Claremont Obituaries

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 […]

Wife, grandmother, author, intellectual, volunteer, traveler New Jersey native and former Claremont resident Joan Arias died August 18, 2017—without pain and surrounded by loved ones—after a brief struggle with cancer. She was 76. She arrived at UCLA in 1965 as a doctoral student in the Spanish and Portuguese departments, having just completed a year abroad studying Venezuelan […]

Wife, grandmother, dancer, caregiver, good friend Margie Kelly died peacefully in her sleep on Monday, December 4 at the age of 81. Born July 28, 1936 in Akron, Ohio, she was the youngest child of three born to Dennis and Josephine Carroll of County Cork, Ireland. She grew up in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and attended […]

Mother, social justice advocate, professor Barbara Aswad, professor emeritus of anthropology at Wayne State University and tireless advocate for immigrants and low-income Americans, died on November 30, 2017 after a brief illness. She was 80 years old. She was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan on January 5, 1937, daughter of Robert and Helen Black. She earned […]

Michael W Fay, 82, died October 15, 2017 at Pomona Valley Hospital, in Pomona, California following a brief illness. His loving family was by his side.  Mr. Fay was born August 17, 1935 to Kenyon T. Fay and Edith Thornton Fay of Los Angeles. He graduated from Flintridge Preparatory School in La Canada, California, in […]

Mother, Pomona College alum, volunteer Longtime Claremont resident and Pomona College alumni Barbara S. Kittell died November 13, 2017 at the age of 98. Mrs. Kittell was born on February 28, 1919 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles to John and Lucille Sutherland. During her early years she lived on a ranch in Orange […]

Mother, registered nurse, pioneer in AIDS patient care Robin Mendoza, a 35-year Claremont resident and avid reader of the COURIER, died October 19, 2017, after a lifelong battle with Type 1 Diabetes. She was 59 years old. She married her high school sweetheart, José Mendoza, when she was just 18. Her 42-year marriage to Mr. […]

Claremont schoolteacher, grandmother, devoted LDS member Jane Christensen Theobald died peacefully at her home in Mesa, Arizona on September 9, 2017. She was 77. She was born March 14, 1940, in Safford, Arizona, the 11th child to Victor Christensen and Sarah (Butler) Christensen. She graduated from Safford High School in 1958, and attended Arizona State […]

Mother, nurse, champion for Claremont seniors Muriel T. Farritor, stalwart of local senior causes, died at her Claremont home on Thursday, July 24. She was 90. She was born Muriel Teeling on June 16, 1927 in Preakness, New Jersey to Muriel (Smith) and Richard F. Teeling. She and her two sisters, Joslyn and Patricia, would […]

Longtime Scripps professor, Pomona grad After living 68 of her 91 years in Claremont, Margaret Siler Faust died August 17 from a heart attack. She was born in Tientsin, China, where her parents were missionaries. Her first language was Chinese. The youngest of five children, her family returned to the US in 1928 when she was […]

Longtime Claremont resident and volunteer Muriel Farritor died August 24 at her Claremont home after a long battle with cancer. She was 90 years old. A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Friday, September 1 at Todd Memorial Chapel, 325 N. Indian Hill Blvd. in Claremont. The public is invited to attend to […]

Economist, scholar, loving husband and father Gordon Klene Douglass died peacefully at home on August 1, 2017 at the age of 90 after a brief illness. Dr. Douglass was born in Long Beach, California to Wilbur and Lorine Klene Douglass. He was active in church and scouting as a youth, and achieved the rank of […]

Great-grandmother, longtime local foodserver Ima “Jean” (Bisbee) (Davis) Dickerson died July 2, 2017 at her home in Pomona, California after a lengthy illness. She was 90. Granddaughter Holly Davis Ronquillo was her in-home caregiver during her final years. Ms. Dickerson was born November 21, 1926, in Pryor, Oklahoma, to Lucinda and Lewis Bisbee. She was […]

Loving father and husband Mark Gregory Robertson of Claremont and Laguna Beach, died Sunday, July 2, 2017 after a long fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He fought until the very end, his family shared. He was 60 years old. Mr. Robertson was born in Claremont on April 16, 1957 to Larry and Anita Robertson. He worked […]