Earl "Coco" Junghans

1935 - 2022

Earl "Coco" Junghans
August 8, 1935 - July 13, 2022
Earl "Coco" Junghans passed away July 13, 2022, surrounded by his loving wife and family. He is survived by his wife, the artist Baker Moorefield; his daughters Julie Leverton and Jenner Junghans; granddaughter, Georgia; grandsons Collin, Steven, and Isaac; son-in-law, Jason Leverton; step-daughter, Newland Moorefield; step-grandsons, Cory and Sam; and best friend, David Cobb.
An award-winning watercolor artist and award-winning athlete, Coco was a lifelong architect and artist in San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Menlo Park. Coco won multiple awards for best in show in watercolors in various categories. He also had many clients who collected his art in the Bay Area.
Coco was born in Panama on August 8, 1935, where his father was an officer in the U.S. Navy. In Panama, there was a newspaper with a cartoon character named "Coco," and when Coco was born, that became his nickname.
Coco's father was later stationed at Pearl Harbor where he survived the attacks while flying reconnaissance Coco, his mother, and his brother, Peter, also survived the attacks on the island, escaping Oahu soon thereafter.
While his father was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia and the Washington, D.C. area, Coco attended Granby High School, Severn School, and Landon School, where he graduated. He later attended the U.S. Naval Academy, and graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in architecture.
His greatest joy was his love for his family as Baker's husband, a father to Julie and Jenner, and grandfather to his daughters' children and his step-grandsons. His playfulness was unparalleled where he enjoyed playing in playgrounds and soccer fields, kid-like, with his kids and grandkids. Although they lived in different towns, Coco loved to travel to see his girls and their families and spend time with them. At Christmas, he wrapped their presents in bright-colored packages with bright-colored ribbons of thick yarn.
A lifelong lacrosse player, tennis player, and runner, Coco won most of his footraces and 5Ks in his age group, winning more than 100 medals. He and Baker played tennis once a week.
He met his lifelong best friend, David Cobb, at Severn in 1953 when they played lacrosse where David said he was the "better player" who was "funny, with a skeptical, but passionate personality. I will miss his sense of humor, honesty, and loyalty as a friend."
A gardener, he grew vegetables, including corn in pots, green beans, zucchini, Lima beans, tomatoes, chard, and lettuce. He somehow devised a way to keep critters from eating his bounty, so he and Baker always had fresh, organic vegetables.
Before he moved to San Francisco in the 60s, he met Baker Moorefield in 1960 in Alexandria, Virginia, introduced by their mothers. The two of them dated and fell in love, but didn't marry at that time. In the 1990s, Baker moved to Menlo Park with her husband, not realizing Coco was in Palo Alto. After her divorce, she read an article in the Menlo Park Almanac about an architect Earl "Coco" Junghans and decided there couldn't be another Earl "Coco" Junghans than the one she knew 35 years earlier. She looked him up and called him and sure enough, it was her boyfriend from 1960. They planned to meet for breakfast and when he arrived at her front door, he admitted to her he'd held a torch for her for the last 35 years. They married soon after and had been together for the last 27 years. He died quietly in her arms.
There will be no special service at this time, so please honor him in your own ways.