Claremont Obituaries
Loving mother, grandmother, CUSD teacher’s aide Irene Magdziarz died July 1 of complications from a stroke. She was 91. Born in Chicago in 1932 to parents George and Florence, Irene married Ray Magdziarz in 1961 and they started a family in the Chicago suburbs. In 1978, Ray’s career change brought them to Claremont, where she […]
Artist, agriculturist, Burning Man devotee Claremont resident Douglas O. McGoon III died Friday, May 24 at home, with his son Greg McGoon and longtime friend Anne Seltzer at his side. Mr. McGoon loved gardening, raising ducks, cooking, music, art and fun: he could be spotted sliding down stair rails at the Colleges, shooting pool, tossing […]
Successful e-commerce executive, enthusiastic volunteer, loving mother and wife Former Claremont resident Kara Wojcik Parsons, 54, of San Francisco, died peacefully at home on May 8, 2019, her 26th wedding anniversary. Born in Bitburg, Germany on October 7, 1964 to Joe and Suzanne Wojcik, Kara was the middle child of three. In 1969, the family […]
Revolutionary champion for nannies, college professor, traveler, genealogist Deborah Davis Caughron, a resident of Claremont since 1968, died April 18 at the age of 74. Deborah was born in Casper, Wyoming on January 23, 1945, the first child of Mark Jay and Marjorie Jean Davis. The Davis family were pre-statehood settlers in Wyoming. An ancestor, […]
Trailblazing Kiwanian, tireless volunteer, longtime Claremonter Claremont resident Katherine Jane Ables died May 7 at Claremont Place, where she had been living for the past four years. She was 91. She was born in 1928 in El Monte to Thomas and Florence Conrow. Kathy showed an early interest in ballet and dance, taking lessons from […]
Hip hop music lover, adoring brother, Lakers fan Sunrise: October 2, 1989; Sunset: March 30, 2019. Daniel fought to enter this world, as he nearly died at birth. Delivery by way of an emergency C-section at Pomona Valley Hospital left him intubated, with cerebral palsy and complicated health issues, rendering him totally disabled. He was […]
Former mayor, League of Women Voters stalwart, civic activist To get a sense of Ellen Taylor’s prodigious gifts as an organizer and persuasive advocate, her husband, Marshall Taylor, offered a telling memory from the couple’s early days living in the tiny Nevada town of Tonopah, where he was stationed with the US Air Force. “Ellen’s […]
CUSD head nurse, teacher, world traveler, grandmother Jeannie Cregg, born April 28, 1950 in Baltimore, died in Claremont on April 2 at the age of 68. Jeannie was the second child to Frederick and Mildred Meyer. She graduated from Kenwood High School in Essex, Maryland in 1968, and from Western Maryland College in 1972 with […]
Nurse, devoted minister’s wife, quilter, active Pilgrim, volunteer Ruth Jane Barrow Blunt died peacefully of natural causes at Claremont’s Pilgrim Place Health Care Center. She was 94 years old. She was born in Boone, Iowa on October 27, 1924 to Rev. Oscar E. Barrow and Ruby G. Barrow. In 1946, Ruth completed three years of […]
Defense industry veteran, card player, lifelong baseball fan William Edward Kirke, Jr. died March 18 at home in Fort Bragg, California, where he had lived for the past 18 years. He was 82. Born in Ludington, Michigan in 1936 to Elnora and William Edward Kirke, Sr., Bill grew up as an only child after his […]
US Army veteran, dedicated father, active church volunteer Charles Rich Magnusson died March 11 at the age of 89. He was born November 5, 1929 and spent most of his childhood growing up in Riverside, California. He graduated from Ontario’s Chaffey High School, where he earned a varsity letter in swimming. He earned an associates […]
US Navy veteran, hospital executive, tennis, music lover Former Claremont resident Albert Lee Piette died at his home in Santa Rosa, California on February 16. He was born July 16, 1933 in Los Angeles to parents Harrison and Elaine Piette, and was one of nine children. The family moved to Baldwin Park in 1940. After attending […]
Pitzer professor, author, family man Stu McConnell, professor emeritus of history at Pitzer College, died February 14 at Pilgrim Place after a years-long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 62, and had lived and taught in Claremont for more than half his life. Stuart Charles McConnell was born in Stoughton, Wisconsin, on July 24, 1956, […]
Loving mother, devoted teacher, longtime volunteer Ruth Joanne Cooke Henzie succumbed to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease on March 4 and died peacefully at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. She was 93. She was a longtime resident of Claremont, living at Mount San Antonio Gardens for the past 20 years. Ruth will be remembered as a […]
Intellectual, physician, animal lover, eccentric Rosario Russell Scalise Ross was born August 3, 1951 in Chicago and died peacefully in his sleep on December 20, 2018 at the age of 68. He never knew his mother. She abandoned him as an infant. Instead he grew up in a loving home that consisted of his road […]
Teacher, animal lover, nature enthusiast Noah of Noah’s Ark had nothing on Janice Mix. “If there was ever a person qualified to command a ship full of wild animals, it was Janice Mix,” her family shared. An elementary school teacher for more than 25 years, she lived to share her love of life with every […]
Norma B. Law Trailblazing African American prison warden, ‘Pomona Clarion’ co-founder Norma Bryant Law, age 81 and a longtime resident of Claremont, died March 7 in Ontario, surrounded by her loved ones. Norma was born April 12, 1937, in Ruth, Mississippi to James Wayne Bryant and Ethel Wilcher Bryant. She attended Tennessee State University and […]