Donna Myers Ambrogi, beloved aunt, great aunt and friend, died peacefully at her Pilgrim Place apartment in Claremont on the evening of June 8, after an illness of several months.
Born in 1929 in St. Paul, Minnesota, Donna moved with her family to Huntington Park, California in 1941. After her junior year in high school, she entered the University of Chicago, where she earned her bachelor’s degree and later a master’s in social sciences.
Beloved wife, mother, grandmother
Kristen Jane Hagstrom, beloved wife of Stephen W. Hagstrom, mother of Erik Rand Hagstrom and Britta H. Numair (George), and grandmother of Olivia Numair, died March 5. She was 68.
Loving husband and father, mentor, entrepreneur; William “Bill” Keith Guptill, loving husband and father, friend and mentor to many, died peacefully from natural causes at Claremont Manor on June 4. He was two months shy of his 90th birthday.
Beloved mother, grandmother, longtime San Dimas librarian; Mary Noonan, 88, beloved mother and grandmother, died May 25 at her home in Palm Desert, after a brief illness. At her side were her daughter, Theresa, and her son-in-law, Art, who had cared for her since her retirement from the San Dimas branch of the Los Angeles County Public Library.
Arbol Verde founding family member, longtime CUSD employee; Longtime Claremont resident Mary Palos died May 7, after suffering a subarachovial hemorrhage and contracting COVID-19 while in a rest home. She was 105. Mary Molina Palos was born on May 30, 1914 in Parras, Coahuila, Mexico to Benjamin Molina and Guadalupe Monsivaiz. Mary’s father died of the Spanish flu in 1918 when she was four years old. Her mother and seven older brothers came to California and settled in Artesia with family members and moved to Claremont in 1921.
Proud Minnesotan, Lutheran minister, Bard lover, traveler; Lowell Larson died peacefully of natural causes at age 95 on May 10, in Claremont. He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and Lutheran minister. Lowell was born in LacQui Parle County, Minnesota, on October 22, 1914. He married Helen Akerson on April 28, 1946, and they had five children and 47 years of marriage until Helen’s death in 1993.
Great grandfather, car enthusiast, pilot; Longtime Claremont resident John Proffitt died suddenly at home on April 30. He was 72. John was born October 26, 1947 in Kansas City, Missouri. He came to California when he was 16 and never left.
Beloved mother, grandmother, educator. Patricia Ann (Patti) Brant, beloved mother and friend, died April 30, in New Haven, Connecticut. She was 74. She was born December 14, 1945, in Long Beach, California, to Opal and Ralph Thayer. Patti lived in Upland and Mt. Baldy most of her life. After graduation from Upland High School and The University of La Verne, she went on to become a respected science and home economics teacher in the Alta Loma School District.
Peace and civil rights activist, educator; James Joseph Lamb, aged 92, died May 15 at Pilgrim Place retirement community in Claremont. He was born in 1927 (the same year as Charles Lindbergh’s famous transatlantic flight) to a working class Irish Catholic family in the Bronx in New York City. Jim’s youth was spent in the Bronx’s City Island and in Riverside, New Jersey.
Suzanne Hall Christian died surrounded by loved ones on May 5, of complications related to a rare and longstanding neuroendocrine cancer.
Born in Hollywood, California to Gertrude and Pierson Hall, Suzanne was raised in Santa Monica when the now decidedly urban locale was primarily fields and farms.
Passionate outdoorsman, sports enthusiast, loving father; Paul Martin Peterson, 63, a Bend, Oregon resident who grew up in Claremont, died on March 24. Paul is survived by his wife of 38 years, Teri; their son, Christopher; his mother, Rosemary; sister, Sally; brothers, Mark and Jim; and numerous aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, in-laws and extended family.
Longtime Kaiser Fontana surgeon, US Air Force veteran, writer; David Bradford Welsh died from Alzheimer’s disease and a stroke on May 5 at Mt. San Antonio Gardens in Claremont, at 78 years of age, with his wife and son at his side. He will be missed by all as a loving husband and father, and a caring physician.
Beloved mother, grandmother, groundbreaking Christian Church leader; Janice Robinson Newborn, loving wife of 63 years to Ernest Joshua Newborn, Sr., mother of two, and grandmother of four, died peacefully from natural causes at the age of 91 at Pilgrim Place in Claremont, California on April 21.
Longtime Claremont resident, Diana Northup Lockard, died on March 22, following a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 95.
Born in Montclair, New Jersey, Ms. Lockard received her BA from Smith College, an MA from Columbia University, and a PhD in higher education from Claremont Graduate University. At Smith, a classmate remembers her as “a golden girl, admired by many, and a key player in her class.”
Claremont Courier on Social Media