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Obituaries
Eleanor Ray
Eleanor Ray
Longtime Saratogan Eleanor Ray died on April 24, at the age of 96.
Born Eleanor Golden Williams on Jan. 20, 1904, in Washington, Ray's father, Wallis, owned a flour mill and farmed apple and cherry orchards in southeastern Washington. Her mother, Ina, achieved fame as a progressive politician and suffragist and later as the first female legislator in her county.
Shortly after earning her bachelor's degree in English from the University of Washington, Ray married Karl Walter Kamb. The couple's good friend and classmate, Martin Earl "Rusty" Ray, served as the best man at their wedding. All three migrated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where Kamb eventually became a partner in Ray & Co., a stock brokerage. Before giving birth to fraternal twin sons in 1931, Ray worked as a journalist.
When her marriage ended in 1936 during the Depression years, Ray moved with her young sons and toddler daughter to San Francisco. She took a job as an advertising copywriter for The Emporium on Market Street and rented a three-bedroom cottage for her family. In 1941, she relocated to Pasadena, where she became executive secretary to the founder of the Joyce Shoe Company; in time she became the advertising manager. In 1950, she published We Kept Mother Single, a lighthearted account, told from her daughter's perspective, of her 15 years as a single working mother.
The next year, Ray took the last name she would keep for the rest of her life when she married Martin Ray. She resumed her acquaintance with Ray, after he became a widower when his wife Elsie died.
In 1993, Ray authored another book, Vineyards in the Sky: The Life of Legendary Vintner Martin Ray. It recounted her second husband's life and included her involvement in it. Martin Ray had purchased Paul Masson's Saratoga winery and vineyards in the mid-1930s and became known in the Valley for producing elegant champagnes and varietal wines, such as pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay. A good friend of his during this period was John Steinbeck, who lived nearby at the time and often helped out in the vineyard and cellar when not at work writing The Grapes of Wrath.
After selling the Masson premises to the Seagram corporation in 1943, Martin Ray purchased a half-section of land adjoining it to the northwest boundary and developed a new wine label with his own name. He sold the property in 1950 when his first wife became ill, but repurchased it soon after remarrying.
Among the Rays' many guests at their Mt. Eden property were actor Burgess Meredith; publishers Alfred and Blanche Knopf; French winemaker Louis Latour; golfer Jack Nicklaus; wine writers John Melville, Robert Balzer and Ernest Peninou; aspiring local winemakers such as David Bruce; and a variety of scientists, physicians, professors, generals, politicians and entrepreneurs.
Over the years, Eleanor Ray collected all the letters included with wine orders and also saved carbon copies of all the letters and informational documents they mailed out. Since the collection contains unique materials for wine historians and scholars, the General Library of the University of California at Davis recently acquired the Martin Ray and Eleanor Ray Papers as part of its Special Collections area.
Eleanor Ray's other interests included fine cooking, entertaining, sewing and gardening.
Survivors include sons W. Barclay Kamb and Peter Martin Ray, who was adopted by his stepfather; daughter Barbara Marinacci; eight grandsons, one granddaughter and seven great-grandchildren.
Memorial serves have been held.
Sung Kim
Sung Im Kim
Saratoga resident Sung Im Kim died on May 6, following a year-long battle with brain cancer. She was 68.
Born on March 4, 1932, in Taejon, South Korea, she completed high school in Korea and attended college at Ewha Women's University in Seoul. She emigrated to the United States in 1960 and moved to Saratoga in 1971.
A homemaker who raised four children, Kim also volunteered for 10 years at the Village House, a nonprofit restaurant in downtown Los Gatos that benefited Eastfield Ming Quong Children and Family Services. She enjoyed gardening and cooking, was an avid tennis player and belonged to the Brookside Tennis Club.
Survivors include husband of 46 years Dr. Kee H. Kim; daughters Sue, Nora and Christine Kim; son John Kim; and two sisters.
Memorial services have been held, with interment at Madronia Cemetery, Saratoga. Donations in Kim's name may be made to Eastfield Ming Quong, 232 E. Gish Road, San Jose, 95112.
Lawrence Abruzzini
Dr. Lawrence Leonard "Larry" Abruzzini died in his Saratoga home on May 7, at the age of 66.
Born on April 29, 1934, in St. Helena, Calif., Abruzzini's family moved to San Jose when it was still a small town. After graduating from Bellarmine College Preparatory with an honors degree in classical Greek and Latin, he obtained a bachelor's degree in biology from Santa Clara University. He then relocated to Nebraska to attend Creighton University Medical School. Afterwards, he interned at St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco and was a resident in anesthesia at Valley Medical Center.
From 1962 to 1965, Abruzzini served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, stationed in Croix Chapeau, France and Stuttgart, Germany. Upon returning to the United States, he joined the Associated Anesthesiologist Medical Group in San Jose, where a position had been held for him until he returned from the military. He later transferred to a position at Good Samaritan Hospital, where he worked for 13 years, including two years as the chief of anesthesiology. In the mid-1980s, Abruzzini joined the Los Gatos Surgical Center, where he worked until his May 1999 retirement.
"A bright smile, a contagious laugh and a reassuring hug were the medicines that were most often dispensed from the medicine bag of Dr. Abruzzini," daughter Joan Salemme remembers.
Abruzzini belonged to many organizations, including the Santa Clara County Medical Society, the American Society of Anesthesiologist, Inc., the Santa Clara University President's Club, the Tech Museum of Innovation's Leadership Circle and the Sacred Heart Church Men's Club.
Among his other interests were domestic and foreign travel, beach-walking in Santa Cruz, baking biscotti, photography, music and good food and wine.
"His advice and council has been one of the most important aspects of my life. Larry has been a shining example of how we should lead by example," adds brother-in-law Don Lounibos.
Survivors include wife of 40 years Helen Marie Abruzzini of Saratoga; daughters and sons-in-law Anne and Allen Ravizza of Andover, Mass.; Joan and Paul Salemme of Pleasant Hill; Mary and Leo Hill of Sewickly, Penn. and Lisa and Gerald Luiz of Mountain View; grandchildren Mark, Mathew and Benjamin Revizza; Katherine and Christopher Salemme; and Molly, Leo and Colin Hill; mother-in-law Helen Kennedy Lounibos and aunt Ethel Lewis Abruzzini.
Donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
