07 December 2022

Share

Share

Betty M. Kelly (Billie)  ….

Betty M. Kelly (Billie) ….


Betty M. Kelly (Billie) 1928-2022 Betty Kelly went home to be with the Lord at age 94 to join her husband of 46 years and son Christopher Kelly. Betty was born and raised in Washington, D.C., and had moved to the west coast with her husband Alexander (Jack) Kelly, in 1955. She was an instructional tutor for 31 years in the San Bernardino School District helping children with learning disabilities. Betty enjoyed her remaining years in Seal Beach, California. She was an accomplished artist with many beautiful portraits and landscape oil paintings to now be enjoyed by those she loved. All who knew her experienced her sweet, kind and loving disposition. Betty is survived by her two sisters Doris DeVol and Marcia Miller, daughter Cary Gordon, son Andrew Kelly, seven grandchildren Jason, Christina, AJ, Paul, Chris, Rachel, Jon Michael, and five great-grandchildren. Her celebration of life will be held Dec. 19 at 11 a.m. at Radiant Church, 540 E. H St. Colton, CA. She will join her husband interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
30 November 2022

Share

Jean Ileen Saunders   ….

Jean Ileen Saunders ….


Jean Ileen Saunders 1928-2022 Jean Ilee,n Saunders was born on Feb. 25, 1928, in Los Angeles, California. She passed away at the age of 94 on Nov. 6 in San Juan Capistrano. She was a retired personnel clerk for Immigration before moving to Mutual 4 in Leisure World 25 years ago. Jean is survived by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Memorial services will be announced at a later date. “Live not in sadness that
23 November 2022

Share

Jennie Mathilde Walsh 
	  ….

Jennie Mathilde Walsh ….


Jennie Mathilde Walsh 1925-2022 Jennie Mathilde Walsh, a 13year resident of Leisure World, died Nov. 18 at her home. She was 97. Born in Ketchikan, Alaska, on March 21, 1925, Jennie was the only child of a pioneer Alaskan fishing boat captain Otto Bindpage and his wife, Ione. After high school graduation, Jennie first moved to California to attend Scripps College in 1943. A year later she married U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Vincent Walsh, who had been stationed in Ketchikan and served in the Alaskan Campaign in World War II. The couple settled in Southern California and were married for 63 years until his death in 2007. A homemaker and accomplished seamstress, Jennie enjoyed playing and watching golf. She and Vince were longtime members of Chevy Chase Golf Course in Glendale and later the Golf Course of Oregon in Albany, Oregon. Jennie raised three children, one daughter, Dawn Hoeger, who preceded her in death, and two sons, Douglas Walsh (Kathleen) and Daniel Walsh (Debbie). She is also survived by son-in-law Dennis Hoeger, three grandchildren, Darren Hoeger, Maree Hoeger and Michael Walsh and three greatgrandchildren, Colin Troman, Sebastian Walsh and Madeline Walsh. She enjoyed her later years at Leisure World where she became an avid gardener, often seen basking amid the amazing plant display on her sunny Mutual 9 patio.
16 November 2022

Share

09 November 2022

Share

Shirley Reimers served on GRF Board for 19 years

Shirley Reimers served on GRF Board for 19 years


IN MEMORIAM Shirley Reimers, director on the Golden Rain Foundation (GRF) Board for more than 25 years, died Oct. 26, 2022, in Jamestown, California. Mrs. Reimers, who was six months shy of the century mark, bought her Mutual 3 home in 1975 and lived in Leisure World until April 2021. She was one of the longest, if not the longest, serving GRF Board member in LW history, having served 19 consecutive years from 1994-2013. At age 90, she lost her seat to former GRF President Linda Stone. In addition to serving as president, she chaired every major board committee, including Finance, Physical Property, Recreation and Communications, among others. She served on the Physical Property Committee for many years, most notably chairing the committee that built Clubhouse 6, which opened on the site of the demolished A-frame in July 2003. She was also instrumental in helping purchase the LW Library from Orange County in 1995, a year after the county declared bankruptcy. She was a legend in her own time. She had a Mona Lisa smile, a belly laugh that would infect everyone around her and an endless affability. But at her core, she was principled, plain spoken and direct, even blunt, some would say. She believed in the power of diversity and community participation to foster independence and security. In addition to service to the GRF, she was instrumental in the Golden Age Foundation, was a board member for the MultiCultural Council in the late 2000s and joined the Kiwanis Club in 1991 in its heyday when the international service group had a large and robust LW membership. For 46 years, she sang in the Redeemer Lutheran Church choir and loved it. It was a lifelong love: “When I was a boy, at Bethany Lutheran Church, she did not hold back,” son Peter Reimers said. “The entire church knew where she was

Share

Richard Leslie Dana 
	1946-2022 
	 ….

Richard Leslie Dana 1946-2022 ….


Richard Leslie Dana 1946-2022 Richard Leslie Dana, born May 29,1946, in Taft, California, passed on Oct. 18, 2022 in Los Alamitos. The son of Leslie Ramon Dana lr. and Maxine Lucille Klieby, Richard attended La Mirada High School, graduating in 1964. He married Sandra K. Belles on Feb. 8, 1969, at the St. lohn of God Catholic Church in Norwalk, California, and later attended Cal Poly Pomona College, where he graduated in 1978. He worked as a computer programmer and senior programer analyst for Hunt Wesson Foods in Fullerton and later Unified Western Grocers in Commerce, California. He loved his family and going to many events such as graduations, football, basketball and baseball games, swimming events, and gymnastics. He had recently been involved in a Bible study at St. loseph in Long Beach, RICA, Confirmation, and the Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force. His clubs in Leisure World included the Rollin’ Thunder Golf Cart Club and the Astronomy Club. He also enj oyed swimming and walking his dog Minnie. Richard is survived by his spouse, Sandra; children leanie Marie, lamie Lynn and loseph Leslie Dana; grandchildren Brett, Troy, Kyle, Raymond, Zachary, Iordan, Elijah, Hallie, Selah and Caleb; great-grandchild Ocean Dana; and siblings Margaret and Sharon.
02 November 2022

Share

26 October 2022

Share

Betty Coven, former GRF Director from Mutual 5, has died

Betty Coven, former GRF Director from Mutual 5, has died


IN MEMORIAM Former GRF Board Director Betty Enid Coven, who represented Mutual 5, died Oct. 16, 2022, at the age of 90. Dr. Coven was serving as president of Mutual 5 when illness forced her to resign midterm in 2018. At the time of her death, she was living with her daughter’s family in Long Beach. She was elected to the GRF Board of Directors in 2013. She chaired the Communications Committee and was a member of the Finance, Physical Property and Security, Bus and Traffic committees. Coven will be remembered for spearheading the Centenarian Project, which culminated in a 2014 luncheon honoring LW residents 100 years of age and older. She was interested in longevity and believed Leisure World’s active lifestyle helped people age well. She assembled a subcommittee of the Communications Committee, and the Centenarian Project was born. Subcommittee members tracked down LW’s oldest residents, interviewed them and published their stories in the LW News, and aired video profiles on SBTV-Channel 3. Of the 22 centenarians in LW at the time, 16 were feted at a special luncheon on April 10, which was the 100th day of 2014. Coven was undaunted by challenge and did not let age, gender or public opinion deter her from her plans. Her parents barely survived a harrowing escape from Russia, which may have taught her an early lesson about the fragility of life. Coven married twice, was widowed once, had three children, earned a doctorate in psychology (in a season of life when most people are thinking of retirement) and began a 25-year career as a therapist, was an award-winning doll maker and wrote a book that was published at age 78. Coven was born on Dec. 13, 1931, to David and Dora Sitkin, who escaped from the pogroms of Czarist Russia.

Share

Mary Kathryn 
	 (Keller) Wait ….

Mary Kathryn (Keller) Wait ….


Mary Kathryn (Keller) Wait 1921-2022 Mary Kathryn ( Keller) Wait, a resident of Seal Beach, California, died in October at the age of 101 years. Katie was born in 1921, the ninth of ten children of James and Louise Keller, who lived and farmed outside the small southern Illinois village of Ste. Marie. Katie attended school in Ste. Marie and in Newton, Illinois. She graduated as a registered nurse from the St. John’s Hospital School of Nursing in Springfield, Illinois. While working as a private nurse in Decatur, Illinois, she met William A. Wait, whom she married in September 1944. They had four children: daughters Pamela (Don Miles) of Seattle, Washington; Martha (Lester Hubner) of Huntington Beach, California; Carolyn (Bob Davenport) of North Brookfield, Massachusetts; and a son, Douglas (Sharon Leavitt) of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Katie and Bill lived in Decatur until they relocated to Seal Beach in 1997. They were married for 69 years. Katie was a warm, engaging person who loved the company of her large extended family and her many friends. True to her nursing profession, she willingly assisted and cared for numerous family members, friends and acquaintances in many ways. She was an active member of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Decatur. An enthusiastic gardener, she was a member of the garden clubs in Decatur and Seal Beach and enjoyed watching over her beloved roses until the end. She belonged to several bridge clubs and book clubs, and loved hosting them. She had a creative sense of style which she expressed in decorating her home, quilting, and trying out new recipes. Katie was famous for her delicious pies, cookies and cakes. She enjoyed accompanying her husband and family on numerous trips throughout the country, Europe, and the Pacific. Her grandchildren and great-grand children were her special joy. Katie is survived by her four children, nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. The family would like to especially thank her wonderful caregivers over the past few years: Anne, Fines, Leonora, Harley, Cecilia, Susan, Africa, Verna Liza, Margie, Thelma and Bernie. There will be a memorial Mass celebrated at Holy Family Church in Leisure World, Seal Beach, on Nov. 5. Interment will be in Assumption, Illinois. Do not be sad that she is gone; rejoice that she was here. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the Kemmerer Village Child Care Agency, 941 N. East Road, Assumption, Illinois 62510, or the Sainte Marie Foundation, P.O. Box 186, Sainte Marie, Illinois 62549.