Claremont Obituaries
Mother, grandmother, teacher, chemist, volunteer, church worker Ruth Allin died May 24. She was in hospice care at Pilgrim Place Health Services Center following a brief illness. She was born September 13,1938 in Bakersfield, California to William Bert and Marie Anderson. She was the youngest of three children. Ruth attended George Washington High School in […]
Family law attorney, longtime Democrat, beloved mother Beverly Jean Gassner, retired family law attorney and beloved wife, mother and grandmother, died after a long illness on May 18, 2017 in Rancho Cucamonga. Ms. Gassner lived an extraordinary life that included multiple careers, 63 years of marriage and raising a loving family. She was a third-generation […]
Loving grandmother, mother, wife and artist Marjorie Ann Watson, a native-born Claremonter, died on April 28, 2017 after a short struggle with cancer. She was 72. Born at Pomona Hospital on June 22, 1944 to Fred Cutler and Marjorie Demerest Cutler Bruington, Margie grew up in Claremont as a local grove kid where she attended […]
Inspirational teacher, administrator and mentor After a long and brave confrontation with esophageal cancer, Scott Allan Warren died peacefully in his sleep on April 8, 2017 at the age of 65. He had excellent and compassionate medical caregivers, and his last days were marked by a stream of visitors. He remained gracious and optimistic to […]
Loving wife, mother and grandmother On April 19, 2017, longtime Claremont resident Bessie R. Denes died of natural causes at the age of 96. She was born in 1921 to Alva Earl Lynam of Bond, Illinois and Alice Violet Gaither Lynam of Waldron, Kansas. Bessie was raised in Anthony, Kansas where she was one of eight […]
Writer, administrator, educator Nancy Gamer, a resident of Claremont and Pomona for 43 years, died peacefully in her sleep the morning of April 26, 2017. She was 80 years old. A native of Olympia, Washington, she was born February 2, 1937 to Kathryn and Norman Schaefer. During her teens she was an avid swimmer, working […]
Man of integrity George Wainwright Stanley, a longtime Claremont resident, died on January 22, 2017 after a brave yearlong fight with lymphoma. He was 88. The oldest of six children, he was born in Du Quoin, Illinois on April 18, 1928 to George and Margaret Stanley. He attended Du Quoin High School and then joined […]
Professor, pro-democracy activist Longtime Claremont resident Dr. Kamol Somvichian died Wednesday, February 8 at the age of 80. Dr. Somvichian was born to parents Phol and Chalual Somvichian on March 14, 1936 in Bangkok, Thailand. He met his wife Marielena Somvichian in New York in 1960. The couple married in 1961. Dr. Somvichian was an […]
Loving wife and mother, education advocate Shirley Abrams, a longtime Pomona resident and active member of Temple Beth Israel, died in Pomona on January 1, 2017. She was 82. She was born on February 28, 1934 in Twin Falls, Idaho and lived there until she was 10 years old. Three years after the tragic death […]
Inspiring teacher, tenor singer, scholar Waldemar “Bill” Vaskis, a longtime Claremont High School history teacher who influenced generations of students, died by suicide on December 21, 2016 at Mt. San Antonio Gardens. He was 78. He came into the world in Philadelphia on April 16, 1938, the second of three children born to Latvian immigrants […]
Former longtime Claremont resident Barbara Jean Crayton died unexpectedly on August 2, 2016. She was 84. She was born in Joplin, Missouri on October 18, 1931 to George Yancey and Lillian Lindsay. At the age of 7, her parents divorced and she moved to Los Angeles with her mother and sister, Yvonne. Barbara came of […]
Allen Joe Moore, a longtime professor and administrator at Claremont School of Theology, died on September 18, 2016. He was 89. Born September 7, 1927, he was named after his two grandfathers, whom he liked to call “the heretic” and “the preacher.” He inherited the free-thinking of Pa Crider and the preaching enthusiasm of his […]
James “Jim” Kay Hightower, a longtime Claremont resident, died on October 3, 2016 at the age of 79. Causes of death were advanced prostate cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. He was born March 22, 1937 in Kalamazoo, Michigan to Raymond Lee Hightower and Jeanne Matthews Hightower. His father was a professor of sociology at Kalamazoo College […]
Dedicated educator, proud veteran John Mann, former principal of Claremont High School, died peacefully at home in La Verne on August 17, 2016. He was 85 years old. He was born on February 25, 1931 in his grandmother’s house in York, Nebraska and grew up in Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. Mr. Mann attended York […]
Loving wife and mother, Latin scholar Jane Barr, a longtime resident of the Mt. San Antonio Gardens retirement community in Claremont, died on August 7, 2016. She was 89. She was born February 18, 1927 in Perth, Scotland to James and Catherine Hepburn. Dux (i.e., “top pupil”) of her graduating class in Perth Academy, Jane […]
Alma Charlotte (Miller) Schneider, a longtime resident of the Pilgrim Place retirement community in Claremont, died Saturday, August 6, 2016. She was 98. She was born February 17, 1918 in Orella, Nebraska to Alva Theodore and Amelia (Smith) Miller. After receiving her teaching certificate from Chadron State Teacher’s College in 1937, she taught in various […]
Dedicated professor, loving husband Jack Holmes Waggoner, a longtime Harvey Mudd College physics professor, died Saturday, July 2, 2016. He was 88. He was born September 4, 1927 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His family soon moved to Newark, Ohio where he attended public schools, graduating from Newark High School in 1945. He earned a Bachelor of […]