obituaries
To submit obituaries for publication, please call (805) 965-5205 or email obits@independent.com
LuAnn Keithley 06/07/29 – 12/07/16
LuAnn Keithley, a longtime resident of Santa Barbara and Carpinteria, passed away peacefully December. 7, 2016 at the age of 87. Lucille Annette Armstrong was born on June 7, 1929 in Calgary, Alberta and grew up in Victoria, British Columbia. Her father, Guy Armstrong, quickly realized the name he had bestowed upon her was far too big for such a petite child and shortened her name to LuAnn. LuAnn moved to Santa Barbara 64 years ago with her first husband Richard Praul. She quickly embraced Santa Barbara living: days spent at Butterfly Beach, lunches at El Paseo, cocktails at Plow & Angel, Fiesta celebrations and swimming at Miramar Beach. LuAnn was an accomplished cook and gave many memorable dinner parties at the family home on Islay Street. Her children fondly remember homemade dinner and dessert every night of the week. New recipes were critiqued and the familiar question asked by LuAnn would be, “Does it make the box (recipe)?” Together with her second husband, Irwin ‘Dutch’ Keithley, LuAnn enjoyed traveling the world to places both near and far. She felt traveling was an important personal experience and something she was very passionate about, making sure to share her passion and love of adventure with each of her four grandchildren. Always a great reader LuAnn decided to take up writing. She worked diligently, attended writing classes and workshops and submitted many of her short stories. LuAnn’s book I Was There is a collection of her stories which range from her first job as an elevator operator at the Empress Hotel during her summer break from college to her experience starting a one woman catering business. A very caring person LuAnn felt it was important to give back to her community. Over the years she volunteered with Reading for 18
THE INDEPENDENT
the Blind, Meals on Wheels, Food From the Heart and her church, Carpinteria Community Church. A longtime member of The Monday Group LuAnn always enjoyed the opportunity to learn & share among friends. LuAnn will be missed by her children, Christine Campos(Carlos) and Martin Praul, her four grandchildren, Eliza Campos, Molly Campos, Carla Campos and Robin Campos, and her three great-grandchildren. The family would like to thank the staff at Casa Cambria (Katerina Gulira, Anton, Dario, Olga) for their wonderful care & compassion and Aretha and Laurence from Assisted Hospice for their care, support and guidance and Melanie Farmer for her long time care and friendship. A memorial service at Carpinteria Community Church is planned for January 2017. In lieu of flowers please consider memorial gifts to the Parkinson Association of Santa Barbara www.mypasb.org
Ksenija was also well known by all her neighbors. She had a gift of remembering names and she would remember something important about everyone she met. Her neighbors would always see her gardening, walking or bargain hunting at a garage sale and local thrift stores. Ksenija’s real joy was her Grandkids. She loved taking care of the grandchildren and spoiling them. She is survived by her 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Hospice and Dream Foundationwho both were amazing throughout her illness or plant a flower in your yard in her honor. Arrangements entrusted to McDermott-Crockett Mortuary.
Patricia Everett Lacks 02/22/41 – 12/03/16
Ksenija (Kay) Oberlander 04/24/37 – 12/07/16
Ksenija (Kay) Oberlander died on December 07, 2016 after a long illness. Ksenija was born in Riga Latvia April 24, 1937. Ksenija’s family immigrated to the United States in 1950 after spending 7 years in a ref refugee camp. As a young woman she met her husband Larry Oberlander at a YWCA dance. They married in 1958 and had three daughters (Linda, Anita & Anne). The Family relocated from Wisconsin to Santa Barbara in 1973 when Delco Electronics moved their headquarters to the West Coast. They were married for 47 years until Larry passed away in 2005. Ksenija was best known as a yoga instructor in Santa Barbara who taught at the Santa Barbara YMCA for 35 years. She was ahead of her time, teaching yoga before it was mainstream. She also taught meditation and the importance of unprocessed and organic food for health.
DEcEmbEr 15, 2016
Dr. Patricia Lacks, age 75, passed away peacefully in Santa Barbara on December 3, 2016 after a 10-year battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Pat has been a resident of Santa Barbara for almost 25 years. She and her husband Paul moved to Santa Barbara after she retired from her job as a clinical psychology researcher and college professor at Washington University in St. Louis, where she worked for 18 years. During her professional career, she had two books published as well as many articles in her field. Her research focused on the areas of testing for brain dysfunction and the treatment of insomnia. Pat grew up moving around a lot as her father was transferred between Air Force bases. She lived in Japan for some time as a young girl, and graduated from high school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Pat attended Washington University as an undergraduate and a graduate student, receiving her PhD in 1966, before she began working there in the Psychology Department. In Santa Barbara, Pat worked as a sleep therapist for The Sleep Disorders Center of Santa Barbara, as a teacher at UCSB and Antioch University, and as a volunteer for Planned Parenthood. She is
independent.com
survived by her husband Paul Gawronik, her two children Amy and Jeffrey Lacks, and her granddaughter Dahlia. Donations can be made in her name to Planned Parenthood.
Cresenciano Hernandez (Chano/Joe) Vazquez 07/18/33-11/27/16
Rita; Franky; Brenda; Teresa; Joseph; Roger; Tony; Albert; and Michael. He will be missed but never forgotten. His love, laughter and great memories will live on forever in our hearts until we meet him again. Memorial Services will take place on Saturday December 3rd 2016, at 12:30pm at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church on 21 E. Sola Street, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101. In lieu of flowers, the family requests to please consider sending a contribution to Garden Court, 1116 De La Vina Street, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101 on behalf of Cresenciano H Vazquez.
Thilo Juschka We have lost an amazing, kind and loving man that touched so many lives. He left us peacefully with family surrounding him with continuous love and prayers. He is now with God in Heaven where he will continue to watch over us. Cresenciano, also known as “Chano” and “Joe” was born in the small town of Tenamextlan in Jalisco Mexico and came to the United States at 15 years old for a better life. Joe started working in the agriculture fields across the United States until he began working in the restaurant business in North Hollywood, CA. Quickly proving to be a hard-working and dedicated employee, he became a cook and then worked his way up to become a chef. At the age of 24, he became an entrepreneur by opening his first restaurant in North Hollywood called Casa Roja. At the age of 34, he decided to move to Santa Barbara to raise his new family. He accepted his first position working for Harry Davis who, at the time, owned Joe’s Café. He then was quickly given the opportunity to become the chef of a new venture called Harry’s Plaza Café. Joe was the chef at Harry’s Plaza Café for 22 years under the ownership of Harry Davis and then with Bob Rose. He then retired as a chef the age of 66 but remained active in the restaurant business for a few years just because of his love and passion for it. He truly loved being a chef and was proud of his accomplishments. More so than his accomplishments, Joe was most proud of his family. He was married twice, first to Cleo Reyes and then to Mary Ruelas Vazquez. He is survived by his wife Mary, his brothers: Eliseo; Jose Angel; Jesus; Juan; his sister: Lucrecia, and all 9 of his children:
08/05/62 – 11/17/16
Thilo Juschka, born Aug 05,1962 passed away while surrounded by his family after a battle against cancer in Houston Texas on Nov 17,2016. He was born and raised in Darmstadt, Germany and moved to Miami, Fla. in 1980 where he graduated from High School. After traveling through 22 US states with 3 of his best friends from Germany, Thilo settled down in Santa Barbara, CA in the fall of 1982. In 1998 he moved to Las Vegas where he married Martha Roman-Juschka in 1997 and raised a family. He worked at the Aria Resort and Casino as a facility manager and recently relocated his family to Houston, Texas. Thilo is survived by his loving wife Martha and their 2 daughters Sophie Isabelle (16) and Lillian Crisy (13) as well as his Mother Ruth Juschka and sister Sabine Bock of Heidelberg, Germany. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 17th at 4pm. Kraft Sussman Funeral Services, 3975 S. Durango Drive STE#104, Las Vegas NV 89147 In lieu of flowers the family has created an account to help with funeral arrangements. www. GoFundMe.com and enter "Thilo Juschka" in search box.