Talk:Russell and Sigurd Varian/Archives/2013

For further development
Good source on medical technology of company, here or for company article Montanabw (talk) 21:06, 2 May 2011 (UTC): http://www.varian.com/dyna/comp/2003/article2pg1.html

Comments

 * Ref formatting needs lots of work. Do you want to sfn it?
 * A bit hagiographic in places.
 * Pumpkin Sky  talk  00:47, 4 September 2012 (UTC)


 * I have no problems with cleanup of ref formatting, if someone can do it via script, I'd have to do it manually, so feel free to go for it! And yes, tough to find non-hagiographic sources, though will keep digging, any tweaks that can stay within cited material Ok with me.  Montanabw (talk) 20:12, 5 September 2012 (UTC)

Digging through to fill out the personal life sections: Info on Russell Varian
Long and short of it all: Russell was married twice. Name of first wife unknown (still looking). Had a son by first marriage: George Russell Varian. Second marriage to Dorothy Hill, year is in the refs. She was from a poor family, but went to UC Berkeley. The couple were strong conservationists. She continued on at Cupertino, doing conservation work after his death (founding the Semperviren's club seemingly in his memory, though that last part might be an opinion). The couple adopted two children - Susan and Charles. Susan went to Castilleja School (a notable school all right, despite the neutrality tag on its WP page), UC Davis and went on to be a Hoover institution fellow and then a director of PACER (an adoption research organization). Can't find much on Charles or George, though George did stay close to the family (he co-owned land in Porotola Valley with Susan, and his will is at Stanford and can be retrieved; might have his mother's name).

Russell died while on a hiking/cruise trip to Alaska. His wife was with him at the time. There are a few prizes named after him (from American Vacuum Association and Varian Associates). There is a whole lot of information on his conservation activities, and we need to include that.

Russell sang Irish ballads: http://findingaids.stanford.edu/xtf/view?docId=ead/uarc/scm0381.xml;query=;brand=default http://www.chemheritage.org/visit/events/awards/affiliate-partnership-awards/pittcon-hof-varian.aspx Active conservationists Russell took six years to graduate 5 months with Humble Oil (strange name for an oil company): patent for vibrating magnetometer Stanford PhD application rejected due to poor math and reading skills Edward Ginzton Couple conservationists http://www.chemheritage.org/about/history/index.aspx (reliable source) saving Coast Range redwoods (http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/morgue/news/1995_Jan_4.CREATR44.html) http://mytown.mercurynews.com/archives/cupertinocourier/07.29.98/Varian.html More on conservation

http://mytown.mercurynews.com/archives/cupertinocourier/03.25.98/CoverStory.html Lots of info on Dorothy Varian, including year of marriage. Graduated from Berkeley; poor family. Conservationist; author. No year of death, strangely. Both children adopted. The cupertino courier is an offshoot of the "Mercury News" and is a reliable source (main newspaper of the South Bay). The adoption of Susy is also supported by

http://www.death-record.com/d/n/Dorothy-Varian/California has Dorothy's birth date and date of death. This is a primary source, however for something as basic as the dates, and since the person mentioned is clearly the subject (same year of birth, same place, same name), I think we can include this.

http://books.google.com/books?id=DsKVrqGFUJMC page = 100: Russell died on a hiking trip to Alaska (also a cruise per another source). Dorothy and others founded the Sempervirens club in Cupertino as a tribute to her husband (unclear whether this is just opinion). Per this real estate site, George R. Varian owned land in Portola Valley in a trust with Susan as co-trustee, in 2006 (so he seemed to be in touch with his stepsister). A somewhat better source (county assessment) for the same data is: http://www.city-data.com/san-mateo-county/H/Hawkview-Street-1.html His will is in the "Russell & Sigurd Varian papers" at Stanford Green library (Box 1, folder 10), and got there in 1993. That might have his mother's name; strange her name is so hard to find.

A legal brief states Russell was married twice, and had a kid with first wife. Dates of birth of all the kids there, plus some additional useful information. Primary source, but probably acceptable for the facts (as opposed to the question of taxation the brief's central issue). Incidentally, Dorothy did win the appeal against the tax (we don't need to include that). Hooray for her!

http://sempervirens.org/pdf/Mountain_Echo_SP11.pdf A newsletter from the Sempervirens Club. Not an RS for disputed environmental issues, but I would say an RS for basic facts about the Varians.

Our page has been copied in part here: http://www.passport-offices.info/index.php?t=Russell+Varian though I don't see anything of concern about it.


 * Good stuff. The Irish ballads thing does not surprise me, per the interests of their father John Osborne Varian -- the guy knew William Butler Yeates before coming to America, composed (apparently rather poor) epic poetry and made at least one into a stage play!  The court case is interesting as to the potential size of the estate (I got into writing this article due to my interest in figuring out where people who raise horses got their money, because they always need lots!).  Anxiously await your findings on Sigurd!   Montanabw (talk) 21:11, 14 September 2012 (UTC)

Quite a bit on Sigurd
Sigurd was one of the first pilots assigned to Mexico by Pan Am when it started its Mexico and Central American routes. There he married the daughter of the British consul at Vera Cruz, Mexico, and had two kids: John and Lorna. Note that the Ladera "cooperative housing" is a bit of WP:PEACOCK. Ladera started with a bunch of Stanford people deciding to architect a community next to Portola Valley, just next to Stanford, and build houses. They formed a coop for this purpose. It worked for just a few years, building a few houses, and then folded. A traditional builder then took over and developed the community. Today t is a very-expensive community in the foothills next to the university.

Sigurd spent last 3 years of life at Peurta Vallarta. He crashed into the Pacific after losing his way in the dark, flying from Guadalajara to PV. Left an estate over $3 million. Incorporated a foundation in his and his wife's name and started it with 1/4th his estate. Left the rest to his wife and kids. A chief beneficiary was a hospital in PV.

Winifred seemingly overdosed on sleeping pills on July 10, 1962. There is some question on what exactly it was, and the San Mateo Times did not follow up with a conclusive article (actually they did have articles on her, but cause of death just isn't mentioned afterward). Clearly death unexpected and the only presumptive reason the cops, the coroner and the daughter offered was depression from losing her husband and suicide.

Her estate, again back to almost $3 million (mostly Varian stock) was split, with son and daughter getting around $400,000 or more (details available). This is in a reliable newspaper. Some was left to the charitable foundation. It is no longer operative.

John owns a ranch (now you know where his money is from) and the article has the link already; Lorna lived all her life at Ladera and died a few years ago. She was married all that time to Charles Van Linghe, a Palo Alto stockbroker, and left a large group of kids, grandkids and great grandkids behind (names available, though of no real interest directly to us). Seemed to have had the most uneventful life of all the Varians. The kids' birthdates are "source"able.

Notes on soures (some are behind paywalls, but the pre-1964 ones, that is pretty much everything, most likely have expired copyrights, and I will upload the scanned images to WikiCommons): http://www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/California/Winifred-Varian_2lp784 Name wife’s name, kid’s names. The census records (original scanned, not scanned-OCR version) from the census bureau (government archives) division can be accessed, along with the OCR version from ancestry.com. Note that having both is a good idea; helps decode the handwriting in the census record much better.

Part of delegation asking for County money for Palo Alto municipal airport: The San Mateo Times, Volume 54, No. 19, Wednesday, May 19, 1954

Sigurd died in Mexico, flying from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta, crashing into the Pacific after losing his way in the darkness. Lived in mexico from 1929 to 1934. Brother-in-law Victor Hogg of Guadalajara. One of first pilots sent to Mexico by PanAm when it inaugurated flights to Mexico and Central America. The San Mateo Times  Vol 61 – no 251, page 5, Friday, October 20, 1961.

Spent last 3 years of his life at Puerta Vallarta. Died October 18. Left an estate over $3 million. Incorporated a foundation “The Sigurd F Varian and Winifred H Varian Charitable Foundation., receiving one-fourth of the estate, remainder to wife and children. A chief beneficiary was a tiny hospital in Peuro Vallarta. The San Mateo Times. November 25, 1961, page 14

Winifred overdosed on sleeping pills on July, 10, 1962. County Deputy Coroner Robert Cole, assumed “that death was caused by an overdose of some toxic substance, such as sleeping pills.” Sheriff’s deputies listed death as “apparent suicide.” Note left: “Sweetheart, I can’t live without you.” Signed Winn. Found at 25 Aliso way, Ladera, by daughter Mrs. Charles Van Linghe, of 130 North Castanya way, Ladera. Her husband a Palo Alto stockbroker. The San Mateo Times: July 12, 1962, page 12.

http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi Death record of Winifred. (middle initial: H). Mother’s name: Bateman? Birth place: Maine, which is probably wrong (scanning error: ME seen instead of a made-up MX?) http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/caldeaths?c=search&first=Winifred&last=Varian&spelling=Exact&5_year=&5_month=0&5_day=0&6_year=&6_month=0&6_day=0&4=&7=&8=&SubmitSearch.x=26&SubmitSearch.y=14 : Per this (another death record): birth place Mexico.

Russell H. Varian lab of physics dedicated in his name. The San Mateo Times, Thursday, December 27, 1962 Section II, page 11 Building still around.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?page=notice&pid=139303464#fbLoggedOut Daughter’s death notice on SF Chronicle (probably can add as an external link).

Winifred’s will: 1/8th (not less than 375,000) to daughter Lorna V. Van Linge. Same to son, John, O. Varian of Bradley. A like amount, less $100,000 to brother Victor Hogg of Hamilton, Ontario, and family. 2/3rds of remainder to charitable foundation. Remaining to son and daughter and their families. The San Mateo Times, August 9, 1962. Thursday, page 18.

Estate valued in 1965 at $2,771,961 by state inheritance tax appraiser William Penaluna. Included $1613,845 worth of stock in Varian Associates. San Mateo Times 

http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Klystron extracts from Dorothy’s book. Russell was 6’4’’ so a full photo probably is a good idea.

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=db0e5430-2280-4bab-9d69-9fa68b3ff724%40sessionmgr12&vid=2&hid=14

The Kylstron boys: Radio’s Miracle Makers by Frank J. Taylor, in the Saturday Evening Post February 8, 1941. Mentions meeting Winn at Vera Cruz, and that she was the British Consul's daughter. A lengthy history of the Klystron stuff; a bit over-the-top; we can take the facts, but not much of the opinion.

Research thoughts
Great work. Maybe add your sources to enhance the material that's in there, and elaborate on some of it. I'll do a peek at what you added. Am not on the 'puter much this weekend, so have fun and I'll not be creating edit conflicts. The main thing is to be careful to not be redundant to what's there already, more of an expansion. I'd want to see a little more about Ladera's origins before dethroning its goals, eh? Original motives may have been noble, hard to say. The Varians, having grown up in a utopian-intentioned community, may have at least been thinking in that direction even if no one else did. Good to add the wife and kids stuff for both men. I think it would be OK to expand on Sigurd's Puerto Vallarta retirement and the circumstances (ironic, weren't they?) of Sigurd's plane crash. Add the full education stuff on Russell, the problems dyslexia caused him clearly made college a struggle too. Room for a wee bit more on Russell's heart attack, though not a lot more to say, I think expanding on his marriage to Dorothy (that article just on her is actually a good source, mentioned she was age 40 when they married, for one thing) and that he had one biological and two adopted kids. Dorothy's active life as a widow can be mentioned in terms of stuff she did to honor Russell's memory, at least. I think you can expand on their conservation work also. With what you can glean from the court case and other records about the general size of their estates at death you should be able to do up a simple sentence or two (i.e. "each left an estate of approximately X million, X% going to their wives and children, X% for various good deeds...") I don't know what to think about Sigurd's wife's suicide, with a lot of family still alive, may be a sore spot (definitely sad) and she may be considered a private figure, not a public one. Maybe don't add it for now until we've asked others about how wiki handles these things. All said, I'd say focus on where the article has no material first, and then only add additional info if it's not going off on too much of a tangent. I think you did great work here, and I appreciate it! Montanabw (talk) 04:39, 16 September 2012 (UTC)