obituaries
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Dana Marie O’Neill 1958-2015
Too young. Too full of life. Our dearest, sweet, beautiful, intelligent, zestful, restless, caring, indefatigable, force-of-nature Dana Marie O’Neill was pulled from our arms on the rain-soaked evening of December 13th. The foe was breast cancer, an adversary she had seemingly vanquished over the course of an eight-year battle, but one that recurred two years ago and to which she finally succumbed at the youthful age of 57. Over the span of her bustling life, Dana accomplished more than most can even dream. Hailing from Santa Cruz and San Jose, she migrated south to attend UCSB, graduating with a degree in psychology. After college, Dana moved to Steamboat Springs, where she led whiney packs of troubled teens out for weeks at a time through the Colorado Rockies. There in those rugged climes she became a proficient kayaker, fearless climber and expert skier, and developed something of an insatiable lust for adventure. The latter soon tugged her along a meandering, eighteen-month solo trip through Central and South America wherein she immersed herself in the Brazilian Mardi Gras, got robbed at knifepoint in Rio, hitched boat rides with indigenous people up to the headwaters of the Amazon, and got utterly lost in the flooded rainforest for several days, taking shelter from a downpour in an abandoned lean-to before being found and led to safety by shepherds. She then pushed further south to Patagonia, then back north along the Andes where she was the only woman on two climbing expeditions, each summiting peaks of over 20,000 feet. Later she crawled through the centuries-old, unmapped silver mines of Potosi, paying her guide in the local currency of coca leaves and dynamite. In Ecuador she came close to dying of pneumonia in a dank traveler’s hovel but, once recovered and reinvigorated, pushed overland through the murderous region of Medellin, trudged north up the unpaved isthmus of the Darien Gap, parked for a few months to hone her Spanish skills in Guatemala, then went on to Mexico where a rip current dragged her out into heavy Pacific surf and nearly drowned her. She survived by mustering a harrow8
THE INDEPENDENT
ing swim to shore during which she vowed to settle down and return home, which she promptly did only to run out of gas en route in a rental car at 2:00 a.m. in South Central L.A. She moved back to Santa Barbara in 1991, adding to her scholastic résumé an MFCC degree from Cal State Northridge and writing her thesis on—what else?—wilderness therapy. After working as a translating mediator for Ventura County Superior Court, she repurposed her skills into a successful real estate career here in Santa Barbara. Then, in 1997 she married her longtime and patient fiancé and promptly launched headlong into the next phase of her adventurous life by giving birth to her two sons—verily the joys of her life—who she then began dragging along on her seemingly endless secession of further adventures including Canada, Mexico, Kenya, and even an arduous climb up to the top of Half Dome, and all in just the past year. Dana is survived by her mother and father Beverly and Bill O’Neill, siblings Rory, Kirk and Steve, uncle Jack O’Neill, cousins Janis, Bill and Rio Spicer, husband Robert Johnson, and sons Luke and Dane Johnson O’Neill, as well as an expansive bevy of friends and admirers and fellow “Burners” the world ’round. A memorial service is scheduled for January 23rd in Skofield Park. In Dana’s own inimitable words, “It’s a short spin on a little blue ball.” By which she meant, don’t squander it!
Declan Goudet Gloster 05/03/03-12/28/15
Declan Goudet GLOSTER (12 years), second son of Catherine and Paul Gloster, brother of Yannick and Eoghan. Declan was proud to be a graduate of both Navy Door at Montessori Center School and of Vieja Valley elementary school. He was also proud to be a Sea Sheller. Declan lived his life to his fullest until he succumbed to spinal and brain cancer. Full obituary and arrangements next week.
DEcEmbEr 31, 2015
Nels Fridjof Lee
03/08/14-12/23/15
Nels Fridjof Lee passed away December 23, 2015, at Sarah House in Santa Barbara, surrounded by the love of many family members. He was born in Jevnaker, Norway, on March 8, 1914. He grew up with six older brothers on a farm that his parents homesteaded near McGregor, North Dakota. He remembered clearing rocks from three quarter sections of land, plowing and hauling water with a team of horses, and making the 7-mile trip to town in a sleigh during many blizzards. He and his brothers were baptized and confirmed in the Norwegian Lutheran Church. He attended one year of college but had to move back to the family farm to help his father in the 1930s, losing 4 years of crops to drought, hail and grasshoppers. After moving to Shelby, Montana, in 1937 to work in the oil fields, he married his first wife, Lilah Irgens, in 1940. His son Jerry and daughter Sharon (Moniot) were born there. His second marriage, to Helen Rittenhouse, took place in Great Falls, Montana, in 1951, and they soon moved to Santa Ynez. Daughters Christy (Weir) and Jennifer (Seymour) were born in Santa Barbara. He always said the best decision of his life was settling in Santa Barbara to work for the California State Lands Commission as a petroleum production inspector. Working outdoors on the oil platforms and coastal oilfields was always a fulfilling adventure for him. The house he bought in 1959, near Hendry’s Beach, was his home for 56 years. What he loved the most was his garden, riding his tractor and digging in the soil, pruning fruit trees and canning fruit sauces. He could be found every weekend in his garden or workshop, constructing furniture and fixing tools and cars. He could build anything, repair anything and grow anything. Always comfortable in the kitchen, tri-tip, pea soup and lefse were his specialties. A member of the Elks Lodge for over 70 years, Nels enjoyed many bowling and golf trips with his “brother Elks.” He was very thankful to his regular poker-playing friends for so many “donations” over the years! One of his favorite excursions up to the age of 100 was to the Chumash Casino to play blackjack. Nels was also an intrepid
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cross-country driver, taking his family on many long road trips to explore the U.S. He was always generous with his time and money and loved helping his children and grandchildren in any way he could. His family and friends admired Nels for his determination, integrity and strength. He is survived and will be greatly missed by his four children, 8 grandchildren (Tammy Moniot Hamilton, Michelle Moniot Meir, Rick Moniot, Tisa Moniot, Erin Weir Bancroft, Jeremy Weir, Katie Seymour Piper, Kori Seymour Cohen), 15 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.
Jeff Matthew Reece 10/31/46-12/26/15
Jeff Matthew Reece died on December 26, at age 69, after a fiveyear battle with melanoma. Jeff was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 31, 1946, the first year of the post-war Baby Boom. As a boy, he lived with his parents, older sister, and younger brother in the Chestnut Hill section of Brookline. He attended the local elementary school through sixth grade and then the Roxbury Latin School in Boston. During the summers, he attended Camp Young Judea in New Hampshire. In his teens and beyond, he enjoyed singing folk songs and playing his 12-steel-string guitar. Picking up on an affectionate nickname used by his father, he changed his first name from Jeffrey to Jefferson, although he always preferred to be called Jeff. After graduating from Roxbury Latin, Jeff attended MIT, where he majored in chemical engineering. During college summers he combined work with travel around Europe and the Middle East, participating in research at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel. After graduating from MIT, he earned Masters degrees in both chemical and civil engineering at UC Berkeley. In 1970, he married Trudy Sanders, and the two of them went into the Peace Corps in Santiago, Chile, where Jeff was involved in research aimed at incorporating protein from fishmeal into a milk supplement for malnourished infants. While there, he met the Chilean president Salvador Allende. When Jeff and Trudy returned
to the States, they settled in Bos Boston, where Jeff worked at the civil engineering firm Faye, Spofford and Thorndike on the design and development of wastewater treatment facilities as well as other projects. Their son, Ethan, was born there in 1972. In 1979, they moved to Santa Barbara, where their daughter Naomi was born. During his 37 years in Santa Barbara, Jeff worked on a wide range of environmental projects, mostly for HDR Engineering and SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation). Jeff had many interests beyond his work; he was a true Renaissance man. He was an avid reader, a film and music buff, and an early computer enthusiast. He enjoyed traveling and loved learning languages. He was fluent in Spanish and French, but he also had a working familiarity with several other languages. For many years, he was an active member of Le Cercle Francais, a French discussion group in Santa Barbara. Throughout his life, Jeff made it a point to keep in touch with his friends around the world. He corresponded with his French pen pal, Gérard Lachêvre, from the time they were both 12 until Gérard died a few years ago. He also remained close to his older aunts and uncle who did not have children of their own; he was like a son to them and was actively involved in their lives as they aged. He was a lifelong supporter of the State of Israel and had been a member of both Young Israel of Santa Barbara and Congregation B’nai B’rith. Jeff will be fondly remembered as a sweet, gentle, soft-spoken, kind, generous person who was an exceptionally good listener. He never learned to drive because of poor eyesight, but he knew how to use the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit System like no one else. (His Santa Barbara grandkids called him Grandpa Bus.) Jeff and Trudy remained good friends after they divorced, and he was a devoted father and grandfather. He is survived by his son Ethan Reece and his wife Hsingyi Lin; his daughter Naomi Anafi and her husband Ron; his five grandchildren Lila, Ari, and Joshua Anafi, and Levi and Rose Reece; his sister Jane Reece and her husband Paul Ossa; his nephew Daniel Gillen and his partner Maria Parlante; his sister-in-law Molly Reece; and numerous cousins and loving friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, George and Rose Long Reece, and his brother Michael Reece. A graveside funeral service for Jeff will be held at the Santa Barbara Cemetery on Tuesday, December 29, at 2 pm. Contributions in Jeff’s memory can be made to Water for People or the Jewish National Fund. cont’D
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