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Posted by: Kim_Hamilton on 10/09/2014 10:40 PM Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 10/09/2014 10:41 PM
Expires: 01/01/2019 12:00 AM
:



In Loving Memory of Grace Sheridan Dahle Muirhead, 1938~2014

Angels Camp, CA...Grace Muirhead died unexpectedly on Sept. 2, 2014. Born in Madison, WI, on Nov. 24, 1938—which happened to be both her mother’s birthday and Thanksgiving—she attended Madison public schools and entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a freshman with sophomore standing, graduating with honors in 1960. Her college years found her busy indeed. She was active in student affairs, including the student senate, student-faculty committees and several social and honorary ....


societies, including Pi Beta Phi and Phi Kappa Phi. She also worked about 20 hours a week at various jobs, including a stint as a laboratory dishwasher and a clerical post at the university library. After several false starts, she became an English education major.
In 1960, she married her first husband, Floyd Gelhaus, with whom she had two daughters, Jenifer Wines of Encinitas, CA, and Anne Gelhaus of San Jose, CA. She has two grandchildren, Alexander and Natalie Wines, both of Los Angeles, CA.
While Dr. Gelhaus was in grad school at Cornell, Grace taught high school English in Wisconsin and New York State. Upon leaving New York, the young family moved to Lancaster, Penn., for a couple of years, then to Livermore, CA, for five years, and then to the Santa Cruz Mountains in rural Los Gatos.
The years in Livermore involved a great deal of political and environmental activism. Grace spearheaded an AAUW group, This Beleaguered Earth, in pursuing one of its many goals, making abortion safe and legal in California. She worked with many other local groups on such projects as recycling programs and volunteered with Planned Parenthood and Zero Population Growth, teaching classes and speaking to local organizations. For relaxation, she resumed the piano lessons she had given up as a child, cooked with a gourmet group and played bridge.
In the Santa Cruz Mountains, she held several part-time jobs, her favorite being teaching English to Japanese college students who were part of a home study program. She also joined a small folk-singing group, the Mountain Mamas, who entertained in local venues.
Shortly after her first marriage ended, she became a technical editor at various Silicon Valley companies, including Intel, Adobe and Dataquest. For fun, she joined the West Valley Chorale in Saratoga.
Then the unexpected happened. A mutual friend introduced her to Dr. Franklin Reid Muirhead, a physics professor at San Jose State University. Their almost instant rapport culminated in a marriage of nearly 26 years, ending with Dr. Muirhead’s untimely death in 2009. Grace’s stepsons, Andrew (wife Patricia) and Alex (wife Stacy) Muirhead, remained in close contact over the years.
Grace and Frank moved to Murphys, CA, after they retired and wrote theater reviews for the Union Democrat. They further indulged their love of theater with numerous trips to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. And they played bridge.
Grace also helped edit several journals published by the Murphys Writers Group, of which she was a member.
As the multiple sclerosis she’d been battling for more than 20 years worsened, Grace moved to Foothill Village Senior Living Community in Angels Camp, CA, where she spent the last two years of her life. As was her wont, she made new friends there while still keeping up with her vast social network in Calaveras County. And she played bridge.

In addition to her children and grandchildren, Grace is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Hope and Jim Bakken of Madison, WI; nieces Kris Milner and Ellen Schmidt; four grand-nephews and one grand-niece.
A memorial service is planned for Oct. 18, 1:30-3:30 p.m. at Foothill Village, 1400 Foothill Village Drive, Angels Camp, CA.



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