Velma Enriqueta Vergara McKelvey, a proud Claremont resident since 1959, died peacefully at her home on July 13. She was 86 years old.
Velma was born in Los Angeles in 1932 to Julia Ann and Joaquin Vergara. Her mother was a direct descendant of hearty relatives who came west over the Oregon Trail
Mother, Pilates instructor, dancer, choreographer. Julia Elizabeth Bourne died peacefully at home September 18 surrounded by family and friends after battling brain cancer for more than two years. She was 45 years old.
Co-founder of Foothill Country Day School, longtime Claremonter Betty (Docker) Webb, wife of the late Howell Webb and co-founder of Foothill Country Day School, died June 5 from heart failure after 97 full years of life.
Longtime nurse, traveler, descendant of 17 Mayflower passengers. Elizabeth “Betsy” Caddes died at home in Costa Mesa on September 3 after battling ovarian cancer for the past year. She was 70 years old.
Richard Hornby, who fought Parkinson’s disease for many years, died peacefully just after midnight this past February 11 due to a brain hemorrhage. He had a sweet half-smile on his face to the end, reported his wife Carol Fisher Sorgenfrei. He was 79.
Forty-seven year Claremont residents George Murray Bailey, 94, and his loving wife Claire Busk Bailey, 92, shared a poignant end when they died within a week of each other, on July 31 and August 6, respectively.
The celebration of the life of Barbara Beretich will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 15 at Balch Hall, Scripps College, 1030 N. Columbia Ave., Claremont. Speakers will include renowned artists Diane Divelbess and Ms. Beretich’s friend from elementary school, Sis Wenger from Washington DC.
Successful wholesale rose entrepreneur
Chino resident Verona E. Weeks died August 29 at the age of 102. She was born March 18, 1916, in Bentonville, Arkansas. For more than 40 years Ms. Weeks was the co-owner of Weeks Wholesale Roses. She utilized her marketing skills to grow the company over the course of 15 years from a small parcel of land in Wasco, California, to more than a thousand acres of thriving roses.
Great grandmother, devoted Catholic, English teacher
Margaret Mary (Mackenzie) Cox died peacefully at age 99 on August 29 at her home in Claremont, surrounded by family and her caregiver, Betty Leon.
Beloved family physician, advocate for the mentally ill and addicted
Dr. Louis Joseph Biscotti died at his home in San Diego on August 24 at the age of 73 after years of failing health.
Dr. Biscotti raised his three children Dina, Bridget and Michael Biscotti in Claremont. From 1980 to 2008 he had a thriving business as a family practice physician specializing in allergy in Montclair, Upland and Rancho Cucamonga. He saw patients at Doctor’s Hospital of Montclair, Upland’s San Antonio Community Hospital and Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. He was also an adjunct professor of addiction medicine at Loma Linda University, and served as medical director at Loma Linda Behavioral Medical Center for several years.
Pioneering aerospace engineer, baseball, movie and music fan, great grandfather
John George Gabel, 90, died peacefully at his home in Claremont on August 31 after a very brief illness.
John was born in Tonawanda, New York, August 4, 1928 to Josef Gebel and Terese Svarczkopf, both of whom immigrated as teenagers from the same village in Tur Terebes, Hungary. He was proud of his Hungarian ancestry and visited his parents’ village (now Turulung, Romania) on his 80th birthday.
