Claremont Obituaries

Great-grandmother, beloved ‘Mimi’ to her grandchildren Sharon Sue Berkey died peacefully in her Claremont home with her family and loved ones by her side on April 17, 2018 at the age of 73. “It is with immense sorrow that we declare the passing of Sharon Sue Berkey,” Ms. Berkey’s family reported. She was born October […]

Father, longtime Claremont resident, devoted Episcopalian Thomas W. Donaldson, a 38-year Claremont resident, died peacefully on Tuesday, April 17 at the age of 90. He was born in New York City in 1928, and grew up in Park Ridge, New Jersey. He later lived in Suffern, New York, where he met his wife Cherry when […]

Virginia Georgine Blackwell died peacefully at Claremont’s Mt. San Antonio Gardens Magnolia Grove on January 26. She was 97 years old. She was born February 22, 1921 in Morris, Minnesota, the fourth child of Clara Julia Rolstad and Reuben Kornelius Johnson. Young Virginia married Walter Lee Blackwell, Jr. on October 4, 1943 in Chicopee, Massachusetts. […]

Mother, concert violinist, beloved music teacher, friend, longtime Claremonter Marjorie Cofer Marth, a Claremont resident for more than 60 years, died March 31 at the age of 94. “Howdy, you all,” she wrote shortly before her death. “What a wonderful life you have made for me. This is a letter of joy and appreciation and […]

Elementary school teacher, church choir member Nancy Mae Whitham, longtime elementary school teacher, died of cancer on April 11, 2018. She was 81.  Nancy Blaisdell Whitham, the second of four daughters born to Helen Ann Vojacek and Charles Oswald Blaisdell, was born in Oak Park, Illinois on October 24, 1936. In 1950, the family moved […]

Longtime Claremonter, grandfather, car and sports enthusiast Wendell Scott Kelley, 76, died early Saturday March 31, at the Sunny Rose Glenn Memory Care Facility in Menifee, California. The longtime Claremont resident had been battling Alzheimer’s disease. Born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, the son of William Kelley and Dorothy Lantz, Mr. Kelley attended Youngstown State […]

Leading economist, Claremont McKenna College professor Sven W. Arndt, a Claremont McKenna economist who spent his lengthy career guiding students and professional colleagues through the complexities of global trade and finance, has died. He was 81. Mr. Arndt, who kept an office on campus and intended to pursue his research even after retiring last year, died […]

Tireless volunteer, loving wife and grandmother Judy Alice Kern, 81, died peacefully on November 18, 2017 at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Ontario, California. She was born July 8, 1936 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the daughter of Lester and Alice Simmons. In June 1959 she married Dale Kern in Algona, Iowa. Shortly after their wedding day, […]

Great-grandmother, peace activist, Mt. San Antonio Gardens resident Frances Jenney Ross died peacefully in Claremont, on February 1, 2018, at the age of 102.  She was a 1937 graduate of Ohio’s Oberlin College, and received her master’s degree in social work from Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts. Born and raised in Bennington, Vermont, she moved […]

Beloved grandmother, esteemed, longtime Pomona College professor Martha Elizabeth Andresen Wilder, longtime Pomona College professor, died surrounded by her loving family on March 24, 2018 at the age of 74. She was born March 7, 1944 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Karl and Elizabeth Andresen. Her life was graced by her husband, Stephen, daughter, Emily, stepchildren […]

News of the unexpected death of Lizzie Hines Bescoby at her home in Mt. Baldy Village on February 28 came as a shock to her family and her legions of friends. A devoted mother and grandmother, she was ever caring, generous, and widely and deeply loved, her family shared. She was 55. Elizabeth Anne Hines […]

Barrett William Reese, 76, known by some as “Sherlock” after a few “Sharonitas” (his wife Sharon’s famous margaritas), passed away in peace on March 9 with his wife and eldest daughter, Holly, by his side, his family shared. “We are quite certain he is now enjoying his favorite In-N-Out Double Double and a Sharonita with […]

Missionary in China, longtime Pilgrim Place resident Muriel Ruth Noren, a Claremont resident who spent a lifetime as a missionary in Hong Kong and China, died peacefully on her 99th birthday, February 22, 2018. She was born February 22, 1919 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Her grandfather helped establish the First Baptist Church in Sheboygan, where her […]

Mother, entrepreneur, Claremont fixture Longtime Claremont resident Eve Tessier, 96, died December 17, 2017, in Salinas, California, where her son Thomas Miles Tessier lives. Mrs. Tessier was born March 13, 1921 in Sterling, Illinois. She traveled west during World War II to teach dance lessons at Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Los Angeles and to […]

Longtime executive director of Pilgrim Place G. Worth George died November 22, 2017 at his home in Naperville, Illinois. He was 84 years old. Mr. George was born on April 7, 1933 in Goshen, Indiana. He was an only child and was raised by his paternal grandfather. He graduated from Goshen High School in 1951. […]

Husband, father, educator Longtime Claremonter Leonard “Len” Munter died peacefully in his sleep at home, surrounded by his loving family, on December 17, 2017. He was 95 years old. Len was a popular character in Claremont—well known for being friendly, funny, teasing, entertaining, irreverent, caustic, feisty, opinionated and politically progressive. In his private life he […]