Transitions Transitions (February 03, 2006)

Mary McEntee Hart

A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. tomorrow at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Pleasanton for Mary Catherine McEntee Hart, 78, who died Monday Jan. 23 in her Pleasanton home with her seven children at her bedside. She was the widow of Thomas S. Hart, who was assistant superintendent of Pleasanton schools when he died in 1975 at the age of 49 and for whom Hart Middle School is named. Well-known in Pleasanton and active in St. Augustine's Bereavement Ministry and Altar Care Society, she established the Tom Hart Memorial Scholarship at Amador Valley High School shortly after her husband's death. She was also a volunteer with the American Cancer Society and Heart Society.

Born in Oakland July 26, 1927, Mrs. Hart began her career as an executive secretary with the Shell Oil Company in San Francisco in 1946. In 1951, she married Tom Hart, who was in his first year of teaching the eighth grade at Pleasanton's only elementary school, which had a total enrollment of 450 in a community with only 2,500 residents. Always proud of her Irish heritage, Mrs. Hart was known for her Irish soda bread, which, in recent years, was the favorite at the annual St. Patrick's Day parties held at the Kottinger Ranch home of her youngest daughter Kathleen Hinek and her husband Bronco.

Besides Kathleen and Bronco, Mrs. Hart is survived by another daughter, Mary Reding and her husband John, and five sons: Michael and his wife Crystal, Jim and his wife Karen, Dennis and his wife Leslee, Dr. Kevin Hart and his wife Joan, Steven and his wife Michele, and by 19 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Patricia Baxter, and by brothers John, Robert and Ben McEntee.

A Rosary Vigil will be held at 7 p.m. tonight at St. Augustine, preceding tomorrow morning's mass. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to AVSI-Tom Hart Memorial Scholarship, 4665 Bernal Ave., Pleasanton, CA. 94566. Margaret Flynn Dunne

Margaret Flynn Dunne died Jan. 21 at the age of 88.

She was born July 28, 1918 in Lakeview, Ore. the second oldest of nine children. She graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in business and worked as a medical secretary at Kaiser in Walnut Creek and Pleasanton for more than 30 years.

She was active in the Christ the King Parish in Pleasant Hill and St. Augustine Catholic Church. She served as president of the Women's Club at Christ the King. She loved to travel, making trips to Ireland, Italy and Germany and frequently flew to Maine and Washington D.C. to visit her children for Thanksgiving. She was an avid reader with an interest in current events and politics. She is remembered for her positive spirit and sense of humor.

She is survived by daughters Marleen Hein, Kathleen Dunne and Denise DeVahey; sons James and Tom Dunne; and five grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband Thomas Dunne.

A vigil was held at Graham-Hitch Mortuary and a funeral mass was celebrated at St. Augustine Church. Donations may be made to Catholic charities. Ruby D. Johnson

Ruby D. Johnson, a Pleasanton resident for 45 years, died Jan. 24 at the age of 79.

She was born Aug. 9, 1926 in Auburndale, Fla. She served active duty in the U.S. Navy for two years and later worked as a Certified Nurses Assistant at the Veterans Hospital in Livermore. She was a parishioner at St. Clare's Episcopal Church.

She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Russell A. Johnson; sons Keith Johnson of Danville, Alan Johnson of Tracy and Brian Johnson of Park City, Utah; daughters Patricia Edeal of Portland, Ore., Gail Graham of Dublin and Brenda Crow of Dullith, Ga.; nine grandchildren; one great-grandchild and many nieces and nephews.

Visitation and funeral services were held at Graham-Hitch Mortuary. Donations may be made to St. Clare's Episcopal Church, 3350 Hopyard Rd., Pleasanton 94588.

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