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Barbara J. Montez
Barbara J. Montez died June 16, 2004, at her home in Gilroy.
She was a beautiful mom, grandma and friend.
She is survived by her children Lynda, Raymond, Phillip, Larry, George and Sandy; sisters Rita, Marie and Josephine and brother Joseph, all of Gilroy; 21 grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren.
Graveside services take place at 11:30 a.m. Monday, June 21, at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Gilroy, where she will be with her late husband Raymond Montez.
Services are under the direction of Habing Family Funeral Home.
Nicolette Heather Thornton
Nicolette Heather Thornton died May 22, 2004, of an apparent massive stroke after three prior, smaller strokes. She was 37 years old.
Nicolette was born in Chicago on Jan. 3, 1967. In 1978 he family moved to Felton, where she and her sister kept ponies and horses at a corral by the river. Nicolette loved barrel racing and was quite good at it. Ater graduating from San Lorenzo Valley High School in 1984, she attended Cabrillo College, while simultaneously managing a modeling agency in San Jose and modeling in several shows. In 1988 she transferred to UCLA to pursue her goal of becoming a TV anchorwoman. In 1990 she suffered a severe head injury, resulting in the loss of vision in her right eye and paralysis of her left side. While her chances of remaining alive were only 5 percent, she survived due to a skilled neurosurgeon, many prayers and her strong will to live. She returned to the Santa Cruz area and began the long journey to regain full use of her body and to relearn academic skills. She attended UCSC, majoring in psychology and lacked only one course to graduate.
She was a beautiful, loving person who became a minister in the Universal Life Church and wrote many compassionate poems for friends grieving the loss of a loved one. She also wrote poems for her mother. Her dreams were to write a book to help others with similar struggles and to begin a ministry. She founded Morning Doves Ministries and designed a symbol for it - a yellow, Celtic cross with a red dove flying across it, holding in its beak a branch with green leaves.
She is survived by her husband, Jim Gottardi, of Alameda; a son whom she lovingly gave up for adoption at his birth some years ago; her beloved cat Snowflake; mother Louise Thornton Loots, who lives near Elkhorn Slough; father Douglas Thornton and family of Royal Oaks; sister Keira Pride and her husband David with sons Brandon and Aaron of Gilroy; brother Jonathon Thornton and his fiancee Patricia Mendoza of Watsonville; grandparents George and Virginia Thornton of Chicago, Ill; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
She was preceded in death by George and Helen Loots of Manson, Iowa.
A memorial service took place June 17 in the Student Center at Gavilan College, where her mother taught English. A final service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 26, in the Upper Room at First Congregational Church, 900 High St., Santa Cruz. All are welcome.
In lieu of flowers, he family asks that any contribution be made to any organization that rescues cats, to any food pantry or to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill at: Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Santa Cruz County, P.O. Box 360, Santa Cruz, CA 95061.
Julie Frances Wood
Julie Frances Wood, 56, died June 21, 2004, at her home in Gilroy
She is survived by her husband David Wood of Gilroy; father Melvin and his wife Lois Lopes of Sparks, Nev.; and brother Stephen Lopes of San Jose.
Julie was preceded in death by her mother Viola Lopes.
A memorial service take place at 10 a.m. Monday, June 28, at Habing Family Funeral Home of Gilroy.
Allen J. Day Sr.
Allen J. Day Sr. died May 17, 2004, at his home. He was 57.
Mr. Day was born and raised in Baton Rouge, La. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1964 and served for 10 years during the Vietnam War on the USS Constellation and he received the ‘‘Sailor of the Year’’ on the USS Coral Sea. He was a machinist by trade and past member of the Moose Lodge of Gilroy. He was an avid San Francisco 49er and Giant fan and enjoyed playing with his grandchildren more than anything.
He is the husband of Marie L. Day of Gilroy; father of Allen J. Day Jr., Amy Cortez and her husband, Ricardo and Kathryn Day, all of Gilroy; proud grandfather of Daniel, Rebecca and James Cortez of Gilroy and Sara Day of Morgan Hill; son of Frances Day of Baton Rouge, La.; brother of Harry Eugene Day (Kathy), Earlene Landry (Tommy), Sandra Guessfield, Connie Evans (Kenny), Gwen Williams (Daryl), Oma Ringe (Mike), Donald Day (Melanie), Gail Pusateri (Phil), Gary Day (Nina), all of Louisiana, and the late Rarick Day; brother-in-law of Linda Clausen (Kurt) of Mountain View and Jeanne Levratto of Las Vegas, Nev.; and many nieces and nephews.
Services were under the direction Habing Family Funeral Home in Gilroy. Burial was at Gavilan Hills Memorial Park, Gilroy.
The family asks that any donations be made to the American Diabetes Society.
Robert Neil Tomlin
Robert Neil Tomlin died June 16, 2004, in Santa Cruz.
Mr. Tomlin was born 55 years ago in Storm Lake, Iowa.
He is the beloved brother of William Tomlin of Santa Cruz and Barbara Tomlin of Oregon; uncle of Kirsten Edge of Morgan Hill, Jeff Hopkins of San Jose, Janette Whitlock of Virginia and Justine Ramirez of Morgan Hill.
Memorial services will be at noon Saturday, June 26, at Habing Family Funeral Home in Gilroy.
James Neilson
James Neilson, 82, died at his home in Gilroy, surrounded by his children and his treasured caregiver Nita Manukainiu, on Monday, June 21, 2004. Eleanor, his wife of 58 years, preceded him in death on March 3, 2004.
A California native, Neilson was born in Oakland in 1922. He graduated from San Jose High School and attended San Jose State University before enlisting in the Army during World War II. He served in the European theater for six months as a private first class infantry rifleman with the famous Thirteenth Armored Division - The Black Cat - which captured Hitler’s hometown in Austria.
After the war, Neilson received his degree in zoology, followed by his graduation from the School of Optometry at the University of California Berkeley in 1949.
He and Eleanor moved to Gilroy that same year and set up his optometry practice. Forty-eight years later, he sold his practice to Paresh Patel, while continuing to work part-time. Heavily involved in his beloved community of Gilroy, he was a past president of the Gilroy School District Board, Wheeler Hospital/South Valley Hospital Board, South Valley Community Bank, Gilroy Rotary Club, and the California Optometric Association. He was the first Commissioner of Gilroy Little League Baseball. He also served as a board member of the Gilroy Community Theatre - acting in many local productions as well. Rarely idle, Dr. Neilson served as a City Councilman and member of the Planning Commission for the City of Gilroy, as well as an elder of the Gilroy Presbyterian Church, and was a member of the Gilroy Foundation and the Gilroy American Legion.
Neilson’s passions included flying, golfing, fishing, playing cribbage and most of all, being with his family.
He was the devoted father of Beverly Curry and her husband Dave of Santa Rosa, Doug Neilson and his wife Joanie of Milwaukee, Wis., and Marcie Neilson of Oakland; loving grandfather of Scott Curry and his wife Christina of Santa Rosa, Shelly Curry and her fiancé Jeff Randesi of San Francisco, Natalie Neilson and Brittany Neilson, both of Milwaukee.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Friday, July 9, at the Gilroy Presbyterian Church, 6000 Miller Ave., under direction of Habing Family Funeral Home.
The family asks that any donations be made to the Gilroy Rotary Foundation, the Gilroy Foundation or a favorite charity.
Grace Enid Landergen
Grace Enid Landergen died June 23, 2004, of natural causes in her San Martin home. Grace was a very happy, fun loving person and will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
She is survived by her husband, Jim Landergen; daughter Judy Martin; and grandchildren Melanie Martin and Charlie Martin.
Grace was office manager at Simonsen Labs in Gilroy for 20 years. She enjoyed traveling in the motor home with Jim and following her grandchildren to rodeos, watching them compete. Jim and Grace raised quarter horses, many of which they gave their grandchildren that helped them be so successful in competition. Grace was a member of the Women in Touch club of Gilroy, and the Humbolt Historical Society.
Visitation will at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 26, at Johnson Funeral Home. The funeral service at 2 p.m. There will be a cryptside service at Ocean View Cemetery
in Eureka, June 28, with entombment to follow.
