Private memorial held for Steve Jobs

STANFORD, Calif., Oct. 17 (UPI) -- A memorial service held at Stanford University Sunday to mark the passing of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs attracted hundreds of his colleagues and admirers.

The private evening service was notable for the heavy security presence and details of the event were scarce, The Wall Street Journal Reported. Attendees were served food in an outdoors setting next to the campus chapel and invited guests said a reception was to follow the service, the business newspaper said.

The San Jose Mercury News reported dozens of dark-suited men sporting ear pieces watched purposefully over those who showed up for the event.

"This is security like you'd see for a presidential visit -- maybe tighter," retired San Mateo County Superior Court Judge John Runde, who happened by for his weekly campus walk with his wife Joyce, told the newspaper.

The Mercury News reported the mourners included Google Chief Executive Officer Larry Page, media executive Rupert Murdoch, former Vice President Al Gore, and Adobe co-founders Chuck Geschke and John Warnock, among scores of Silicon Valley elite and the politically powerful such as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and celebrities such as actor Tim Allen.

PC Magazine reported California Gov. Jerry Brown had declared Sunday as "Steve Jobs Day" across the state.

"In his life and work, Steve Jobs embodied the California dream," Brown's proclamation stated. "To call him influential would be an understatement. His innovations transformed an industry, and the products he conceived and shepherded to market have changed the way the entire world communicates. Most importantly, his vision helped put powerful technologies, once the exclusive domain of big business and government, in the hands of ordinary consumers."

Jobs died of complications of cancer on Oct 5.