George Baltes
Former Los Gatos resident George Edward Baltes died Jan. 1 in his Arroyo Grande home. He was 73.
Born July 1, 1923, in Los Angeles, Baltes served in the U.S. Air Force for 26 years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. He lived in Los Gatos for many years before moving to Arroyo Grande in 1989.
Baltes's wife, Mitzi, preceded him in death. Survivors include sons Steven of Santa Cruz and Todd of San Jose, one grandchild and one great-grandchild.
At his request, no services were held. A private inurnment at sea will take place at a later date.
Tony Sorensen
Former Los Gatan Tony Sorensen, who had been residing in Burlingame, died at the age of 34. He had been missing since Nov. 26 and was found a few weeks ago.
Born April 23, 1962, in San Luis Obispo, Sorensen grew up in Los Gatos. A 1980 graduate of Los Gatos High School, he received a bachelor's degree in finance from UC-San Diego and an M.B.A. from UC-Berkeley. He worked as a banker in San Francisco.
Survivors include wife Carrie Sorensen of Burlingame, who will deliver the couple's first child in June; mother Joanne Sorensen of Los Gatos; sisters and brothers-in-law Becky and Curt Walleen of Los Gatos, Kerri and Lorenzo Freschet of Santa Rosa, Lisa and Mark Slater of Fresno and Tina and Joe Young of Pleasant Hill; also many nieces and nephews.
Memorial services have been held. Donations may be made to the Carrie Sorensen Family Trust Fund, Cowen & Company, Attn: Joe O'Connor, 4 Embarcadero Center, 12th Floor, San Francisco, 94111.
Nicholas Ranieri
Nicholas "Nick" Ranieri of San Jose died of cancer Jan. 8 at the age of 60.
Ranieri was born Jan 12, 1936, in Chicago and later settled in California. He worked as a waiter for 13 years at El Nido in Los Gatos, which later became Valeriano's. He made many friends among the restaurant's regular customers, according to Mark Achilli, one of Ranieri's friends.
There are no direct survivors. Arrangements were private.
Letha Creech
Letha Alberta Creech, a resident of The Terraces of Los Gatos, died Jan. 8 at the age of 86.
Born Nov. 7, 1910, in Oregon, Mo., she was a homemaker and lived in Los Gatos since 1945.
Creech was preceded in death by husband Clyde. She is survived by son Charles Creech of Watsonville; grandchildren Mark Creech of Aptos and Kerrie Hollingsworth of Citrus Heights; and great-grandchildren Nicholas and Brianna Hollingsworth of Citrus Heights.
Services have been held, with interment at Los Gatos Memorial Park.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, February 5, 1997.
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