Obituary: Nancy Hewitt Magnussen
Wife, mother, grandmother, sister, friend
Longtime Claremont resident Nancy Elizabeth Hewitt Magnusson died July 1 at age 82.
She was born August 11, 1935, and grew up in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. As a youth she enjoyed spending time in Traverse City, on the shore of Lake Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay.
She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree and a teaching credential. She was recruited to come out West to California to teach kindergarten in Pomona. It was there she met her husband-to-be, Chuck. The couple married in June 1959.
The Magnussons raised their three boys, William, James and Robert, in Pomona before moving to Claremont in 1972. The family made many new friends after moving, and Ms. Magnusson was very active in raising her sons, who all went through Claremont schools.
Anyone who knew her saw that she prided herself in taking care of “her boys,” her family shared. “Nancy was blessed to be a sister in Christ, and was a longtime member of Pomona’s Pilgrim Congregational Church,” they said. “She was spiritual and well read in the Bible. You always knew she had access to ‘The best, most famous people in the world!’”
Ms. Magnusson served on many boards and committees, including the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center Foundation, where she was integral in helping establish the Robert and Beverly Lewis Family Cancer Care Center; the University Club of Claremont; the Citrus College Foundation; and the Assistance League of Pomona.
She is survived by her husband Charles Magnusson; her son William, his wife Debra and their children Alyssa, Adam and Carli of Madera, California, and Ahnna (Patrick McLaughlin) of Cotati, California; her son James, his wife Tracy and their daughter Michelle of Thousand Oaks; and son Nicholas of Redondo Beach; her son Robert, his wife Sanna and their sons Matt and Ben of Tustin; her sister Cyndy Newton (Chuck) of Traverse City, Michigan; her stepbrothers James W. (Barb) Logie, Jr. of Naples, Florida and John H. (Susie) Logie of Grand Rapids, Michigan; and her stepsister Shane L. (Chuck) Rood of Tucson, Arizona.
Ms. Magnusson’s family would like to thank the staff at St. Matthews Home for the Elderly, where she spent her final months, and the nurses at Hillcrest retirement community for their support and help over the last few years. Both facilities are in La Verne.
Family and friends are invited to a celebration of life service at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 7 at Pilgrim Congregational Church, 600 N. Garey Ave., Pomona.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Ms. Magnusson’s name to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center’s Women’s Auxiliary at pvhmc.org/ giving-support.
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