A Glimpse in their Lives
1995 Honorees
A After 45 years of being a minister, Methodist Bishop Marvin Stuart finally has time to do what he has always hoped to do: spend long, idle hours with his wife, Mary Ella. "Do you think I like the girl?" he said, taking his wife's hand in his. "Do I seem like a man in love?" The couple, both 86, pass their days simply and quietly. During the day they do housework, read and anticipate meals in their Channing House apartment. "I'll tell you, at 86, housework takes a lot longer than it used to," he says. In the evenings, they take walks, play a few ferocious games of Spites and Malice ("usually, she beats me," he says), attend a Stanford basketball game or read. Regardless of the early-evening activity they choose, they conclude each day the same way: with a 30-minute devotional reading from the Bible.Their lives weren't always lived at this pace. Besides his ministry at First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto, Stuart worked with the Palo Alto Fair Play Council, the Youth Coordinating Council, the Family Service Association, the
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When an 80-year-old woman comes to meet you in black leather pants, you know you are in the presence of a true femme du monde. Then you learn that Fran Edwards is even more haute than you thought. "This isn't leather," explains the Oak Creek Apartments resident. "I don't like leather clothes. This is Ultraleather."
Ultraleather, for those whose subscription to Women's Wear Daily has lapsed, costs more than leather, wears better than leather, resists scratches better than leather and can be tossed into the wash. Details like these matter to Edwards, a fashion designer for 35 years. "I knew ever since I was 9 that I wanted to be a fashion designer," she said. Her decorated sweaters, evening dresses and coats were made from the best materials and were meant to be worn to the best events. The label said it all: "Frances Lesley, designed exclusively for I. Magnin." Although Edwards stopped designing 27 years ago, fashion is never far from her mind. "I care every day what I'm going to wear," she said. "I never just throw something on." |
Mervin Morris couldn't even begin to calculate the number of Arrow shirts, Levi jeans, Diane Von Furstenberg dresses and Gloria Vanderbilt jackets Americans have bought from him. But he knows exactly how many people have bought copies of his book: none. "You have to be someone I love to get this book," he joked. Conversely, you pretty much have to love the man to read the book. Either that, or you have to have a very strong interest in retailing.
The book is "Mervyn's With a 'y'" a 96-page account of the origins and development of Mervyn's, from its humble origins in San Lorenzo Village shopping center to the nationally recognized chain that, as the advertising jingle says, is "Mervyn's today." Morris, 75, ran the company until 1979, when he sold it to Dayton Hudson for $300 million. These days, he plays golf, travels, runs Morris Management, an investment firm on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, and serves on the boards of the California Academy of Sciences and Stanford University Hospital. |
Better known as "Mother" than by her given name, East Palo Alto's Onedia Dabney Branch has always vowed that she would not stop helping others until "the Lord says it's time." Seventy-seven years old, her body racked with arthritis, Branch has made a lifetime of "lifting people up." Her tools were basic: her faith, her food, the Bible. Her aspirations, on the other hand, had wings. "I wanted to put my arms around the whole world," she said.
If she couldn't save the world, she could at least apply herself to a small corner of it. Several East Palo Alto community groups trace their origins to her, among them Mothers for Equal Education, United Flame, Bread of Life and the East Palo Alto Community Service Center. She is best known for her Thanksgiving and Christmas food giveaway programs, which she ran without any federal, state or county money. She began her holiday dinner giveaway program in 1955, the year she and her husband, the Rev. James Branch, came to East Palo Alto to found a ministry. |
Maria Holt's life could easily form the plot line of an opera. A young Viennese woman abandons music for photography only to return to it later when she falls in love with a dashing conductor/pianist. The man was Henry Holt, and Maria Holt was Maria Adler when she married him. The two went on to found West Bay Opera Company, Palo Alto's homegrown, hometown opera company. It's a passion she has shared with the public for more than 40 years.
Born and raised in Vienna, Holt frequented the Vienna State Opera throughout her childhood. Although she trained in piano and violin as a child, she gave up music when she developed a passion for photography. It was a passion that lingered--until she met Holt. She and Holt married in 1937 and moved to New York. "The whole thing was really lucky because we came right before Hitler and we got most of our family and friends out," she recalled. |
Pocket calculators. These days, grown-ups debate the merits of them in classrooms. Yet it wasn't until 1972 that pocket calculators even existed. Now the man who invented the calculator--Bill Hewlett--is a household name. Inventor, philanthropist, businessman, outspoken conservative, recipient of the National Medal of Honor, possessor of 12 honorary degrees--all this only scratches the surface of the 82-year-old's life.
By now, most of that life is already well-known. In his own words, he has been around "half as long as Palo Alto has existed." A native of Ann Arbor, Mich., he moved to San Francisco and attended Lowell High School. Later he attended Stanford University, where his father taught medicine and he studied engineering. Stanford was also the place where Hewlett met David Packard, with whom he would share a 60-year collaboration that has become Silicon Valley legend. Dave |