Mary “Happy” Virginia Fredendall Garner Nelson died peacefully on February 17, 2016 in Claremont, surrounded by her loved ones. She was 90.
She was born November 9, 1925 in Upland to Martha Idella (Fowlkes) and Thomas Benton Fredendall. She was nicknamed Happy by her father, as she was a happy baby. The name stuck and everyone called her Happy until high school, when her English teacher refused to call her anything but Mary Virginia.
Ross Figgins, professor emeritus at Cal Poly Pomona, died peacefully March 26, 2016 at his home in Claremont. His wife Jenny was with him.
He was born March 10, 1936 in Plainfield, New Jersey, the only child of Fred Figgins and Frances McAlvanah Figgins. The family moved to the San Fernando Valley after World War II. As a young teen, Ross worked sometimes in his dad’s neon-sign business, the first of many jobs.
Don C. Force died at Mt. San Antonio Gardens on December 3, 2015. He had been a Claremont resident since 2000, after living in Pomona since 1965.
He was born on July 5, 1928 in Clear Lake, South Dakota, a small town near the Minnesota border, the fourth child of Hazel (Clement) and Clifford Force.
William “Bill” Benjamin Arce Jr., a longtime resident of Claremont, died on March 7, 2016 at the age of 90. He passed in peace, surrounded and comforted by his loving family.
Born in Oakland, California to William Benjamin Arce Sr. and Edith Caroline Friberg Arce, Bill was raised with his older sister Lorraine. His father shared with him his love for the game of baseball. Pearl Harbor and World War II interrupted what might have been a great professional baseball career. He enlisted at 19 and, as part of the “Greatest Generation,” he fought with Patton’s infantry in Europe and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge.
Doris Caldwell Rhoades died on March 19, 2016 at the age of 97. She was in the presence of loving family and friends at Pilgrim Place in Claremont, where she had been a resident since 1992.
She was born in 1918 on the Caldwell Homestead, a dairy farm in central Pennsylvania, to Frank and Elizabeth Caldwell. Doris was the eldest of four daughters.
Fay Mary Linder died on March 4, 2016 at Pilgrim Place in Claremont. She had been a resident since 1994 after retiring from many years of teaching in Istanbul, Turkey.
Ms. Linder was born in Bronxville, New York in 1927 and grew up in Greensburg, New York and Philadelphia. Being active in sports in school and summer camps led to a career as a physical education teacher
