By Tim Hunt
E-mail Tim Hunt
About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...
(More)About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in addition to writing editorials for more than 15 years. I have served as a director of many non-profits in the Valley and the broader Bay Area and currently serve as chair of Teen Esteem and on the advisory board of Shepherd?s Gate. I also served as founding chair of Heart for Africa and have travelled to Africa seven times to serve on mission trips. My wife, Betty Gail, has taught at Amador Valley High (from where we both graduated) since 1981. She and I both graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, as did both of my parents and my three siblings. Given that Cal tradition, our daughter went south to the University of Southern California and graduated with a degree in international relations. Since graduation, she has taken three mission trips and will be serving in the Philippines for nine months starting in September.
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Pleasanton lost one of my favorite downtown establishments when relatives of Mary Costello closed the Rising Loafer.
Earlier this summer, Mary, 54, had died unexpectedly in her bed at home. When I contacted the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department for a coroner’s report (routine in unattended deaths), the spokesman could not confirm anything because family had not been notified.
Mary had owned the business for many years (15 or more if memory serves) and had built a loyal clientele. It was a favorite breakfast spot for my family before or after church and a great place for coffee during the business week. Whether you stopped in for a meal or simply some of the delightful baked goods, you were in for a good time.
After Mary’s shocking passing, the employees kept the business functioning for a while before the family decided to close it for good on Aug. 15. We will miss Mary’s cheerful presence and good food—it’s hard to find chicken apple sausage these days, one of the breakfasts I truly enjoyed at the Loafer.
My condolences to her family and friends.
A friend recently put the size of Google in perspective for me..
His son had just joined the organization—one of 400 new hires going through orientation. My friend noted that when he retired from Intuit, there were 8,000 employees—quite a big company.
Google, he said, is hiring 22,000 people this year. Yikes. Tech giants, for sure. Behemoth is more like it.
