Claremont Obituaries
Grandfather, esteemed Harvey Mudd College engineering professor John Richard (Rich) Phillips, born on January 30, 1934, in Albany California, died July 25 in Claremont. On the day Rich was born, because it was also the birthday of then President Franklin Roosevelt, his picture was in the local paper. “Rich joked that he never again attained […]
Mother, poet, pianist, lover of the ocean, boating and swimming Georgia Olmsted Rust Davis died peacefully after a long illness on May 18 at Pilgrim Place Health Services Center in Claremont. She was 89. She was born July 29, 1928, in Buffalo, New York, the youngest of five children with four older brothers. She was […]
Counselor, mother, vivacious spirit Ellen C. Warmbrunn, 89, a Pomona College graduate and longtime Claremont resident, died on May 2. Born in Seattle in 1929, she grew up on the shores of Lake Washington with Mt. Rainier on the horizon. Her father was a lawyer and civic leader who, during the Depression, once accepted a […]
Loving wife and mother, hospital volunteer Ruth Eleanor Gross, a resident of Claremont for more than 50 years, died peacefully on May 21 at the age of 96. Born Ruth Eleanor Cowguill on October 22, 1921 in Fairfield, Iowa, she was the third child of Jess and Hazel Moorman Cowguill. Raised on the family farm […]
Grandmother, book club member, bicyclist Sally McDonald, 77, of Claremont, died May 11 from complications of lung cancer. Sally was born January 20, 1941 in Oakland, California to Herb and Margaret Copp. She attended Piedmont High School and graduated from the University of Pacific in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree in art history. She married […]
Reverend Buckner Coe, minister of Claremont United Church of Christ from 1970 to 1974 and a resident of Lake Forest and Laguna Beach, died peacefully May 11. He was 93. Buckner (Buck) Coe was born December 11, 1924, a sixth-generation minister. A graduate of Yale University and the Yale Divinity School, he served as a […]
The life and times of Nikolaus Hermann Brinkama, son of August Ludwig and Katja Brinkama, came to a conclusion on May 10, 2018. Born on Bastille Day, July 14, 1928, Nikolaus was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany. In 1953 he packed his bags and headed for new adventures, traveling on a banana freighter to […]
Longtime Claremont resident and founding faculty member of Pitzer College Robert Leon “Lee” Munroe died May 14 after a short illness. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. Munroe was the eldest of five brothers. As a youth, he excelled at baseball and retained a lifelong passion for that sport. During the Korean War, he joined the […]
Grandfather, US Marine, traveler, joker, bibliophile, Christian Larry E. Everett died on Friday, May 11, three years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 73. Mr. Everett was born on November 22, 1944 to Edwin and Florence (Smith) Everett in the village of Andreas, Pennsylvania. However, his birth certificate lists his birthday as November […]
CHS graduate, pilot, son, brother Beloved son and brother Rob Poling died of natural causes on April 28 at the age of 59. A native of Claremont, he was born May 7, 1959. He was a member of Claremont High School’s class of 1977, and played football for the Wolfpack. He graduated from the University […]
Great-grandfather, longtime Pomona resident Edward D. Westerdale, 90, died May 5. He was a Pomona resident since 1965. Mr. Westerdale was preceded in death by his daughter, Ruth. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy J. Westerdale; sons Paul and Jim Westerdale; four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Services were private.
Grandmother, social worker, seamstress Susan Palmer, a 33-year Claremont resident, died May 5, surrounded by family, just short of her 65th birthday. She had been battling brain cancer, which was diagnosed in May 2017. She was born May 19, 1953 in Englewood, New Jersey to John Henry Deckenback and Elizabeth Hughes Deckenback. When young Susan […]
Great-grandfather, longtime UCC minister and Claremont resident Reverend David M. Held died peacefully in his home at Pilgrim Place in Claremont on May 10. He was 97 years old. Mr. Held lived in Claremont for 44 years. In his capacity as a minister he served in United Church of Christ churches for more than 40 […]
Grandmother, homemaker, devout Catholic Betty Jane Rensch died quietly in her sleep on May 6. She was 90 years old. Born Elizabeth Jane Dooley on June 10, 1927 in Ramona, South Dakota, she was the youngest of Patrick and Bertie Dooley’s five children and was the valedictorian at her high school graduation in 1945. Her […]
Father, engineer, US Navy veteran, avid sailor, musician Albert J. “Jack” Mallinckrodt died peacefully on March 2, 2018. He was 91. Born April 24, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri, young Jack joined the Navy in 1944 and was chosen for the V-12 Navy College Training Program, which sent him to Notre Dame University in South […]
Husband, former Pitzer College president, liberal arts champion Former Pitzer College?President Paul Byers Ranslow died April 9, 2018 in Lincoln, California from complications caused by prostate cancer. He was 70 years old. Mr. Ranslow was born in September 1947 in the Republic of the Philippines. He was raised in Southern California and graduated from North […]
Devoted grandmother, opera singer, pianist Harriette Jean Schneider, 78, died peacefully at her Claremont home on April 20. She was born April 5, 1940 in Mt. Clemens, Michigan to Donald B. and Stella R. Patterson. She was raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and graduated from Columbia, Missouri’s Stephens College in 1960, and from the University […]