Obituary of Charlotte Foster Avary

Charlotte Louise Foster Avary was born "June the tooth", 1917 on a dairy farm in Palatine, Illinois and died on October the fifteenth in Santa Cruz, California. By all accounts, Charlotte was a strong and a brave woman. She outlived two husbands, Mr. Erwin R. Fernau and Dr. Hugh D. Avary. She is survived by her three children, step-son, daughter-in-law, and four grandchildren. Charlotte had a strong sense of beauty and exquisite taste. She also had a quirky sense of humor, so much so that Charlotte often warned her children not to joke around in public the way they did at home because people who lacked a sense of humor might think they were crazy. She studied and admired classical art, enjoyed sewing and needlepoint and decorating her house, and once owned a millinery business. She loved flowers and anything colored blue. She was active in the Los Altos Embroiderer's Guild and the Los Altos Hills Club for many years. She co-founded the SAGS, a single adult group. She invited many people into her life, which meant that her residence was often packed with guests for the holidays, to the bafflement of her children who often did not know who all those people were. She enjoyed shopping at Stanford Shopping Center and having tea at Shoreline while watching the sailboats. Her funeral service will be held at 2 pm 29 October in the chapel at the Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, Ca. She will be interred beside her beloved second husband, Hugh D. Avary. An informal gathering will be held in early December at her former residence in Los Altos Hills, Ca. Flowers may be sent to the Pacific Gardens Chapel in Santa Cruz.. All of her friends are welcome to attend either or both of these events. For further details about the gathering in December, please contact her children, Robert Fernau (rffernau@ucdavis.edu), Margaret Avary (megavary@yahoo.com), or Richard Fernau (rfernau@berkeley.edu).