| Dorris-Jane Fondahl |
| HOME PAGE |
Published in San Francisco Chronicle on December 11, 2011
Doris-Jane Fondahl Passed away December 3,
2011. Doris was born in 1924 in New York State.
After living in Pennsylvania, her family moved to
Washington D.C. where she attended McKinley
Tech High School and met her lifetime companion
and future husband, John Fondahl. She graduated
from Mount Holyoke University in 1945. She and
John were married a year later, upon his return from
duty with the Marines in WWII.
`After a short time in Pennsylvania, they headed
to Hawaii, where she taught grade school. Returning
to the mainland, they lived in Minneapolis, then
Sacramento, where she continued to teach until their first daughter was born in
1954.
In 1955 John became a professor of civil engineering at Stanford University,
and they moved to Los Altos, where three more daughters were born. Doris found
the house of their dreams in Los Altos Hills in 1965, where they lived ever since.
Doris became active in the League of Women Voters, American Association
of University Women, and Los Altos Hills planning committees. She brought
daughters along during John's sabbatical teaching visits to Chile, Denmark,
Switzerland, Japan and Australia. After raising her daughters, she became a docent
at Stanford's Cantor Arts Center, serving for 15 years.
Doris and John were avid travelers, joining one of the first groups of
Americans to visit China after it opened to tourists in 1979, and visiting all parts of
the globe, culminating with a cruise around the Pacific in 2007. They also spent
many summer and winter weeks at their cabin at Lake Tahoe. They were
enthusiastic supporters of Theaterworks, American Conservatory Theater, and
Bus Barn Theater.
After John passed away in 2008, Doris continued her activities with theater
groups and with the Peninsula Foothills Wine Society. She loved growing orchids
and carefully tracked culinary developments around the Bay Area.
Doris is survived by daughters Lauren, Gail, Meredith, and Dorian,
son-in-laws Ken Bilski and Joe Martinka, David Wickline, and grandchildren
Gwynne Bilski, Arielle Martinka, and Peter Martinka.
Donations in Mom's memory may be made to the John Fondahl Fellowship,
Stanford University (P.O. Box 20466, Stanford, CA 94309), the Cantor Center for
Visual Arts (Stanford, CA 94305-4060), or Mount Holyoke College (50 College
St., South Hadley, MA 01075).
Doris-Jane Fondahl Passed away December 3,
2011. Doris was born in 1924 in New York State.
After living in Pennsylvania, her family moved to
Washington D.C. where she attended McKinley
Tech High School and met her lifetime companion
and future husband, John Fondahl. She graduated
from Mount Holyoke University in 1945. She and
John were married a year later, upon his return from
duty with the Marines in WWII.
`After a short time in Pennsylvania, they headed
to Hawaii, where she taught grade school. Returning
to the mainland, they lived in Minneapolis, then
Sacramento, where she continued to teach until their first daughter was born in
1954.
In 1955 John became a professor of civil engineering at Stanford University,
and they moved to Los Altos, where three more daughters were born. Doris found
the house of their dreams in Los Altos Hills in 1965, where they lived ever since.
Doris became active in the League of Women Voters, American Association
of University Women, and Los Altos Hills planning committees. She brought
daughters along during John's sabbatical teaching visits to Chile, Denmark,
Switzerland, Japan and Australia. After raising her daughters, she became a docent
at Stanford's Cantor Arts Center, serving for 15 years.
Doris and John were avid travelers, joining one of the first groups of
Americans to visit China after it opened to tourists in 1979, and visiting all parts of
the globe, culminating with a cruise around the Pacific in 2007. They also spent
many summer and winter weeks at their cabin at Lake Tahoe. They were
enthusiastic supporters of Theaterworks, American Conservatory Theater, and
Bus Barn Theater.
After John passed away in 2008, Doris continued her activities with theater
groups and with the Peninsula Foothills Wine Society. She loved growing orchids
and carefully tracked culinary developments around the Bay Area.
Doris is survived by daughters Lauren, Gail, Meredith, and Dorian,
son-in-laws Ken Bilski and Joe Martinka, David Wickline, and grandchildren
Gwynne Bilski, Arielle Martinka, and Peter Martinka.
Donations in Mom's memory may be made to the John Fondahl Fellowship,
Stanford University (P.O. Box 20466, Stanford, CA 94309), the Cantor Center for
Visual Arts (Stanford, CA 94305-4060), or Mount Holyoke College (50 College
St., South Hadley, MA 01075).
| Doris-Jane Fondahl |