Wesley Dean French

1934 - 2022

Beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle, who will be mourned but who leaves us with so many memories of his kindness, generosity and sense of fun and adventure.

Wesley was born and grew up in Burbank, California. The middle of three boys. In high school, he was a pole-vaulter and worked as an auto mechanic. After high school, Wesley transferred from UCLA to Cal where he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Through his connection with the John Wesley House in Berkeley, he attended a dinner with Niels Bohr and had a lifelong passion for physics. In his leisure time, Wesley was a champion weightlifter, horseshoe-thrower and ping pong player.

Working at Rohr Aircraft, Wesley courted and won the heart of his wife, Dorothea Gugan. During their 63-year marriage, they enjoyed skiing, backpacking, gardening and world travel together. Wesley was a skilled amateur videographer and editor, creating commemorative videos for University of California Berkeley Beartreks and Santa Clara University Osher Lifelong Learning Institute trips. His nearly 50 videos of trips throughout Europe and the neareast, narrated by Dorothea, the lecturer for those trips, can be viewed at this link: https://vimeo.com/user46005026/videos. If you want to honor him, please follow him on Vimeo. He was proud to have followers from both the US and Europe.

Wesley loved tennis. He sent his three grandchildren to Dick Gould's tennis camp at Stanford University and volunteered at the SAP Open. He participated in the USTA Nationals in Southern California, as a part of the IBM 3.5 tennis team. He and Dorothea made many lifelong friends during 40+ years of Saturday doubles.

Wesley loved all things French. He took French cooking and language lessons at the community college. He made a mean bûche de noël, French onion soup and cheese soufflé. He and Dorothea attended language school and took tennis lessons in the south of France. Together, they hiked the Camino de Santiago from Paris to Saint Jean Pied-de-Port, completing the trip in 200 km segments over several summers. Wesley shared his Francophilia with the whole family, taking his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren to France many times.

Wesley was fiercely proud and supportive of his entire family. He funded extensive post-secondary education for his wife, daughter and grandchildren, and encouraged them to never count themselves out of any endeavor. His biggest smiles came out whenever he saw any of them. He is survived by his wife, Dorothea, daughter Elizabeth, son-in-law James, grandchildren Phillip, Darcy and Wesley and his baby brother, Dennis. We hate to say goodbye to Wesley but are happy to say that he lived life to the very fullest. Love you, Dad!

A celebration of life will be held at The Terraces of Los Gatos, 800 Blossom Hill Rd., 95032 on Saturday, July 30, from 1-3 pm. The Terraces requires all visitors to wear an appropriate mask and show proof of vaccination and booster or a recent negative COVID test, so please allow time to check-in.