An obituary is someone’s last hurrah. Whether it’s a modest list of the milestones in a life or a sprawling patchwork of events, traits, habits and hobbies, your obituary is your biography.
Your story isn’t only going to be read by friends and family members. Along with the police blotter, obituaries are the most widely read section of a newspaper. We want to read about how other people have lived, because we are all in the process of deciding how we should live. Here is a list of those Claremonters who passed in 2014.
Gary Jason Brown of Roseville, California died of severe coronary artery disease just over a year ago on December 2, 2013. He was 51.
His memorial service, which was attended by more than 300 of his family and friends, was held at St. Joseph Marello Catholic Parish in Granite Bay, California. He left behind his wife of 19 years, Christine, and his daughter, Madeline, who was 13 at the time of his death.
William Lee Davidson Chetney, a longtime area resident, died at home in Claremont on November 26, 2014. He was 76. Born July 1, 1938 in Wichita Falls, Texas, Mr. Chetney came to Ontario, California in 1946 following the death of his father.
As a boy, Bill attended St. George’s Catholic School, playing football and receiving most valuable player honors as their left-handed star quarterback.
Longtime Claremont resident Mary Elizabeth Briggs Blanchard died peacefully in her sleep on November 18, 2014 at Mt. San Antonio Gardens in Claremont. She was 105.
She was born in Valparaiso, Indiana on October 5, 1909. She graduated from DePauw University in 1931 and later received an advanced degree in library science from the University of Michigan in 1950. She married William G. “Doc” Blanchard in 1932 and in 1936 they moved to Claremont when Doc accepted a position as professor of music at Pomona College. They had three children, William, Mildred and Margaret.
Longtime Claremont resident Jack Newton Pocock died peacefully at home on October 6, 2014. Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, December 5, 2014 at 343 W. 12th St. in Claremont.
