Mike Read/Pages From The Past
100 Years Ago
May 1923
(Editor’s Note: This column recounts news of the past from the pages of Marin’s historical newspaper, the Novato Advance.)
– Mr. and J. A. White, of Ignacio, were welcome callers Monday. They left with us a photograph of the interior of the Presbyterian church, taken at the time of the dedication, July 19, 1896. Mrs. White made the letters for the inscription placed on the wall over the pulpit—” The Lord is in his holy temple,—and with Mr. White decorated the church in a very artistic and beautiful manner. Coal oil was used for illuminating in those days, and the ladies wore long dresses cut high at the neck.
75 Years Ago
May 1948
– Novato Presbyterian church at its congregational meeting held Sunday May 23, after the morning service, voted by overwhelming majority not to sell its church edifice, but retain, it for their own worshipping house, as it has been in the years past. Therefore, their previously considered offer to use Community House as their church in case the present edifice should be sold, was rescinded and the Presbyterians will stay in their own building on Grant Avenue, adjacent to the manse they also own.
50 Years Ago
May 1973
– Former Supervisor William Gnoss of Novato and Mrs. Elenor Jones of Fairfax were named Marin Senior Citizens of the Year. As he received a plaque from Arnold Baptiste, chairman of the board of supervisors, Gnoss was praised for his many years of service to the county. Gnoss served on the board of supervisors for 17 years, until January 1971. He was a member of the Marin County Farm Bureau for 50 years and once served as its president. He was a director of the Marin and Sonoma District Fair from 1934 to 1942. He served on the committee that brought Hamilton Air Force Base to Marin. He is an officer of the Senior Coordinating Council and has served on the board of numerous bodies, including the Marin air pollution control district. He played a major role in the establishment of Gnoss Field and the new building for the Novato Library Gnoss, now 75, lives at 623 Olive Avenue. He is a pioneer Novatan, having come here in 1904 when his father bought 40 acres, part of which is now the site of Gnoss Estates subdivision. Gnoss helped his father run the fruit, poultry and dairy ranch for many years. In the late 20s and 30s he was a semi-pro baseball player. Since his retirement from the board of supervisors he has had more time for his hobbies of hunting and fishing.
25 Years Ago
May 1998
– Thomas Joseph Keena Sr., a Novato historian and the son of a pioneer Novato family, died Thursday, May 21, 1998, of heart failure at Kaiser Hospital in San Rafael. Mr. Keena was 90. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Alice. Mr. Keena lived a considerable part of Novato’s history. He completed grade school at Novato Grammar School. Then, like all Novato teens, he rode the train daily to San Rafael High School, where he graduated in 1926. Following graduation, he was employed by H. Pini Company, where he worked for several years in the 1930s. He worked at Mare Island Naval Shipyard during World War II. After the war, he worked as a carpenter in Novato and throughout Marin County. He worked on the construction of many homes here, as well as Olive School and the old West Novato School. He returned to Mare Island in the mid-1960s to work on nuclear submarines. He retired in the mid-1970s. In his retirement he built his present home on the original family property.
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