Obituary - Mary Hale
March 21, 1930 - August 19, 2023
Mary Schratter was born in Romania on March 21, 1930 to David Schratter and Alma Lowenthal Schratter, joining her big brother Jack. When Mary was 4 the family moved to Culver City where Mary developed passions for the ocean and the roller rink. She graduated from Santa Monica High School and enrolled at UC Berkeley where she met fellow student Robert Hale, her life's love and partner for nearly 67 years until his death in 2019. They welcomed 4 children, followed by 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
For several decades Mary's fine organizational skills made her a valued secretary at Kaiser Aluminum and the Mills College Alumnae Association. After decades of fitting in college classes here and there, she returned to school full time and proudly earned her BA (with Honors!) at Mills College in 1982. Subsequently she worked as the Pension Manager for the Alameda County Medical Association until her retirement in 1995.
Mary's warmth and ability to embrace the breadth of the human experience supported her amazing talent for making and keeping friends. She maintained friendships from elementary school, the Communist Youth at Cal, the young parents who shared child-rearing in the Oakland Parent Co-op Nursery School, her co-workers in every workplace, Mills College alumnae, her neighbors across Oakland, her water aerobics "Sisters" at the Y, and finally her fellow chair-volleyball competitors, residents and staff at St. Paul's Towers. All of those friends will feel her absence in their lives.
Mary's family was always central to her life, and her love expanded over and over to encompass new additions and generations, whether they were new babies or the partners of her grown children and grandchildren. Every person in her family felt seen, affirmed and supported in her presence. Mary was a lifelong piano student who loved both playing and listening to music. She spent thousands of happy hours working to master the classics, always especially excited to learn a new Mozart piece. She was thrilled when she was able to replace her succession of make-do pianos with her Yamaha Baby Grand! She loved traveling with Bob to explore the U.S., go on a cruise, or visit Europe. But her favorite and most frequent travels were camping next to a swimmable body of water with her family, or staying on the beach in Maui.
The orthopedic limitations that started with her roller-skating days in high school never dampened her competitive spirit. She loved volleyball, playing H-O-R-S-E in the driveway with neighbors, softball at a family picnic, water aerobics, or just batting a stuffed toy back and forth with a child – not to mention a tense cribbage or poker game (where her grandchildren were amused by the unfiltered language that emerged when she lost!). Chair volleyball became a highlight of her final years. That competitive spirit and her undaunted optimism and love of life carried her through decades of health challenges that would have dispirited most people. Rather than let her body force her into a smaller life, she forced life to continually reveal new paths of joy for her.
Mary is survived by her four children and their partners: ..., ..., ... and ... as well as 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Her generosity reached many charities, the Sierra Club and Mills College among them, where her family suggests gifts be given in her memory. For information about a memorial for Mary, please contact [email protected]
Published by San Francisco Chronicle on Sep. 21, 2023.
===============================
1940 Census: Santa Monica, Los Angeles Co., California
2247 - Twentieth street
David Schratter : 47: Head: Austria: Producer - film
Alma Schratter : 49 : Wife : Wisconsin
Jack Schratter : 11 : Son:
Mary Schratter : 10: Daughter: Elementary school, 3rd grade
======================================
1950 Census: Culver City, Los Angeles Co., California
209 Wagner
David Schratter: 56: Head: Rumania: Manager - Import/Export
Alma Schratter : 60: Wife: Wisconsin:
Jack Schratter : 22: Son: New York "
Mary Schratter : 20: Dau. : Romania :
===============================
March 21, 1930 - August 19, 2023
Mary Schratter was born in Romania on March 21, 1930 to David Schratter and Alma Lowenthal Schratter, joining her big brother Jack. When Mary was 4 the family moved to Culver City where Mary developed passions for the ocean and the roller rink. She graduated from Santa Monica High School and enrolled at UC Berkeley where she met fellow student Robert Hale, her life's love and partner for nearly 67 years until his death in 2019. They welcomed 4 children, followed by 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
For several decades Mary's fine organizational skills made her a valued secretary at Kaiser Aluminum and the Mills College Alumnae Association. After decades of fitting in college classes here and there, she returned to school full time and proudly earned her BA (with Honors!) at Mills College in 1982. Subsequently she worked as the Pension Manager for the Alameda County Medical Association until her retirement in 1995.
Mary's warmth and ability to embrace the breadth of the human experience supported her amazing talent for making and keeping friends. She maintained friendships from elementary school, the Communist Youth at Cal, the young parents who shared child-rearing in the Oakland Parent Co-op Nursery School, her co-workers in every workplace, Mills College alumnae, her neighbors across Oakland, her water aerobics "Sisters" at the Y, and finally her fellow chair-volleyball competitors, residents and staff at St. Paul's Towers. All of those friends will feel her absence in their lives.
Mary's family was always central to her life, and her love expanded over and over to encompass new additions and generations, whether they were new babies or the partners of her grown children and grandchildren. Every person in her family felt seen, affirmed and supported in her presence. Mary was a lifelong piano student who loved both playing and listening to music. She spent thousands of happy hours working to master the classics, always especially excited to learn a new Mozart piece. She was thrilled when she was able to replace her succession of make-do pianos with her Yamaha Baby Grand! She loved traveling with Bob to explore the U.S., go on a cruise, or visit Europe. But her favorite and most frequent travels were camping next to a swimmable body of water with her family, or staying on the beach in Maui.
The orthopedic limitations that started with her roller-skating days in high school never dampened her competitive spirit. She loved volleyball, playing H-O-R-S-E in the driveway with neighbors, softball at a family picnic, water aerobics, or just batting a stuffed toy back and forth with a child – not to mention a tense cribbage or poker game (where her grandchildren were amused by the unfiltered language that emerged when she lost!). Chair volleyball became a highlight of her final years. That competitive spirit and her undaunted optimism and love of life carried her through decades of health challenges that would have dispirited most people. Rather than let her body force her into a smaller life, she forced life to continually reveal new paths of joy for her.
Mary is survived by her four children and their partners: ..., ..., ... and ... as well as 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Her generosity reached many charities, the Sierra Club and Mills College among them, where her family suggests gifts be given in her memory. For information about a memorial for Mary, please contact [email protected]
Published by San Francisco Chronicle on Sep. 21, 2023.
===============================
1940 Census: Santa Monica, Los Angeles Co., California
2247 - Twentieth street
David Schratter : 47: Head: Austria: Producer - film
Alma Schratter : 49 : Wife : Wisconsin
Jack Schratter : 11 : Son:
Mary Schratter : 10: Daughter: Elementary school, 3rd grade
======================================
1950 Census: Culver City, Los Angeles Co., California
209 Wagner
David Schratter: 56: Head: Rumania: Manager - Import/Export
Alma Schratter : 60: Wife: Wisconsin:
Jack Schratter : 22: Son: New York "
Mary Schratter : 20: Dau. : Romania :
===============================
Obituary - Mary Hale
March 21, 1930 - August 19, 2023
Mary Schratter was born in Romania on March 21, 1930 to David Schratter and Alma Lowenthal Schratter, joining her big brother Jack. When Mary was 4 the family moved to Culver City where Mary developed passions for the ocean and the roller rink. She graduated from Santa Monica High School and enrolled at UC Berkeley where she met fellow student Robert Hale, her life's love and partner for nearly 67 years until his death in 2019. They welcomed 4 children, followed by 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
For several decades Mary's fine organizational skills made her a valued secretary at Kaiser Aluminum and the Mills College Alumnae Association. After decades of fitting in college classes here and there, she returned to school full time and proudly earned her BA (with Honors!) at Mills College in 1982. Subsequently she worked as the Pension Manager for the Alameda County Medical Association until her retirement in 1995.
Mary's warmth and ability to embrace the breadth of the human experience supported her amazing talent for making and keeping friends. She maintained friendships from elementary school, the Communist Youth at Cal, the young parents who shared child-rearing in the Oakland Parent Co-op Nursery School, her co-workers in every workplace, Mills College alumnae, her neighbors across Oakland, her water aerobics "Sisters" at the Y, and finally her fellow chair-volleyball competitors, residents and staff at St. Paul's Towers. All of those friends will feel her absence in their lives.
Mary's family was always central to her life, and her love expanded over and over to encompass new additions and generations, whether they were new babies or the partners of her grown children and grandchildren. Every person in her family felt seen, affirmed and supported in her presence. Mary was a lifelong piano student who loved both playing and listening to music. She spent thousands of happy hours working to master the classics, always especially excited to learn a new Mozart piece. She was thrilled when she was able to replace her succession of make-do pianos with her Yamaha Baby Grand! She loved traveling with Bob to explore the U.S., go on a cruise, or visit Europe. But her favorite and most frequent travels were camping next to a swimmable body of water with her family, or staying on the beach in Maui.
The orthopedic limitations that started with her roller-skating days in high school never dampened her competitive spirit. She loved volleyball, playing H-O-R-S-E in the driveway with neighbors, softball at a family picnic, water aerobics, or just batting a stuffed toy back and forth with a child – not to mention a tense cribbage or poker game (where her grandchildren were amused by the unfiltered language that emerged when she lost!). Chair volleyball became a highlight of her final years. That competitive spirit and her undaunted optimism and love of life carried her through decades of health challenges that would have dispirited most people. Rather than let her body force her into a smaller life, she forced life to continually reveal new paths of joy for her.
Mary is survived by her four children and their partners: ..., ..., ... and ... as well as 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Her generosity reached many charities, the Sierra Club and Mills College among them, where her family suggests gifts be given in her memory. For information about a memorial for Mary, please contact [email protected]
Published by San Francisco Chronicle on Sep. 21, 2023.
===============================
1940 Census: Santa Monica, Los Angeles Co., California
2247 - Twentieth street
David Schratter : 47: Head: Austria: Producer - film
Alma Schratter : 49 : Wife : Wisconsin
Jack Schratter : 11 : Son:
Mary Schratter : 10: Daughter: Elementary school, 3rd grade
======================================
1950 Census: Culver City, Los Angeles Co., California
209 Wagner
David Schratter: 56: Head: Rumania: Manager - Import/Export
Alma Schratter : 60: Wife: Wisconsin:
Jack Schratter : 22: Son: New York "
Mary Schratter : 20: Dau. : Romania :
===============================
March 21, 1930 - August 19, 2023
Mary Schratter was born in Romania on March 21, 1930 to David Schratter and Alma Lowenthal Schratter, joining her big brother Jack. When Mary was 4 the family moved to Culver City where Mary developed passions for the ocean and the roller rink. She graduated from Santa Monica High School and enrolled at UC Berkeley where she met fellow student Robert Hale, her life's love and partner for nearly 67 years until his death in 2019. They welcomed 4 children, followed by 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
For several decades Mary's fine organizational skills made her a valued secretary at Kaiser Aluminum and the Mills College Alumnae Association. After decades of fitting in college classes here and there, she returned to school full time and proudly earned her BA (with Honors!) at Mills College in 1982. Subsequently she worked as the Pension Manager for the Alameda County Medical Association until her retirement in 1995.
Mary's warmth and ability to embrace the breadth of the human experience supported her amazing talent for making and keeping friends. She maintained friendships from elementary school, the Communist Youth at Cal, the young parents who shared child-rearing in the Oakland Parent Co-op Nursery School, her co-workers in every workplace, Mills College alumnae, her neighbors across Oakland, her water aerobics "Sisters" at the Y, and finally her fellow chair-volleyball competitors, residents and staff at St. Paul's Towers. All of those friends will feel her absence in their lives.
Mary's family was always central to her life, and her love expanded over and over to encompass new additions and generations, whether they were new babies or the partners of her grown children and grandchildren. Every person in her family felt seen, affirmed and supported in her presence. Mary was a lifelong piano student who loved both playing and listening to music. She spent thousands of happy hours working to master the classics, always especially excited to learn a new Mozart piece. She was thrilled when she was able to replace her succession of make-do pianos with her Yamaha Baby Grand! She loved traveling with Bob to explore the U.S., go on a cruise, or visit Europe. But her favorite and most frequent travels were camping next to a swimmable body of water with her family, or staying on the beach in Maui.
The orthopedic limitations that started with her roller-skating days in high school never dampened her competitive spirit. She loved volleyball, playing H-O-R-S-E in the driveway with neighbors, softball at a family picnic, water aerobics, or just batting a stuffed toy back and forth with a child – not to mention a tense cribbage or poker game (where her grandchildren were amused by the unfiltered language that emerged when she lost!). Chair volleyball became a highlight of her final years. That competitive spirit and her undaunted optimism and love of life carried her through decades of health challenges that would have dispirited most people. Rather than let her body force her into a smaller life, she forced life to continually reveal new paths of joy for her.
Mary is survived by her four children and their partners: ..., ..., ... and ... as well as 10 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Her generosity reached many charities, the Sierra Club and Mills College among them, where her family suggests gifts be given in her memory. For information about a memorial for Mary, please contact [email protected]
Published by San Francisco Chronicle on Sep. 21, 2023.
===============================
1940 Census: Santa Monica, Los Angeles Co., California
2247 - Twentieth street
David Schratter : 47: Head: Austria: Producer - film
Alma Schratter : 49 : Wife : Wisconsin
Jack Schratter : 11 : Son:
Mary Schratter : 10: Daughter: Elementary school, 3rd grade
======================================
1950 Census: Culver City, Los Angeles Co., California
209 Wagner
David Schratter: 56: Head: Rumania: Manager - Import/Export
Alma Schratter : 60: Wife: Wisconsin:
Jack Schratter : 22: Son: New York "
Mary Schratter : 20: Dau. : Romania :
===============================
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