Paly Lacrosse Student Mourned as 'Beautiful Soul'

Services for Emily Benatar, who died of bacterial meningitis Wednesday, will be at Congregation Beth Am May 19 in Los Altos Hills.

  Los Altos Hills resident Emily Benatar, who died Wednesday from complications of meningococcal disease, is being remembered as an artist, athlete and a friend. Benatar, a first-year student at Washington University in St. Louis, passed away at Barnes-Jewish Hospital Wednesday morning in University City, MO. Benatar was attending the College of Arts & Sciences. The family has invited friends to a May 17 memorial service, 7 p.m., at Congregation Beth Am. Benatar was an original member of the Palo Alto High School girls lacrosse team, and teammates remembered her during an emotional SCVAL semifinal game against rival St. Francis Wednesday by placing memorial notes, flowers, and drawings on the fence surrounding the playing fields, according…

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Thomas Kinkade,'Painter of Light,' Has Died

Famed 'Painter of Light' dies at age 54.

Janice Voss, Former NASA Ames Kepler Science Director, Dead at 55

Voss was one of only six woman to have flown in space five times. She died of cancer on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012.

John X. Stefanki: Former Pilot and Commercial Aviation Pioneer Dies

Former United Airlines pilot and commercial aviation pioneer John X. Stefanki, who lived in Los Altos Hills for 46 years, died early Thursday at age 91.

Former 49ers Wide Receiver Clyde Conner, 78, Dies in Los Altos Home

Conner caught 203 passes for the 49ers from 1956 to 1963

John McCarthy, 84, Dies

Pioneer of Artificial Intelligence dies at his Stanford home.

VIDEO: A Tribute to Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

Fans of Steve Jobs gathered at his Palo Alto home and at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino to pay their respects.

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Jerry Eimbinder

12:46 pm on Saturday, October 8, 2011

Like Bill Hewlett, David Packard, the founders of Fairchild Semiconductor and other Silicon Valley legends, Steve Jobs was not deterred on his quest by bumps in the road. Three of Hewlett-Packard's earliest products were unsuccessful: a weight reducing machine, an electronic harmonica tuner and a bowling-alley foul-line indicator alarm. That didn't stop Bill or David. Fairchild's 3751, an analog-…   more ›

Paul K. Chung, Former Lockheed Missles & Space Chemical Engineer

March 26, 1917 - Sept. 26, 2011: From Hoiping County in Kuangdong Province, China, to Los Altos, Calif., from Eagle Scout to rocket engineer, Mr. Chung embraced the best of America.

Paul Kam-Yuen Chung, a former Lockheed Missiles & Space Company chemical engineer, died Sept. 26 at his home in Los Altos. He was 94. Mr. Chung was born in Gu Jil Wok village, Hoiping County, Kuangdong Province, China in 1917. Leaving his mother, he journeyed to Hong Kong as a young boy, where he spent two years with an uncle and aunt, attending school, and waiting to emigrate to the United States. At 13, he arrived in Seattle on the S.S. Madison and eventually joined his father, Chung Soot, known as Jack Hing Chung, and brother, Fred Jung, working in the family laundry in Minot, N.D. He graduated from the University of Minnesota and joined Standard Oil of New Jersey during World War II. After the war, Paul Chung began what he called the …

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Los Altos Week in Review

RIP James Taaffe, Congratulations, Larry Stefanki, and Whither the Cement Plant?

The week started with community activists applauding the state's notice against Lehigh Cement, and ends with a farewell to a son of Los Altos Hills.

Los Altos Patch tries to catch you up with the past week's events in and around Los Altos with this feature. We've widened our net to include news from other publications, because Patch can't be everywhere... but we figure you will still want to know! 1. Lehigh May Lose Right To Sell Cement To Government In a move the company says could be "devastating," the Lehigh Southwest Cement Permanente Quarry could lose its ability within the next 30 days to sell cement to some of its biggest customers—state and local governments—according to a notice sent to the company on July 20 by the state Office of Mine Reclamation (OMR). The company maintains it has been in compliance because it has been working with the Santa Clara County planning department…

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James Orr Taaffe, Descendant of Los Altos Hills Founder Dies at 73

Much of the former Taaffe Ranch became the town, and the M.J. Taaffe Co. built and maintained many of the town's roads and driveways, from the Little League Fields to Town Hall.

James Orr Taaffe died of cancer Monday. He was 73.    Born May 29, 1938, Mr. Taaffe was the great-great grandson of Martin Murphy Jr., who was part of the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1844, opening the trail west to thousands. His family, who settled in Santa Clara Valley, played a significant role in early California history. The Bear Flag Revolt and the meeting of the first state legislature took place on the family’s property. They built the first wood-frame house in the valley, were the first ranchers in the state to grow wheat and helped establish the Convent of Notre Dame and Santa Clara University­­­—the first institutions of higher learning in California. The family eventually became one of country’s …

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