The St. Phillip Window was located on the Gospel transcept at St. Mark’s.
The window was given in memory of William John Law and Peter Gresham Law by Marilyn Law and her children, Wendy and Kevin Law
The St. Philip window was designed by Cummings Glass Studio, San Francisco and cost $1,815.30. It is 27″ x 92″
The window was installed in 1968 and dedicated in 1969.
There are some sad stories behind some of the memorials to the beautiful windows in our church. Many of them document sudden accidents or tragedies and the sudden, unexpected loss of family members. This is one of those stories.
William John Law was the oldest of two children of William and Belle Bour Law. William Law senior was a plumber and the family lived in Chicago (US Census). William Junior had one younger sister, Jane. The Law family moved to Hammond, Indiana, and that’s where William, known as “Bill”, grew up. He was baptized in the First Presbyterian Church at age 5. He graduated from Hammond High School in 1932.
Before World War II, Bill was the manager of the China offices of Standard Vacuum Oil Co. This meant he got to travel widely around the world…to Asia, South America and more (Palo Alto Times). During World War II, he served in the U.S. Naval Reserve. It was while attending Naval Administration School at Columbia University in New York City, that William met Marilyn Norma Wright (Times Herald). Marilyn was from Olean, New York, had attended Smith College where she studied journalism and music, and was a fashion editor at Women’s Wear Daily in New York City. She was also a concert level pianist. The couple became engaged in 1943 and married later that year (Times Herald).
Bill and Marilyn continued to live in New York during and after the war. When the war ended, William returned to work for Standard Vacuum Oil Co (Times Herald). Their first two children were born in Olean, New York (Wendy in 1946 and Peter in 1949). The family traveled widely overseas and, for a period of time, lived in China and Indonesia. Son Kevin was born in Indonesia in 1951 (US Census).
In 1952, the Law family listed their hometown as Atherton, CA. By 1954, the family had moved to Palo Alto and were living in 1999 Bryant Street, Palo Alto. Their house, built in 1946, was part of the post WWII housing boom in South Palo Alto. The kids attended Harker School (then located in Palo Alto) and all three graduated from Palo Alto High School (Palo Alto Times and US Yearbooks).
The family joined St. Mark’s in March of 1959. Marilyn was listed as a transfer from St. Stephens, Olean, New York. They continued to travel internationally. They were a happy, successful Palo Alto family – active in the community, the kids’ schools and at St. Mark’s. Wendy was confirmed at St. Mark’s in 1960 and Kevin in 1961. We don’t have a record of a confirmation for Peter (St. Mark’s Archives).
Bill had his own seasoning packaging firm, National Food Packets Co. The company was Palo Alto based, but Bill frequently traveled to Canoga Park in Los Angeles to visit the firm’s manufacturing plant. On June 25, 1965, Bill’s car scraped against a construction barricade on the freeway. When he got out to check on the damage to his car, another car hit and killed him. Bill was just 50 at the time of his death and left behind Marilyn and three teenage children (Palo Alto Times).
Marilyn and her children – Wendy, Peter, and Kevin – donated the window in memory of Bill as part of the 1968 campaign to complete the last five windows in the church. The windows were designed and installed throughout 1968, and all five were dedicated on the fourth Sunday of Lent, March 16th, 1969 (St. Mark’s Archives).
Peter Law was 16 at the time of his father’s death. After graduating from Palo Alto High school in 1967 he attended Foothill College briefly, but then dropped out in December of 1968. He began to travel around the country. His family believed he was working as a merchant seaman in New Orleans, but he was apparently out of touch with them. Just three months after the dedication of the window, in June of 1969, Peter traveled alone by train to Reno and took his own life (Palo Alto Times).
Sometime after this, Marilyn changed the plaque on the window to read in memory of William John Law and Peter Gresham Law, given by Marilyn, Wendy and Kevin Law.
