Mary Louise “Happy” (Gasser) Minor
Mary Louise “Happy” (Gasser) Minor, born July 16, 1929, passed away peacefully on March 31, 2016, surrounded by those who loved her after succumbing to pancreatic cancer. She enjoyed her last year at Kensington Place in Redwood City where she made many new friends. Mary Louise went by her middle name, Louise, and was also known as “Happy,” a nickname given to her by her eldest grandchild, Katie.
Mary Louise was the only child of Peter and Lila (Scudamore) Gasser, born and raised in Sonora. She attended Sonora High School with her two life long best friends: Patricia (Price) Brooks and Phyllis (Knight) Filbert. She loved going to the high school football games, hiking, and working at the Cannery and the Sonora Coffee shop during the summers, where the MGM gang voted her to be “the best looking girl in Sonora.” Growing up she was a “wild thing” who liked hitchhiking with her girlfriends. It was a time of horses and fast cars, cowboy boots and high heels, dance cards and the Cancan, and she took advantage of all of it.
Louise fell in love with David Michel Minor when she was in high school. Dave and Louise were married in Santa Cruz, California on June 24, 1949 at Shadow Brook Restaurant. They were married 62 years before Dave passed away in 2011.
Louise attended San Jose State. Over the course of her marriage, she and her husband lived in Santa Cruz, Richmond, San Jose, Newark, and Stillwater, Oklahoma, and in 1961 they moved to Fremont, which became her hometown for the next 54 years. Louise worked as a teacher’s assistant, was active in her community, and also volunteered at animal shelters, where she won many awards. Louise was passionate about her animals and gardening. She definitely knew her dahlias from her peonies.
Even as she got older, Louise preserved a love of adventure and desire to embrace the unknown. At the age of 76 she traveled to Nepal and India. She also made it to Paris, Africa, Russia, China and many other countries in her lifetime. In fact, it could be hard to keep track of Louise, as she was always off somewhere around the world, or at one of her summer homes either in Sonora, Twain Harte, or Mount Shasta, where she often enjoyed bringing her children and grandchildren. Wherever Louise went, she brought sunshine and a mission to spread happiness, truly earning her nickname.
“Happy” was known for her welcoming smile and pecan pies, her love of pearls, cowboy boots and elegant high heels, for keeping up with the news and enjoying magazines, and for the amazing sense of humor she held onto until the end. She will be missed by all of those who have known her. As she once said, “I have no time for guilt. I dropped that a long time ago.”
Louise is survived by her son, Steven, and daughter, Michelle , her grandchildren Katie, Peter and Crissy, and her great grandchildren, Harper, Sienna and Logan. She is also fondly remembered by her daughter-in-law Elena Hobbs-Minor, her son-inlaw Milton Friedman, and her step grandchildren, Woodson (Quinn) Hobbs, Natasha Hobbs and Casey Friedman.