Denevi, who was well-known locally for her business and civic activities—including running the Los Gatos Swim & Racquet Club with son and daughter-in-law Ron and Shelli Denevi—died Aug. 26 of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 73.

Born May 28, 1929, in Waukegan, Ill., Denevi moved to the Bay Area as a teenager, graduating from St. Rose Academy in San Francisco and San José State University. While attending the latter, she joined the Alpha Phi sorority.

In 1958, she and her then-husband, Pietro Denevi, founded the Los Gatos Swim & Racquet Club, where she ran the tennis pro shop and oversaw the snack bar, according to Ron and Mike Denevi, two of her five children. When the couple divorced, ownership of the club was on shaky ground for a time, but JoAnn Denevi emerged as its owner and president.

"My mom persevered through a very difficult situation and succeeded," Mike recalls. "She invested in the club and really fixed it up."

"She was always well-known and well-liked in town. She was a very independent, self-assured, outgoing person," he adds.

Denevi did not use the club solely for profitable purposes, either. She initiated and hosted "A Day With Billie Jean King," an annual fundraiser held at the club—featuring the famous tennis star—that has raised more than $800,000 for the women's tennis program at Denevi's alma mater, San José State University.

"We've probably donated to every charitable cause going on in the town. She went over and above doing charitable things for others—too many to even list," Ron Denevi says of his mother, who also donated many hours of time as a volunteer with Eastfield Ming Quong, the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and the HOPE Foundation.

If there's such a thing as good karma, Denevi experienced it in Jack Cody, who was her life partner for the past six years. According to Ron and Mike, their mother and Cody had been friends since their college days. After Cody became a widower and Denevi divorced, the two eventually took their friendship to the romantic level. "They made each other very happy," Ron says.

Among Denevi's interests were playing tennis, golf and bridge, decorating and renovating her home, traveling the world with Cody and spending time with her golden retriever, Bubba. She was also an active member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Los Gatos.

Denevi is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law Ron and Shelli Denevi and Michael and Patty Denevi, all of Los Gatos; son Peter J. Denevi of Bakersfield; daughters Denise Williams of San Jose and Elizabeth Denevi of Washington, D.C.; grandchildren Timmy, Kate, Mikey, Chris, Lauren, Patrick, Courtney, Sean, Megan and Shea; her life partner, Jack Cody; and her sister Denise Ary.

Donations can be made to HOPE Services, 1777 Agnew Road, Santa Clara, 95054.


Sigmund 'Sig' Beritzhoff

Native Californian Sigmund E. "Sig" Beritzhoff died Aug. 28 of cancer at the age of 85.

Beritzhoff was born Feb. 20, 1917, in Alameda and attended St. Mary's High School in Berkeley. His father's 1934 death left him to support his mother and two younger brothers through the Depression by working during the day and completing his schooling by night.

He joined the American Trust Company (later Wells Fargo Bank) in San Francisco and remained with the bank, apart from serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, throughout his career. He would later attend the University of Hawaii and UC-Berkeley and obtain an advanced degree from Rutgers Graduate School of Banking.

In 1950, Beritzhoff transferred to Los Gatos, where he eventually became the regional vice president for Wells Fargo and the manager for the San Jose region. Over his banking career, he belonged to many organizations as a board member, officer or chairman, including Junior Achievement of Santa Clara County, San Jose Chamber of Commerce, Hannah Boys Center, Sales Executives Association of Santa Clara County, Group 3 California Bankers Association, Santa Clara Building Authority and San Jose Rotary Club. He was also a member of the Santa Clara University Board of Fellows and was a Paul Harris Fellow.

Beritzhoff was an active member of St. Mary's Parish in Los Gatos and actively supported both Roman Catholic and interfaith causes. He served on the steering committee of the St. Joseph Cathedral Project, earned the Papal Award for his early financial overseeing of the San Jose Diocese and was honored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews (Santa Clara chapter) and the National Jewish Hospital in Denver, Colo.

His family remembers Beritzhoff as an avid golfer, a maker of frequent toasts, and a noted raconteur who was known for spreading good cheer to everyone. "He almost never forgot a name, even of those he met only briefly," his family says. "And he met and touched thousands during a lifetime of community and civic involvement in Santa Clara County."

Survivors include wife of 60 years Elizabeth McNamarra Beritzhoff of Los Gatos; daughter Ann Poole; son Steve Beritzhoff; six grandchildren; and brothers Bob and Jack Beritzhoff.

Memorial services have been held.


Elinor C. Allen

Former Los Gatos resident Elinor Cushman Allen died Aug. 27 in Redlands of complications from Alzheimer's disease. She was 88.

Allen was born Nov. 14, 1913, in Tacoma, Wash., to Freeman and Grace Cushman. In 1923, she moved to Sacramento, where she was active in Job's Daughters and the Tuesday Club Girls' Auxiliary. She attended Sacramento Junior College, then transferred to Mills College, from which she graduated in 1937.

In 1939, Allen enrolled in Oregon State College, where she was affiliated with the Sigma Kappa sorority. While working at Meier & Frank Department Store in Portland, she met and was courted by A.B. "Bill" Edwards, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps stationed at Fort Lewis. The couple married in Monterey in February 1940.

After Edwards' death in 1942, Allen returned to her parents' home in Sacramento, where she lived until 1947. She then spent two more years in Spokane, Wash., before purchasing a cottage at 12 Simons Way in Los Gatos. Locally, she was a charter member of the Los Gatos Unitarian Fellowship on Blossom Hill Road. She also belonged to the Sierra Club and the Society of Mayflower Descendants and enjoyed hiking and square dancing.

In 1951, she married her college sweetheart, Frank W. Allen. For a time, the couple lived in Antioch, but returned to Los Gatos in 1959. They purchased a new home on Azalea Way in the Blossom Hill Manor area, where they lived until October 2000.

Survivors include husband Frank W. Allen of Redlands and son Roger Edwards and family of Tacoma, Wash.

A memorial service will take place Sept. 23 at 1 p.m. at the Los Gatos Unitarian Fellowship, 15980 Blossom Hill Road. Memorial services have been held.


John J. Nolan

Former Los Gatos resident John Joseph Nolan died Aug. 11 at Islands Hospital in Anacortes, Wash. He was 93.

Born June 29, 1909, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Nolan graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Elementary School but had completed less than half of his high school education when his father died of complications from "the bends," which he had suffered in a diving accident while helping to construct the Williamsburg Bridge.

While working to support his family, Nolan, who had already constructed a crystal radio set, attended an evening continuation school to earn a certificate in electrical wiring. Moving into the local YMCA in his late teens, he made a living with a succession of short jobs in downtown New York City, all during the Great Depression. His young adulthood included experience in amateur radio, singing and ballroom dancing. In 1929, he joined the National Guard.

He was later drafted into the U.S. Army, where he completed signal corps officer candidate school as a second lieutenant. However, his request for a radio assignment was denied because of his pre-military experience with what was then brand-new data processing equipment manufactured by IBM.

Nolan was assigned to, and served the next 3¹/2 years with, the Office of the Chief Signal Officer at the Pentagon, completing his assignment as division tabulating control officer. He was known for inventing on-the-spot modifications to equipment and procedures that greatly enhanced the efficiency of plans for procurement, production, inventory and movement of war-effort supplies for the duration of World War II.

While working in New York, he met Elizabeth Lorraine Johnston; after he was stabilized with his job at the Pentagon, the couple married in 1942. He left active military service in 1946 with the rank of captain, but remained in the inactive reserves until 1952, when he was honorably discharged as a major with a citation for the Army Commendation Medal.

Nolan's career with IBM spanned the conception and implementation of its early computers and led him to three patents and numerous papers. IBM moved him to San Jose in the mid-1950s so he could work on the early RAMAC computer. His areas of particular interest were remote terminal data processing, automatic address conversion, random access memory and direct access storage devices. In 1972, he retired after more than 25 years of employment with IBM.

Although he was being treated for kidney and bladder cancer for the past eight years, he remained productive and active—even walking outside at military march pace whenever the weather permitted.

Nolan was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth Lorraine. Survivors include son Will Nolan of Portland, Ore.; daughter and son-in-law Judy and Scott Miller of Friday Harbor, Wash.; grandchildren Sean Nolan, Joshua Miller and Tina Bagley; and great-granddaughter Madison Bagley.

Memorial services have been held. Donations can be made to the American Red Cross or to a favorite charity.