Obituaries

Winnifred V. Kesteloot

1924-2007

Winnifred "Winnie" V. Kesteloot, 82, née Mjellem, died April 16, 2007. She was born Oct. 20, 1924, in San Pedro, Calif., the second of four siblings. Growing up in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. she developed a lifelong love of the ocean, beaches and sailing. She graduated from University of Southern California in 1946 where she was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. She became an elementary school teacher and a master teacher for the Los Angeles City School District.

In 1957, she married Robert W. Kesteloot. The next 24 years she would spend as a Navy wife, mother and volunteer in her childrens' schools, classrooms and scout troops. She volunteered hundreds of hours as chairman of volunteers for Navy Relief to help young military families; the Naval Officer's Wives Club as president, treasurer and area group coordinator in Washington, D.C. as well as the American Red Cross. She raised two children, Walter, a fire captain/paramedic in Dougals County and Amy, a teacher in Southern California.

In 1980, she moved to Nevada and found new outlets for her volunteerism as a docent in the Genoa museum, University Women's Club of Carson Valley and the Republican Women's Club. She loved history, art and her many friends in the Carson Valley and all over the world. In 2004 she moved to a military retirement community in Riverside, Calif. Typically, her infectious sociability, independence, love of bridge, and a voracious appetite for reading allowed her to quickly assimilate into her new surroundings. Well read, quick with a crossword puzzle and an uncrowned Jeopardy champ, she excelled in the literary arts.

Mrs. Kesteloot is survived by her sister, Betty St. George; her son and daughter-in-law Walt and Méschelle Kesteloot; her daughter and son-in-law Amy and Dan'l Steward; and grandchildren Jim, John and D'amy.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Aquatics Endowment Fund. This grass roots endowment supports the operation of an aquatics complex for grades K-12 in Coronado, Calif. where her name will be etched in a glass memorial wall on the pool deck. Tax-deductible donations can be made to: ISF-Aquatics, "In Memory of Winnie Kesteloot," P.O. Box 182242, Coronado, Calif. 92178.

In keeping with her wishes, the ashes will be scattered at sea off Point Loma, Calif. at a later date, followed by a private family beach service. Arrangements are in the care of the Neptune Society. The Kesteloot Family can be reached at P.O. Box 1473, Minden, NV 89423.

Dr. Alexander Van Voorhies McKee

1923-2007

Services will be 11 a.m. Saturday at All Saint Episcopal Church, 2076 Sutterville Road, Sacramento, for Dr. Alexander Van Voorhies McKee, 84, of Minden who died April 1, 2007. Dr. McKee was the son of the late Dr. C.B. McKee and Clare Phinney McKee of Sacramento.

Dr. McKee was the third generation of McKee's to be born in Sacramento. His father Dr. C.B. McKee was one of the founding physicians of Sutter General Hospital. His grandfather, James Anderson McKee was one of the first Sacramento physicians to serve Elk Grove and the outlining areas, while maintaining his own Sacramento practice; there is an elementary school in Elk Grove named for his grandfather. He graduated from Sacramento High School, and attended the University of California Berkeley where he went on to graduate from the college of Physicians and Surgeons in 1946 with a degree in dentistry.

He was an Army captain stationed in Germany with an artillery headquarters unit. At the end of World War II his division's mission was to clean up Dachau Concentration Camp and turn it into a POW camp for the Germans in preparation for the war crimes trial that followed. He was the only medical department officer assigned permanently to the camp.

Dr. McKee served in the Army through the end of the war and then joined the Air Force as a major, in time for the Korean War. He stayed in the military after the war and practiced at the McClellan Air force base until he was discharged, at which time he started his private practice of dentistry in Sacramento.

Dr. McKee and his wife Brooke were married in 1948 in Bronxville, N.Y. They settled in Sacramento where he had been raised. They built a cabin in Homewood, Lake Tahoe, where he had spent many years as a young boy, and where the McKees had met in the 1940s. They moved to Minden in 1992 after Dr. McKee retired from dentistry.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years; his son John Nelson McKee, his bother C.B. McKee Jr., his sister Jean Mansfield, and his identical twin brother Dr. George A. McKee. He is survived by his daughter Sally McKee Cargile of Sacramento, and his two grandsons, John and Peter Cargile.

Dr. McKee's final resting place will be with his wife, Brooke, at Tahoe City, Calif.

Loran John

'Jack' Paige

1947-2007

There will be a celebration of life June 2 outdoors in the upper Johnson Lane area for Loran John "Jack" Paige, 59, who died April 19, 2007, of natural causes at the Capitol City Gun Club.

Mr. Paige was born June 1, 1947, in Chicago to Michael V. Paige and Helen Sewak. He married Eileen K. O'Donnell, July 31, 1993, in Long Beach, Calif., where they lived until moving to Minden 11 years ago. A pharmacist by profession, he was an avid outdoorsman who loved God, his country and was a lifetime member of the NRA.

He is survived by his wife, Eileen Paige of Minden, three ocicats Tinkerbelle, Sunny and Marie as well as many friends.

Arrangements are in the care of Walton's Douglas County Mortuary. Cremation will take place at Walton's Sierra Crematory in Carson City. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Carson Valley Chukar Club, P.O. Box 1122, Gardnerville, NV 89410.

Zelda H. Shaw

1923-2007

A memorial service will be 3 p.m. Saturday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Gardnerville for Zelda H. Shaw, 83, who died April 6, 2007, in Damariscotta, Maine, at Miles Memorial Hospital. She will be interred at the Garden Cemetery in Gardnerville.

She was born Zelda Heitman Sept. 4, 1923, the daughter of Dorothy and Otto Heitman of Gardnerville.

She attended Douglas County schools and the University of Nevada, Reno, where she was a band majorette and a member of the Tri Delta sorority. Mrs. Shaw's parents owned a ranch in Carson Valley. She was a third generation Carson Valley resident, descended from a pioneer family. As a young girl she learned to ride horseback and was very involved with the 4-H club, where she participated in livestock competitions. In 1941 she led the parade for the Nevada State Rodeo, carrying a banner astride a trotting pony.

Her father, Otto Heitman, was murdered in 1935 during a robbery, leaving his wife to supervise the ranch and three children. As the oldest child in the family, Mrs. Shaw had two boisterous brothers to contend with, as well as her chores with the livestock.

In 1943 she married Jac R. Shaw, a college student who had just enlisted for Navy service in World War II. After his discharge, they settled in Gardnerville and helped run the Heitman Ranch. Mrs. Shaw worked at the Carson Valley Mercantile. Jac Shaw went on to become the owner of Shaw's Feed Store in Gardnerville, while she was a homemaker before working at the Town & Country and the Tumblewind in Minden. She later opened Zel's Place in Carson City.

Jac and Zelda Shaw moved to Maine in 1985 to enjoy their retirement years. Jac Shaw died in 1993, and she elected to stay in her adopted state of Maine. Bridge and gardening were her favorite hobbies.

Mrs. Shaw was active in many community efforts, Daffodil Days to benefit the American Cancer Society, where she volunteered for eight years.

In Nevada, she was a past president of the Nevada Republican Women's Club as well as a member of the Douglas County Republican Central Committee and a member, organist and Sunday school teacher at Trinity Lutheran Church. She also served on the Lutheran Women's Missionary League, the Reno Philharmonic Auxiliary, and the Minden Fortnightly Club.

Mrs. Shaw was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years Jac R. Shaw and her granddaughter Alison Lynn Shaw. She is survived by two daughters, Linda Reid of Gardnerville and Sally Lobkowicz of Waldoboro, Maine; a son, Minden attorney William J. Shaw; two brothers, Dennis Heitman of Idaho and Robert Heitman of Washington, as well as eight grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Town of Gardnerville Heritage Park Shaw Memorial, 1407 Highway 395, Gardnerville, NV, 89410; or to Lutheran Hour Ministries, Shaw Memorial, 660 Mason Ridge Dr., St. Louis, MO, 63141.