Genevieve Gilbert
Sept. 17, 1921-July 13, 2014
Palo Alto, California
Submitted by Elizabeth Gilbert

Genevieve Stewart Gilbert died on July 13, 2014, at Topanga Park Assisted Living in Canoga Park, under the care of Faith and Hope Hospice, after a long illness. Prior to that she was a longtime resident of Palo Alto, California.

She was born in 1921 in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended Beaumont High School, Harris Teachers College, and Washington University. While at Washington University she met R. Gordon Gilbert, to whom she was married for over 50 years. He proposed on their first date. During World War II they lived in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

After the war they moved to Berkeley, California, so Gordon could attend graduate school at UC Berkeley. At one point they sold all their possessions, including their wedding rings, drove across country, and sailed to Europe on La Liberte for a stay of several months. This was a most memorable trip about which they talked for the rest of their lives.

Back in California, Genevieve taught elementary school in El Cerrito. When Gordon began to work at the first linear accelerator at Stanford University (and then the second, SLAC), they moved to Palo Alto, where they had four children: Elizabeth, Stewart, David (Walker) and Allan. She and her husband encouraged Unitarian values and supported Democratic causes. They also encouraged their children to enjoy music, art, and literature. As her children grew older she taught elementary school in the Whitman School District in Mountain View for many years.

Genevieve?s three siblings predecease her. She leaves, besides her children and two beloved grandchildren, Sara and Jake, one brother-in-law, two sisters-in-law, and many nieces and nephews.

Tags: teacher/educator