Arthur Notthoff Jr.

1925 - 2017

Arthur Paul Notthoff, Jr.

December 8, 1925 – January 26, 2017

Long-time Menlo Park resident Arthur Notthoff passed away peacefully at home January 26, 2017 with his children Ann Notthoff, Charles Notthoff, and Sally Zarnowitz at his side. He was 91.
Art, who grew up in Oakland, attended Piedmont High School, studied Electrical Engineering at UC Berkeley, and earned his Master of Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Following his service in the U.S. Navy, Art married fellow Oakland native and Cal graduate, Carroll Whitton. The couple moved to Menlo Park and Art spent the next 35 years working for Dalmo Victor, a defense contractor in Belmont. Among his many projects was the design and development of the system that beamed photographs of the lunar landing back to Earth.
Art was an original, living life on his own terms. He enjoyed many pastimes and excelled as a gourmet cook, a skill that was considered unusual for suburban husbands in the early 1970s. A local newspaper found it so newsworthy that they profiled him in a feature story entitled "Chef graduates from barbecue pit to crepe pan with honors."
Art and Carroll, whose death preceded his in 1998, hosted a fondly remembered annual Christmas Eve gathering and were active in local civic events, volunteering with many local charities, including the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce Connoisseur's Marketplace.
Art was an eclectic and avid collector, with a keen eye for antique tools, farm equipment, and machinery. He met his longtime friend Isabel Kennedy volunteering at the Museum of American Heritage (MOAH) in Palo Alto, which featured displays of his collections.
The family is grateful to Art's wonderful caregivers Lala, Secilia and Frank, during the last year of his life. Art is survived by his three children and their spouses Ann Notthoff and Dwight Holing of Orinda, Charles Notthoff and Laurie Takao of McKinleyville, and Sally and Arthur Zarnowitz of San Jose, along with six grandchildren, whose graduations he never missed, Mary and Sam Holing, Patrick and Nicholas Notthoff and Raymond and Walter Zarnowitz. The family respectfully requests memorial contributions in the name of Art Notthoff to MOAH, P.O. Box 1731, Palo Alto, CA 94302. Private services are pending.