In Memory Of Graciela McCord, Longtime Resident Of Los Altos

LOS ALTOS, CA – Graciela McCord passed on to heaven on October 4, 2016, at the age of 85, in San Diego,
California, after a heroic battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

She was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, to Engineer Rafael Salazar and Tita Salazar on December 30, 1930.

She is survived by an older sister, Berta Pelat. She also had a younger brother, Rafael Salazar, who recently predeceased her.

Graciela was a graduate of the American School of Guadalajara, and became secretary to the British Consul of Guadalajara. During that time, she met her future husband, Leonard McCord, while he was attending the Stanford Summer School.

They married in Guadalajara on August 21, 1954, and recently celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary. Graciela and Leonard had three sons, Leonard, Jon and Michael.

Michael and his wife, Barbara, gave them two beautiful granddaughters, Irene and Holly, now grown into gifted and poised adults.

After establishing their home in Los Altos, California, the family traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico every summer for more than 20 years, where Graciela taught intensive Spanish to Americans under the auspices of Stanford University and the University of Arizona.

Graciela was a loving and exemplary wife and mother, who still found time to further her education, graduating from San Jose State University, summa cum laude, with a BA degree in Spanish. She was a member of Sigma Delta Pi (National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society).

She worked for Addison‐Wesley Publishers, where she edited a Mathematical textbook series in Spanish for elementary school students. She taught an advanced Spanish class at the Palo Alto Adult School, for 34 years and was an inspiration to her devoted students.

To aid in teaching Spanish, Leonard and Graciela collaborated on and published a Spanish textbook for Spanish language students, with the latest version titled: “Viva La Tercera Edad!”

Graciela was a blessing to all who knew her. She liked to play the guitar and piano, dance, carve wood sculptures and, most of all, spend time with her family.

She will be sorely missed on both sides of the border, but her loving memory and spirit will live on.