nevada; David and Candace McIsaac of Salt Lake City; Ted and Rhea McIsaac of Tocaloma; and Allan and Nina McIsaac of Novato; stepsons, Raymond Robertson of Sun City, Arizona; Bill Robertson of Colorado Springs, Colorado; stepdaughter, Loretta Ziegler of Phoenix; 16 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.
Funeral plans
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m., Friday, February 5, at Sacred Heart Church in Olema.
Family members suggest any memorial contributions be made to Hospice By The Bay; or to Hospice of Arizona.
|
Published January 21, 2010
Walter Pack – enterprising, good - hearted crusty curmudgeon
Obituary by Larken Bradley |
Longtime Lagunitas resident Walter J. Pack, a goat rancher, walnut grower and role model for productive living in one’s later years, died at home, Friday, January 15, from age-related congestive heart failure. He was 94.
In the weeks before his death, Mr. Pack saw a dream start to come true when he swung a mallet to begin demolition of an historically incorrect woodstove at Fort Ross State Park on the Sonoma coast. A son of Siberian immigrants, Mr. Pack had commissioned its replacement with an authentic replica of the kind of heating-and-cooking stove used in the 19th-century fur traders’ Russian settlement.
Though he didn’t live to light the new hearth’s fire, a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the stove will be held February 12, on what would have been Mr. Pack’s 95th birthday.
While working as a sales manager for the telephone company’s Yellow Pages, Mr. Pack hatched plans for his golden years. Some ventures thrived - others didn’t. He successfully grew giant walnuts, which he marketed with the advertising slogan, The Man with the Biggest Nuts in Town. He raised trout on his property and won prizes for his Borzoi wolfhounds.
Violinist
Mr. Pack tried his hand in the cashmere-production business, stocking his ranch with cashmere goats to provide the wool. In his 80s, he launched adventure-travel tours to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.
“Walter was a bit of a pioneer out here,” said neighbor Barney Felling. “He really wanted that mix of country and micro-city and animal husbandry.”
Born in San Francisco in 1915, he was originally named Vladimir Prokofyevich Koulakoff. His father, who worked as a carriage painter, later changed the family name to Pack to help them assimilate and gave his son a new first name while he was at it. His mother was, at the same time, famous for her pelmini, Russian dumplings typically eaten with a dollop of sour cream, followed by a vodka chaser.
A talented violinist, while still in high school young Walter played with symphony orchestras. At 19, he won a coveted laborer job on the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, but soon accepted a better offer, a position as a violinist on an ocean liner sailing around the world.
Modern home
In 1947 he bought property on Arroyo Road in Lagunitas and in the late 50s commissioned the design and building of a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired modern home with clerestory windows, built-in benches and a flat roof. He lived there with is wife Marion Pack, who died of cancer in the 1980s. A second marriage was brief and ended in divorce.
Mr. Pack is remembered by friends and neighbors as a “cantankerous old cuss with a heart of gold,” said friend Frank Binney.
“A piece of hard candy with a delightful soft middle is how I would best describe Mr. Pack,” said neighbor Jill Scarbrough.
Added his niece Nicole Goodman, “His personality could be quite crusty at times, and he was very opinionated, but his spunk always tickled me.”
Building bridges
Mr. Pack was active in many local activities including the San Geronimo Valley Lions Club. And thanks to him, the old bridge near Arroyo Road and Barranca Road got replaced, said Barney Felling.
He was predeceased by his wife, Marion Pack; sisters, Zena Hawkin; and Vera Marston; and his brothers, Nicolas Pack; Robert Pack; and Kenneth Pack.
Mr. Pack is survived by his niece, Nicole Goodman of Brentwood, Contra Costa County; and nephew, Nicholas Pack of Belmont.
He also leaves behind friends Frank Binney of Forest Knolls and Jeanette Pontacq of Point Reyes Station, who looked after him in his later years.
Burial will be in Olema Cemetery. His gravestone will be inscribed with the name he was given at birth, Vladimir Prokofyevich Koulakoff.
Memorial celebration
A memorial celebration will be held at 1 p.m., Sunday, January 24, at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center.
Memorial contributions may be made to West Marin Senior Services. |
 Published January 21, 2010
Phyllis Mattsson - chef at the old Old Viking
by Larken Bradley
Longtime Lagunitas resident Phyllis Mattsson, whose family-run restaurant, the Old Viking, was once a popular eatery across the road from St. Cecilia’s Church, died December 30 in a Vallejo hospital of natural causes. She was 86.
At the Old Viking, Mrs. Mattsson served a menu reflecting her German and French ancestry and her husband’s Swedish roots. Signature dishes included Swedish meatballs, duck a l’orange, and Jagerschnitzel, a cutlet with mushrooms and peppers. While husband Matts Mattsson worked the front of the house, Mrs. Mattsson did the cooking and their children waited tables.
When the first rains fell each season, the electricity invariably went out - but the family continued welcoming diners, illuminating the restaurant with candlelight everywhere, including the parking lot.
After closing the Old Viking in 1979, Mrs. Mattsson worked as a secretary with West Marin Senior Services. “Phyllis was the face of Senior Services,” said friend and agency co-worker Marge Ridge of Inverness.
New York, New York
Phyllis Rita Kopp was born Sept. 24, 1923, in Mt. Vernon, New York. After graduating from high school, she attended secretarial college and landed a job with a New York literary agent and then a Broadway producer. As a young single woman she took in many theatrical performances and met celebrities through her job on the Great White Way.
At a Sweden Day picnic in Central Park in 1950, she met her future husband. Three years later they married and ran a restaurant in Rye, New York, named The Colonial Club.
In 1964, in pursuit of adventure, the Mattssons packed the station wagon and moved cross-country to Mountain View. While on a camping trip to Samuel P. Taylor State Park they discovered San Geronimo Valley, which reminded Mr. Mattsson of his native Sweden.
Energetic and active, Mrs. Mattsson seemed to be involved in everything in West Marin. “If something was happening, absolutely anything, you would find her there,” said her daughter, Rita Iravani. “She easily adapted to new situations and to people.”
Isn’t that wonderful?
“Phyllis had a lot of spirit and was a lot of fun,” said Marge Ridge.
Mrs. Mattsson was known to say, often, “Wonderful. Isn’t that just wonderful?”
In 2008 she moved into Merrill Gardens, a retirement community in Vallejo.
She was predeceased by her husband, Matts Mattsson, who died in 1989; and her brother, Walter Kopp.
Memorial service
Mrs. Mattsson is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Sue Mattsson and Jack Barnes of Woodacre; and Rita and Saeed Iravani of Vallejo; her son and his partner, Matts Mattsson Jr. and Beth Breedlove of Menlo Park; a granddaughter; and a great-grandson.
A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, January 23, at San Geronimo Valley Presbyterian Church.
Family members suggest any memorial contributions be made to West Marin Senior Services.
|
|
|
|
