Lois O. Powers
Lois O. Powers, 85, of Ojai, died Dec. 28, 2002 at home with her family by her side following a long illness. She was born Aug. 29, 1917 in Gilmer County, Ga. She attended and graduated from Berry Schools (now Berry College), Mount Berry, Ga. She moved with her family to California in the fall of 1946 and settled in the Ojai Valley.
Mrs. Powers owned and operated Valley View Realty in Ojai. Her real estate career began in Meiners Oaks with Effie Skelton, Meiners Oaks Realty, and continued with Lynn Rains, Rains Realty, Ojai, until she opened her own business in the late '50s. She was a founding member of the Ojai Valley Board of Realtors, served as a past president of the board and represented the board as a state director for the California Association of Realtors. She was instrumental in establishing continuing education and promoting professionalism within the real estate profession.
She contributed to civic activities in the Ojai Valley. She was a member of the Altrusa Club of Ojai and served as the community service chairperson. Under her guidance, the club raised money for and acquired the Carillon Chimes in the Ojai post office tower, which were dedicated to the people of Ojai Valley on March 9, 1968, and are still enjoyed today. She organized fund-raising events, while a member of the Altrusa Club, to help launch the formation of Ojai's Little House, which today provides assistance to the senior citizens of Ojai Valley. She was also a founding member of the Ojai Valley Museum.
Mrs. Powers was listed as an "Honored Professional" of the National Directory of Who's Who in Executive and Professionals, 1996-1997 Edition.
She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Billie M. Powers, of Ojai; daughters and sons-in-law Lois Caroline and Richard Daybell of Fullerton, Calif., Villa Marjorie and Berkeley Simonds of Cupertino, Calif., and Billie Jo and Frank Barker of Seattle, Wash.; three granddaughters; eight great-grandchildren; and her niece, Runell Matthews, of Stockbridge, Ga.
She was preceded in death by her parents, William Fletcher Cochran and Sarah Annie Davis Cochran, of Ellijay, Ga; her infant son, Billie Robert Powers; nine brothers and sisters; and grandson Berkeley "Little Berk" Brandt Simonds Jr.
Visitation is being held today from 2 to 8 p.m. at Clausen Funeral Home in Ojai.
Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, Jan. 2, at 2 p.m. at Clausen Funeral Home with the Rev. Frank Barker of Maple Valley Presbyterian Church, Seattle, Wash., officiating. Private interment
will be at Santa Barbara Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association (Hospice) and Ojai's Little House.
Arrangements are under the direction of Clausen Funeral Home, Ojai.
Margaret DeBrower
Margaret DeBrower, 85, died Monday, Dec. 30, 2002 in Ojai from complications following a stroke. She was born June 1, 1917 in Illinois. She grew up in Streator Ill., during the Depression and endured both polio and scoliosis as a child.
She then ventured to Chicago to attend beauty school. She owned her own salon when she met Fred DeBrower and married him in 1940. Although she was told not to aggravate her back condition by having children, she had four daughters.
Mrs. DeBrower gave up her beauty salon business when they relocated to the New York City suburb of Hartsdale in 1961. She turned to civic activities and was president of several clubs and organizations and was socially active. When the library in Hartsdale was rebuilt, she was given the honor of cutting the ribbon at the dedication. Her interests included bridge, reading, political discussions, animals, playing the piano, singing and flower arranging.
She is survived by her husband of 62 years, Fred DeBrower of Santa Paula; and daughters Carolyn DeBrower of Ojai, Louise DeBrower of Chicago, Ill., Jean Fantelli of Pompano Beach, Fla., and Louise DeBrower of Groton, Mass.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated today at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Santa Paula. Burial will be held in Harvard, Ill. The family requests no flowers or donations of any kind.
Arrangements are under the direction of Clausen Funeral Home in Ojai.
Maxine O. Boone
Maxine O. Boone, 86, of Ojai, died Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2002, following a long illness. She was born Dec. 31, 1916 in Detroit, Mich., and lived in Ojai for 18 years, coming from Van Nuys, Calif.
Her interests included walking with her dog, traveling and spending time at the ocean.
She is survived by her husband of 30 years, William Boone, of Ojai; and her daughter and son-in-law, Carol A. and Virgil Beasley, of Healdsburg, Calif.
Services are being held today at 3 p.m. at Clausen Funeral Home in Ojai. Private interment
will be at Forest Lawn, Glendale, Calif.
Arrangements are under the direction of Clausen Funeral Home, Ojai.
Betty Wood Cundiff
Betty Wood Cundiff, 77, of Ojai, died Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003, after a short illness with a respiratory illness. She was born May 18, 1926 in Newton, Mass., and had been a resident of the Ojai Valley for more than 50 years.
Mrs. Cundiff is survived by her sons, Garey Cundiff of Ontario, Calif., and Dale Cundiff of Ojai; daughter Sharron Davis of Pioneer, Calif.; and grandchildren Garey Jr. and John Cundiff, Julie Ranum, and Matthew, Clayton and Amelia Cundiff.
Margaret Kindberg
Margaret Kindberg died on January 4, 2004 at St. Joseph's Nursing Home in Ojai. Margaret was born June 23, 1913 in Raleigh, N.C. She graduated from Ohio State University with a doctor of philosophy, majoring in psychology. She worked for the state of Ohio and the state of Hawaii with families and children.
She moved to Ojai in 1983. Margaret spent many years in Ojai working with Little House, and for six years with the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council.
Margaret is survived by her husband, Edwin, whom she married in 1941; daughter Ann; sons Eric and Jack; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
She was always interested in painting and loved to read incessantly. She and her husband traveled to many parts of the world, owned eight houses, lived in seven cities and four states, made many friends, survived the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the Cold War, and 16 presidents. She saw the development of the auto, airplane, telephone, television, movies, home appliances, and the computer. Margaret was intelligent, quick-witted and joyful.
A memorial service will be held in the near future. In lieu of flowers, donations in her name should be made to St. Joseph's Health and Retirement Center, P.O. Box 760, Ojai, CA 93024, or Help of Ojai at 111 W. Santa Ana St., Ojai 93023 (Little House).
Jeanie Joshua
Jeanie Joshua, 54, of Ojai, died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003 at her home, following a lengthy illness. She was born Dec. 21, 1949 in Brooklyn, N.Y., and lived in Ojai for 26 years. coming from Mariposa, Calif. She was a math tutor.
She is survived by her husband of 32 years, Sholom Joshua of Ojai; and mother Isabel Malkoff of Lake Worth, Fla.
Graveside services were held Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004 at 2 p.m. at Santa Paula Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Green Peace.
Carol J. Welch
Carol J. Welch, 66, of Ojai, died Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003 with her family by her side at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, after a battle with cancer. She was born July 2, 1937 in Truman, Ark., and was a longtime Ojai resident, coming from Los Angeles.
Mrs. Welch was a homemaker. Her family would like to thank the following: Dr. Gordon Clawson, Dr. Lynn Kong, Dr. John Handley, Dr. Thomas Fogel, Community Memorial Hospital and everyone's staff.
She is survived by her husband of 42 years, Bill R. Welch; daughters and sons-in-law Linda and Matt Bryant, Vicki and Carl Torstenson, and Tracy and Chris Phillips; son and daughter-in-law Bill and Mindy Welch; son Danny Welch; sister and brother-in-law Peg and Jim Felix; brother Gary Gayer; six granddaughters; five grandsons; and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her father, Thomas Noel Duke Bowers, and her mother, Ida Rebecca Gayer.
Visitation was held at Clausen Funeral Home in Ojai on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004 from 2 to 8 p.m.
Services are being held at Ted Mayr Funeral Chapel in Ventura, today at 2 p.m., with Pastor Scott Harrell officiating. Interment
will be at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park, Ventura.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.
Arrangements are under the direction of Clausen Funeral Home, Ojai.
Donald Leon Henney
Donald Leon Henney, 68, of Ojai, died Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004, after a brief illness. He was born Aug. 31, 1935 in Tulsa, Okla. He moved to Ventura County as a child and was raised by his foster parents, Allen and Esther "Mom and Pop" Craig.
He graduated from Nordhoff High School in 1953, and entered the U.S. Air Force where he served for four years in Europe. He married his first wife, Mary, in Athens, Greece, in 1957. They settled in the Ojai Valley and raised two daughters.
Mr. Henney joined the Ventura County Fire Department in 1960 and retired from the department in 1992 as a battalion chief. He was active in local and county services during those years. He served for eight years on the Ojai Planning Commission, the last four as chairman. He was a founding member of both the Ventura County Youth Employment Council and the Ojai Valley Youth Employment Services, and served time as president of both organizations. Mr. Henney also served on the Ojai Valley Bicentennial Committee and was the co-chairman of the Independence Day Committee, chaired the United Way Allocations panel for more than seven years, was a member of the California State Firemen's Association and the Ventura County Firefighters Association, and served as president of the Ventura Chapter of the American Hellenic Education Progressive Association.
In 1987, he married his second wife, Patricia, and after his retirement in 1992, they moved to Las Vegas. They, along with their two children, moved back to the Ojai Valley this past summer.
He is survived by his wife, Pat Henney; daughters Dawn Henney, Haroula Perry and Ashley Henney; son Sebastian Henney; sister Nancy Pearson; brother James Trimm; and three grandsons and one granddaughter.
A memorial service will be held Friday, Jan. 9, at 3 p.m. at Clausen Funeral Home in Ojai.
Arrangements are under the direction of Clausen Funeral Home, Ojai.
Adelle Ellingsworth
Adelle Ellingsworth, 84, of Ojai, died Dec. 24, 2003. She was born May 15, 1919 in the village of Volovoya, in what was then Czechoslovakia, of Hungarian parents. By the time she was 10 years old, she had been schooled in three languages and two alphabets.
Her father, a mid-level bureaucrat, fearing that he had become an expendable pawn in the political chess game of post-war Europe, emigrated to the United States when she was 3. He became an American citizen and brought Adelle, her brother and mother (none of whom knew a word of English) to New York City, exactly one month after the stock market crash of 1929. English then became her fourth language.
After graduating high school, she became a professional swimmer performing in water ballet as it was then called. She appeared in Billy Rose's Aquacade and toured the United States in the "Water Follies." She then went to Hollywood, where she was in Esther Williams' first movie and other films where her swimming talents were needed. She married Gary Ellingsworth on Feb. 15, 1957.
Mrs. Ellingsworth said that she finally realized that she had neither the drive nor the talent to be a success in film, and turned to photography. After a stint as a nightclub photographer, she operated a California darkroom for 10 years. She then became a contract administrator at AFTRA, the performers union.
In 1972, she and her husband retired and spent several years wandering around Europe in a motor home. They moved to Ojai in 1982.
She is survived by her husband; stepdaughter, Kathleen, of Seattle, Wash.; stepgranddaughter Heather; and her brother, Nicholas Hannibal, and his family, in Burney, Texas.
No services are planned. Arrangements were by Payton Mortuary in Oxnard.
Amelia Angela Hansen
Amelia Angela Hansen, 86, died in her sleep Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004, at The Gables of Ojai. She was born Nov. 7, 1917 to Augustin and Lucia Cassina in Cordoba, Argentina.
She and her husband, Bill, lived in Little Berkhamstead, England for 10 years, and were world travelers.
Mrs. Hansen was a language teacher for 30 years, and was also a sculptor. In recent years, she taught Spanish at Help of Ojai and was a receptionist at the Ojai Art Center.
She is survived by her sisters, Yolanda Larrinaga and Rosa Rivero of Cordoba, Argentina; two stepdaughters, Kristin Hansen of Australia, and Janet Kyritsis of Greece; nephew Osvaldo Cassina of Argentina; stepgranddaughter Lara Hansen of Los Angeles; stepnephew Charles Osgood of Willmett, Ill.; and many other family members in Argentina.
She was preceded in death by her stepson, Mark Hansen, and husbands, Bill Hansen and Raul Suby.
As per her request, her body was received by the UCLA School of Medicine.
A remembrance service for friends will be held Friday, Jan. 16, 2004 at 3 p.m. at The Gables of Ojai, 701 N. Montgomery St., Ojai.
Paul D.Turner
Paul D.Turner, 91, a longtime resident of Ojai, died Sunday, Dec. 21, 2003. He was born March 3, 1912 in Los Angeles, Calif.
He graduated from the University of Nevada-Reno, with a bachelor's degree in accounting. Mr. Turner served as a corporal during World War II and was discharged in 1943 at Fort Hood, Texas.
After the war, he became an executive at Union Truck Company, Inc. and moved to Ojai. In 1957 he married Ollie Boryk. Mr. Turner was involved in various Ojai Valley community charities, such as Help of Ojai and the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy.
He is survived by his nephews, Mark Turner of Reno, Nev., and Brant Turner of Agoura Hills, Calif.; nieces Janice Turner of Ventura, Calif., and Nora Turner of Truckee, Calif.; and sister-in-law Jeanette Turner of Ventura.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Ollie, in June 2000.
Services are private.
Arrangements are under the direction of Conejo Mountain Funeral Home, Camarillo.
