Saratoga News Obituaries Ron Soergel Former Saratoga resident Ron Soergel died Dec. 6 at his Monterey home. He was 42. Born Sept. 19, 1956 in Arlington, Va., Soergel moved to Saratoga in 1967, where he lived until the late 1980s, after which time he settled in Monterey. A graduate of Saratoga High School, he began his broadcasting career at Foothill Junior College's station KFJC. He later joined San Jose State University's station, KSJS, where he worked as music director, program director and finally, general manager. He was also an SJSU graduate, receiving a bachelor's degree with honors in radio/television journalism. Soergel later became news director and morning news voice for KXDC Smooth FM and the classical music station KBOQ; both are based in Monterey. In 1990, Soergel became program director for KXDC when it changed its format from easy listening to smooth jazz. Over the years, he also worked as a radio personality with stations of various formats, including KBAY, KLZE, KPEN and KRVE. Additionally, he was the staff announcer on the TCI Cablevision program Monterey's Cooking and held posts in production and customer service with TCI-Monterey, Monterey Peninsula TV and the former GillCable company. Survivors include parents Capt. Robert and Phyllis Soergel of Saratoga; brothers Rob Soergel of Saratoga and Richard Soergel of San Diego; sister Sandy Hernandez of Campbell and niece Olivia Hernandez of Campbell. Memorial services have been held, with interment at Madronia Cemetery. Donations may be made to the American Diabetes Association. Grete Christensen Saratogan Grete Christensen died Dec. 25 at Stanford Hospital at the age of 67. A native of Denmark, Christensen was born June 28, 1931. She was a tour director. She was also a member of the Saratoga Rotary Club Inner Wheel and the California Association of Nurserymen and was a supporter of the Merola/San Francisco Opera. Survivors include husband Jack Christensen of Saratoga and sister Hanne Schultz of Kensington. Donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, 1715 S. Bascom Ave., Campbell, 95008. David Brohan David L. Brohan, a longtime resident of Saratoga and Los Gatos, died Dec. 28 at the Saratoga Odd Fellows Home. He was 93. A native of Kilkenny, Ireland, Brohan was born March 22, 1905. He came to the United States with his family when he was a teenager. He worked as a firefighter in Chicago, then moved west and settled in the South Bay. He began working in Sunnyvale schools in the maintenance department and continued there until his retirement. Survivors include wife Lois Northrup Brohan of San Jose; daughter Patricia Ann Castle of Florida; and son David John Brohan of Sacramento. Memorial services have been held, with interment at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery. Kenneth Lee Saratoga resident Kenneth Lee died of a heart attack Jan. 1 at the age of 61. Born July 3, 1937, in San Francisco, Lee played football for Oakland Technical High School, was captain of the gymnastics team and served as student body president. He later earned a bachelor's degree from UC-Berkeley, where he belonged to the Phi Beta Kappa honorary society. After working for a time for Varian Associates, Lee moved on to IBM, attracted by the opportunity to do pure research. After 15 years there, he transfered to Domain Technology in 1983, where he became vice president of product development. He was later recruited to work for Quantum Corp. of Milpitas. Within the past four years, Lee worked to develop the National Storage Industry Consortium. He was also a fellow of the American Physical Society and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Survivors include wife Cynthia Chu Lee of Saratoga; son and daughter-in-law Marcus and Kris Lee of Alameda; daughter and son-in-law Stephanie and Morgan Jones of Santa Barbara; grandchildren Monica and Lucas Lee and Nicolas Jones; sisters Jane Mah-Hing of San Francisco, Ellen Wong of El Cerrito and Harriet Owyang of Berkeley; and many nieces and nephews. Memorial services have been held. Donations may be made to the American Heart Association or to the Research Institute of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, 860 Bryant St., Palo Alto, Calif., 94301. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, February 10, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.