Claremont Obituaries

Marilyn Ellen Lubarsky was born June 9, 1952, at Queen of the Angels Hospital in Los Angeles, the first child of Ruth and Robert Lubarsky.

Beatriz Zita

Teacher, avid reader, loving mother and sister Beatriz Zita, a longtime resident of Claremont, died after a brief illness on Friday, March 27, 2015 at Pomona Valley Hospital. She was 84. Mrs. Zita was born in 1930 in Argentina to Leopoldo Salazar and Elvira Riondet. She received her degree in English there and began her […]

Reporter, loving mother and grandmother Longtime COURIER reporter Patricia “Pat” Lee Yarborough died on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at the Pilgrim Place Health Center. She was 80. She was born on December 12, 1934 in Riverside to Clifton and Leona McCasland. Her parents had come to California from the dustbowl area of Arkansas and settled […]

Dedicated teacher and missionary, loving mother and grandmother On the evening of February 5, 2015, Marie Catherine Clarke Losh died peacefully in her home at Pilgrim Place from complications of multiple myeloma. She was 89 years old. She was born in Mishiwaka, Indiana on November 18, 1925 to Maybelle Pfaff Clarke and the Reverend Arthur […]

Music lover, tireless volunteer, beloved aunt Kathryn Theresa “Kit” Tournay, a longtime Claremont resident, died on February 3, 2015 of a stroke. She was 87. She was born March 18, 1927 in Newark, New Jersey where she graduated high school. Since World War II was in progress and women were needed in keeping the economy […]

Influential political philosopher, Lincoln scholar Harry V. Jaffa, professor emeritus at Claremont McKenna College and the Claremont Graduate University, died on Saturday, January 10, 2015 at Pomona Valley Hospital. He was 96. Mr. Jaffa was born in New York City on October 7, 1918 to Arthur and Frances Landau Jaffa and grew up in Long […]

Loving mother, avid runner, tireless volunteer Longtime Redlands resident Anna Hollenberg died on December 20, 2014 at her home in Mount San Antonio Gardens in Claremont after a short illness. She was 85.   She was born in Los Angeles in December 1929 to Carl and Ruth Hoglund and raised in Alhambra. She graduated from the University of Redlands in […]

Loving mother and grandmother, pillar of strength Calm, strong and independent to the end, Betty Bulkley died peacefully on December 28, 2014 in her own apartment at Claremont Manor as she had wished, under hospice care after a recent diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Just shy of 88, she was able to enjoy a “big table” […]

Family, friends, colleagues, volunteers, Claremonters Mary Cooke Miller Joan Carolyn Coats Martha Kohl Ervin Audra A. Oleson Edra L. Navarro Young George Copenhaver Patricia Catherine Walker Dan Rhoades Donald Eugene Garner Wendy Christine Losh Lewis W. Snider Frank Rice Florence Graubart Mary Ellen Day Rex Wayne Slocum Anita Gwen Shanahan Kurt Harold Kenworth Beverly I. […]

Family anchor, enthusiastic volunteer Former Claremont resident Rena S. Smilkstein died in Sacramento on November 21, 2014. She was 91. She was born, raised and educated in Los Angeles, the daughter of Russian immigrants Henry and Molly Rosenblatt. Her father was a writer and poet and her mother a nurse. Throughout schooling and during undergraduate […]

John D. Sullivan

Pitzer professor, loving husband and father John D. “Jack” Sullivan, a longtime Claremont resident, died on December 2, 2014 after a brief battle with cancer. He was 77. He was born on June 30, 1937 in San Francisco to John and Elsie Sullivan. He served in the US Army for two years before going on […]

Nurse, mother, advocate for the developmentally disabled Claremont Manor resident Sophie Williams died on November 13, 2014 at age 93. Born Sophie Lucille Kurowski in 1921 in Chicago, Illinois, she was the oldest of two children born to Roman and Stella Kurowski, both immigrants from Poland. Throughout the Great Depression, the family lived in a […]

Financial advisor, golfer, family man Gary Jason Brown of Roseville, California died of severe coronary artery disease just over a year ago on December 2, 2013. He was 51. His memorial service, which was attended by more than 300 of his family and friends, was held at St. Joseph Marello Catholic Parish in Granite Bay, […]

Environmental policy organizer, lobbyist Dina Louise Biscotti died Tuesday, December 9 at her home in Davis, California, due to a rare and aggressive form of uterine cancer. After receiving a diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma on her 41st birthday, Ms. Biscotti fought this painful disease courageously and with an incredible amount of peace and acceptance, her family […]

Loving husband, father and ‘Papa’ William Lee Davidson Chetney, a longtime area resident, died at home in Claremont on November 26, 2014. He was 76. Born July 1, 1938 in Wichita Falls, Texas, Mr. Chetney came to Ontario, California in 1946 following the death of his father. As a boy, Bill attended St. George’s Catholic […]

Loving matriarch, librarian, Lakers fan Longtime Claremont resident Mary Elizabeth Briggs Blanchard died peacefully in her sleep on November 18, 2014 at Mt. San Antonio Gardens in Claremont. She was 105. She was born in Valparaiso, Indiana on October 5, 1909. She graduated from DePauw University in 1931 and later received an advanced degree in […]

World traveler, art patron, loving mom and ‘oma’ Longtime Claremonter and arts leader Ellen Knight Phillips Litney died on Saturday, August 16, 2014 at the age of 67.   Mrs. Litney and her husband Dale were on their annual summer sojourn to Hamlin Lake, Michigan when she unexpectedly became ill. During a brief hospitalization beginning July […]