Her melodies came peacefully to an end on Dec. 28. McCloskey, 85, died at Cedar Crest Nursing and Rehab Center, surrounded by her family. A native of Hot Springs, Ark., McCloskey had lived in Cupertino for 35 years.

She served as a library clerk at De Anza College for many years, where she was delighted to come into contact with the students. "Her job let her hire a lot of kids, and she loved working with them," Conrad says. "She'd bring them over for barbecues. She loved the books, but she also loved people."

She enjoyed cooking and entertaining, and always made sure people who didn't have a place to go on holidays had a seat at her table. Her sociability also translated over into her travels with her husband. Conrad says the two traveled to 65 different countries over the course of their marriage.

"I'd just sit back while she picked the country and the itinerary," Conrad says. "She'd get into arguments with travel agents." McCloskey indulged another love in foreign countries—photography. "I was always taking pictures of monuments and buildings, but she took pictures of the people," Conrad says.

The couple met in Reno, Conrad's hometown, and went to dances at ballrooms with big bands that were traveling through town. "We both loved to dance," Conrad says. They married in June of 1941, but he enlisted in the Navy after Pearl Harbor. After his return, the family moved to Stockton, and then later to the Bay Area.

McCloskey—whose first name was a combination of her parents' first names—had long ago lost the twang of her Arkansas accent, but several years ago, Conrad convinced her to return to Hot Springs. "She couldn't believe her high school was still there," he says. McCloskey hadn't realized that President Clinton graduated from the same school, and it was being preserved for that reason. "We teased her a lot about that," Conrad says.

In her later years, McCloskey enjoyed her extensive family. She and Conrad had three children: Hugh McCloskey of Oroville, Janet Verson of Saratoga and Barnard McCloskey of Dublin. She also had six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. "We have a great-grandson graduating from high school this year," Conrad says.

Despite an illness that eventually sapped away her energy, McCloskey still looked like the lively figure she always was. "People would comment that she still had blonde hair and no wrinkles," Conrad says. "It's good genes."

The family requests that memorial donations be made to the Alzheimer's Association, 2065 W. El Camino Real, Ste. C, Mountain View, CA, 94040.