Carolyn Craycroft Thomas, 61, died Jan. 31 in her Los Gatos home.

A graduate of Los Gatos High School and the University of the Pacific, Thomas was involved in numerous organizations including the Montalvo Service League, the Eastfield Ming Quong Board of Directors, the San Jose Junior League and the Los Gatos High School Alumni Association. Thomas was also the president of the Village House and Garden and volunteered at Daves Avenue School.

She is survived by her husband, John, her daughter, Julie Ludeman, and her son-in-law, Rob Ludeman. Donations can be made to Wells Fargo, payable to account number 6043637526. Money received will be distributed to various charities.

John Alden Rankin

After battling a long illness, John Alden Rankin, 86, died peacefully in his Saratoga home on Jan. 24. He was surrounded by his family.

Rankin was born in 1917 to Madeline and Maurice Rankin, attended Oak Street Elementary School, graduated from Bellarmine College Preparatory, continued his studies at Santa Clara University and served in the U.S. Navy as an officer aboard the Escort Carrier USS Guadalcanal during WWII. He and his crew received the Presidential Unit Citation for successfully capturing a German U-boat submarine.

Following the war, Rankin returned to Saratoga, where he worked in the insurance business and raised a family of seven children with his late wife, Sue Brady Rankin. He is survived by six children, Maureen Thomas, Meg Noonan, Mary Lou Snowden, Marilyn Coll, John Rankin Jr. and Michelle Stewart. He also leaves behind 12 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. He is predeceased by his daugher, Marcia Rankin.

A funeral mass was held on Jan. 30 at the Carmelite Monastery Chapel, followed by a burial ceremony at The Santa Clara Mission Cemetery.

Donations can be sent to the Carmelite Monastery Chapel at 1000 Lincoln St., Santa Clara, CA 95050 or to Charles Wilson at the UC-San Francisco Office of Development at 44 Montgomery St., Box 0248, San Francisco, CA 94143, attention to the Brain Tumor Research Center at Mission Bay.