Obituaries
Luther Hough Jr.
Saratogan Luther Walker Hough Jr. died on June 12, at Los Gatos Community Hospital. He was 80.
Hough was born Oct. 24, 1919, in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the time, his father worked for the Dole Pineapple Company. As a youth, Hough enjoyed surfing the warm Hawaiian waters and even built his own surfboard.
A graduate of West Point, Hough enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1943. During World War II, he flew B-17 bombers, including a mission that took him to Normandy on D-Day. During the Cold War years, Hough served in the North American Air Defense Command. He retired from the Air Force as a colonel and as the decorated recipient of two Distinguished Flying Crosses and five Air Medals.
As a civilian, Hough took a job as an insurance agent with New York Life, for whom he worked many years. After retiring, Hough and his wife Dorothy served as cruise escorts with Golden Age Travel Agency, which specializes in cruise vacations for senior citizens. The couple took about 100 cruises that way, their son Chip estimates.
Hough was predeceased by his son Timothy Hough. Survivors include wife Dorothy Hough of Saratoga; daughter Betty Froess of Saratoga; son Chip Hough of Keller, Texas; grandchildren Todd, Scott, Jennifer and Greg Hough, Tracie Spehar and Steve Froess; and two great-grandchildren.
Memorial services have been held. Donations may be made to Immanuel Lutheran Church, 14103 Saratoga Ave., Saratoga, 95070.
Mary Silvia
Mary Borges Silvia died on July 27, at the age of 94.
Born March 28, 1906, in Fall River, Mass., Silvia was a homemaker.
Survivors include son Father Kenneth Silvia, C.S.C., of Saratoga and Saratoga's Sacred Heart Church, and daughter Edna Cole of Okemah, Okla.
Memorial services have been held, with interment in Fall River, Mass.
Gary Finnecy
Saratoga resident Gary R. Finnecy died of respiratory failure Aug. 7, at the age of 62.
Finnecy was born Aug. 18, 1937, in Long Beach. He worked as an instructor and technical trainer with NET, a telecommunications company.
Survivors include wife Kathy Finnecy of Saratoga; children Darren, Ryan, Brendon and Heather Finnecy; granddaughter Hailey Marie Finnecy; brothers Edward, Ralph and Norman Finnecy; and mother Virginia Finnecy.
Robert Whitlow
Los Gatan Robert Theodore Whitlow, known for his family-run Whitlow's Department Store in Saratoga, died on Aug. 14, at the age of 82.
Born in 1918, in San Francisco to native California parents, Whitlow grew up in Sonoma County and later in Oakland. He developed his lifelong interest in sports and outdoor activities at an early age: caddying at the Sonoma Mission Inn and hunting small game to supplement his family's meals during the Depression. While at Roosevelt High School in Oakland, Whitlow played on his school golf and football teams and also played on a citywide baseball team. After graduating from high school, Whitlow signed on with the St. Louis Cardinals as a pitcher.
His baseball career was cut short when he went into the U.S. Army in February 1941, where he served three years in the South Pacific. He received many honors while serving as a tech sergeant with the 40th Infantry/185th Division and was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action near Bamban, Luzon, in the Philippines. On Feb. 12, 1945, he was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant.
Upon returning from the war, Whitlow joined the J.C. Penney Co. in San Rafael, working first as a window dresser and sign maker and advancing to assistant manager, where he worked with store manager Deal Christensen. After six years with Penney's, Whitlow and Christensen established Chrislow's in Los Gatos in 1951.
Whitlow sold his partnership two years later and opened Whitlow's Department Store on Park Place in Saratoga. The store was relocated to Big Basin Way in the 1960s. The store was a true family business, with Whitlow running the day-to-day operations, his wife serving as bookkeeper and their daughters serving as sales clerks. The store closed following his 1980 retirement.
Whitlow was an avid outdoorsman and conservationist. He participated in the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament; was a life member and past president of the Saratoga Sportsmans' Association and Saratoga Optimist Club; and a past president of the Saratoga Merchants' Association. He also served as district commissioner for the Boy Scouts and received two recognition plaques from the Girl Scouts and 4-H Club.
Survivors include wife Jeanne Whitlow of Saratoga; daughters and sons-in-law Janice and Ken Hofmann of San Jose; and Shirlee and Larry Tam of Tracy; granddaughter Jeanne Leary; great-grandson Austin Leary; and sister Roberta Thela Crane of Calistoga.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
