Faculty Obituaries

Lois M. Agnew

One of Crawford's earliest vice-principals, Lois retired in 1967. She died in her sleep July 11, 1996 in a Santa Ana retirement home. She was 92. "She was a giving, caring person as far as the kids and the staff were concerned," said Emma Leisure. "If anybody needed help she was there."

Paul Bernd

Passed away March 8, 1993

Richard V. Bertain

July 4, 1930 - September 13, 2000

"RV" was the Class of 1962 Advisor, a job he resigned from in order to pursue a scholarship at Harvard University,where he received his Doctorate in Educational Administration in 1964. Previously he had received Bachelor Degrees in Philosphy and English in 1961 from Saint Mary's College and, later, a Master's Degree in Educational Administration from San Diego State College in 1960. He worked in the Beverly Hills, Inglewood, El Segundo, Palm Springs, Glendale and Culver City School districts in various administrative capacities. In 1990 he was appointed by President George Bush, and confirmed by the United States Senate, as Associate Director of Domestic and Anti-Poverty Operations. He passed away from cancer.

Carl Bull

Joseph Byrnes

June 13, 1917 – March 20, 2006

Duncan Cameron

 

Adine Cummings

 

Florence Eaton

August 24, 1906 - January 25, 1996

Faculty member from 1958 to 1972, she died of congestive heart failure. She was a founding member of Crawford, teaching English and counselling gifted students. After retirement she travleed extensively and, in 1988, moved to Casa de las Companas, a retirement community in Rancho Bernardo. She was 89.

October 30, 1921 - September 29, 1988

He was born in Orange, California and passed away in Alpine. He served in the Navy during the Korean War. Survivors include his wife Marlene; daughter, Jody Stratton and Wendy Wheeler; sisters Betty Flora and Carol Hendricks; brothers, Marvin Johnson and Bob Johnson, and four grandchildren. There were no services. Donations: Sharp Hospice, P. O. Box 3739, La Mesa, CA 91944.

Jesse was a teacher at Crawford when I was a student at Crawford and was still there when I returned as a teacher in 1984. He retired during the course of my ten years there.

Nancy Alumbaugh Bailey ’60

Mary McMullen graduated from San Diego High School, then went on to San Diego Teacher's College on Park Boulevard. She accompanied the school to Montezuma Mesa in 1931 when it changed its name to San Diego State College. "Her smile and charm are an inspiration to all who meet her," said an article in the school yearbook from the 1930s.

Long before she became Crawford's first principal Mary McMullen was acting dean at San Diego State College. In 1932 she organized 12 female seniors into the school's first chapter of Cap and Gown, which later was renamed Mortar Board. She served as Dean of Women at State from 1932 to 1938, then left to become vice principal at La Jolla High. In 1951 she opened Lincoln High School. The Lincoln football field was named in her honor.

(Thanks to Emma Leisure for sending the above information)

Walter Mentze

January 30, 1904 - November 19, 2007

Walter was born on on a farm six miles outside the town of Harper, Kansas. After graduating from Harper High School, he went to Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas where he played trombone in the band and was on the track team. Walter began his 40 years of teaching in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and then came to San Diego in 1934. He earned a Master of Education degree at USC. He taught at Roosevelt Junior High next to the Zoo until 1955, when he came to Horace Mann Junior High. In the fall of 1963 he went to a new school, Muirlands Junior High in La Jolla, retiring in 1969, always teaching band and orchestra. After retiring from teaching, he began a second career in real estate sales, retiring from that at the age of 85. He continued to drive twelve miles to the church where his son is pastor and play in the brass quartet until he was 96. He passed away at Alvarado Hospital, just a mile from his home since 1953. He is survived by his wife of almost 60 years, Margaret Troxel Mentze, also a music teacher, his daughter Joan Mentze '67, biology laboratory technician at SDSU and son, the Rev. Dr. Robert Mentze '70, pastor of the Lakeside Community Presbyterian Church.

 

Helen Merzbacher

April 22, 1918 - January 27, 2005

Originally from New Jersey Helen was the first of four siblings. She was the daughter of Hungarian immigrants Andrew Gaydos and Anna Kall. She eventually would work as a secretary for Trenton State Teachers College where she met her future husband Claude Fell Merzbacher. During 1942, while still a secretary at the teachers college, she temporarily worked as a newspaper model to support war fund raising efforts. She began attending Trenton State Teachers College at this time and received a B.A. degree in Commerce in 1944. She married Claude F. Merzbacher in 1945 in Pas-A-Grille Beach, Fla. During that busy year she commuted to Trenton from their residence in St. Petersburg, Fla., to complete her teacher training. They yearned for the drier climate of Southern Calif. and moved to Encinitas, Calif. in 1946. While working to support a family she would find herself as a single mother in the late 1960s. She would work and return home to be a parent each day. She persevered to raise her two sons who would eventually grow up and became educators in the San Diego area. In 1977, Helen was suddenly forced to retire with a debilitating stroke. Her sister Margaret Gaydos soon retired as an English teacher to give care and support for Helen. Although Helen could speak only a few words she survived, independently, for nearly 30 years, in her own home, eventually traveling accompanied by her sister to Budapest in 1980. She loved nature and gardening. She was a dog lover and could be seen daily, walking through the Allied Gardens neighborhoods, smiling and greeting others for 15 years with her dog Hemingway. Helen is succeeded by sister Irene Anderson and family of Princeton, NJ, brother Irving Gaydos and family of Pittsgrove, NJ, son Jeffrey Lee Merzbacher and family of Ramona, Calif., son James Merzbacher and wife Marlene of Spring Valley, Calif., two grandsons Sean and Chase of Carlsbad, Calif.

Rudolph Morales

January 13, 1914 - January 1987

Edward Nichols

July 31, 1916-December 30, 2002

William T. Olive

February 26, 1927 - January 23, 2002

Horace Mann Shop Teacher

J. William Rieker

 

Warren B. Rose

Wiley Freeman Shaver Jr.

October 19, 1915 - March 18, 2002

Mr. Shaver was born in Birmingham, Alabama and graduated from the University of Alabama in1933. He served in Europe during WWII, receiving the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1962. Mr. Shaver taught at Crawford High School until 1977, receiving the “Teacher of the Year Award” in 1974

Frank was born in San Diego and was a coach and district counselor for the San Diego Unified School District. He served in the Army during World War II. He was a member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity. Survivors include his wife, Frances

Melba Thomas

July 19, 1919 - December 9, 1997

Mr. Van Buskirk and his wife Betty perished when EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed into the waters off Nantucket, Massachusetts on October 31, 1999. Mr. Van Buskirk spent most of his career teaching English and drama at Crawford.

Mark Waterbury

November 26, 1926 - September 1986

Marguerite White 

 Marguerite Jeanette White, age 85, of Eau Claire, Wis. formerly of San Diego, Calif., passed away December 22, 2003. Marguerite was born January 12, 1918, in Eau Claire, Wis. She attended Eau Claire High School where she earned numerous athletic accommodations. After high school, Marguerite attended Eau Claire Teacher's College. In 1940, Marguerite graduated Eau Claire Teacher's College Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in secondary education. She had the highest scholastic record of her graduating class. After graduation, Marguerite taught for four years in the Eau Claire school district, and in 1944 she moved to San Diego, Calif., until returning to Wisconsin in 2000. In Marguerite's tenure with the San Diego School District, her love of education brought her to be a teacher and counselor at Dana Junior High, a Teacher Consultant for the San Diego Schools, a teacher and counselor at Crawford High School, a Vice Principal at Lewis Junior High and Clairemont High School, and the Principal at Dana Junior High until her retirement in 1982. Marguerite earned her Masters Degree while in San Diego.

(Thanks to Mary Gale Rogers '67 for many of the above dates)