Devoted wife, beloved mother, preschool director, engaging friend, volunteer

Nora Amalia Vignoli died at the age of 91, her hand firmly held by Peter, her husband of 68 years. Nora’s life encompassed the era of the nuclear family and transitioned to forging a new career after her children graduated from high school.

She was the only child of William E. Kneass, Jr. and Amelie Kneass Elkinton of Monterey, California. She flourished at Monterey Union High School, played the bassoon in the high school band, and went on to Monterey Peninsula College and UC Santa Barbara.

Her husband remembers that at the welcoming reception for the 1954 newly commissioned Navy ensigns starting aerology classes at the United States Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, she was delightfully outgoing, bubbly, and magnetic. Although paired with a friend of hers, he carefully noted her address when the assigned driver dropped off each of the evening’s dates.

They were married on January 7, 1956, in the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School Chapel in Monterey, and immediately returned to New Jersey where her husband was serving a tour of duty as assistant aerological officer at Navy headquarters, Commander Eastern Sea Frontier, New York, N.Y.

In April, 1957, their son, Peter James was born in Englewood, New Jersey, followed by Katherine Mae in Kinston, North Carolina in December, 1958.

The lure of returning to California beckoned, and the young family settled in Sacramento after her husband secured an engineering position with Aerojet General. While a neighbor was building a bomb shelter under his front lawn during the Cuban missile crisis, she was maintaining family normality at the neighborhood cabana club pool with her two offspring and building a nurturing community with other mothers and their baby-boomer children. Her third child, Helen Ann, arrived in June 1960, in Sacramento.

The family relocated to Claremont in April 1964, because her husband accepted a three step promotion at Space General, Aerojet’s subsidiary in El Monte.

All her children attended Chaparral Elementary School, La Puerta Intermediate, and Claremont High School. During these years she was immersed in their education and contributed to the improvement of Claremont’s growing community. In 1964, Chaparral opened without a traffic light on Mills Avenue or a paid crossing guard. She and other parents directed traffic so that the children crossed safely. A member of the first Parent-Teacher Organization, she was a room mother for eight years. She also pioneered the first Bluebird and Campfire Girls troops at Chaparral, leading girls on overnight trips in the San Gabriel Mountains.

The couple were charter members of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church where she taught Sunday school and helped organize a variety of social events. In the 1970s she spearheaded Good Shepherd’s efforts to enable a Vietnamese refugee family to begin a new life in Pomona.

After her children left Claremont for University of California campuses, she embarked on a new career as a preschool teacher. Her first position, in Pomona, was a steppingstone to successful appointments as director of preschool/daycare centers in Pedley and Upland between 1978 and 1991.

After her retirement in 1991, the couple enjoyed many trips to San Diego, Monterey, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, and the Pacific Northwest. They toured historic sites, including most of the U.S. National Parks, even discovering her pioneer great-grandmother’s grave in a frontier Texas town. Between numerous trips to Hawaii, they enjoyed Alaska, England, Scotland, and Italy.

“When she wasn’t traveling, avidly reading, or zealously gardening, Nora was loving her family, especially her grandchildren,” her family shared. “However, Nora also spent her senior years bettering Claremont and our country.” She volunteered for several years at the Pilgrim Place Festival, read to low income children, and supported families in the surgical waiting room at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. She hosted training in her home for Claremont’s community emergency response efforts. She was a charter member of Active Claremont and promoted the civic organization at the annual Village Venture and Fourth of July events for 15 years. She also supported local, state and national candidates through her leadership in political campaigns for two decades.

“Nora had a warm, engaging presence which attracted strangers; she never restrained herself from captivating them in conversation,” her family added. “Her affable manner flowed from faith, love, loyalty and patriotism; an abiding faith in God, a self-sacrificing love for her family, a fervent loyalty to friends, and a steadfast allegiance to her country. Her caring presence is sorely missed.”

She was preceded in death by her daughter, Helen Davis; father, William E. Kneass, Jr.; and mother, Amelie Kneass Elkinton.

She is survived by her husband, Peter Vignoli; son, Peter James Vignoli; daughter, Katherine Beukers; grandsons Peter Kyle Vignoli, Christopher Mark Davis, and Christopher’s sisters and brother, Kathryn Flippin (Jesse), Gennevieve Ralston (James), and Greg Donihoo (Katie); as well as her niece, Paula Torres (David).

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 23 at Todd Memorial Chapel, 570 N. Garey Ave., Pomona, CA 91767. A celebration of life will follow the service at a location to be announced.

Flowers are welcome; however, for those inclined, a donation in her memory may be given to the Pomona Valley Hospital Robert and Beverly Lewis Cancer Center at pvhmc.org/giving-support, or by phone at (909) 865-9659.