Floral designer Jeff Leatham and celebrity Kim Kardashian West on Tuesday sent 70 bouquets of pink roses to USC Verdugo Hills Hospital as a gesture of appreciation to the institution’s frontline health care workers ahead of Valentine’s Day. Keith Hobbs, CEO of the hospital, said “these kind gestures mean so much to our health care workers who have been working tirelessly these many months, and the appreciation from the community goes a long way to uplift them through these difficult times.” USC-VHH invites those who are also interested in giving back to the hospital to consider volunteering for its Meal Train, which can be found at bit.ly/uscvhhmeals.
What started as a fraudulent purchases investigation by the Glendale Police Department has turned into a grand larceny indictment by a New York district attorney against a man who is alleged to have stolen more than $1 million using actor Kevin Hart’s credit cards. In an announcement, the district attorney of Queens County, New York, said that a 29-year-old Long Island City resident was arrested and arraigned this week on grand larceny and other charges stemming from this investigation. The suspect, Dylan Syer, was accused of defrauding Hart both by transferring money from the actor’s credit cards to his own personal account and also using the cards for additional purchases. According to GPD, the investigation began in February 2019 when the department’s financial crimes unit began probing a number of purchases to Hart’s credit cards through a six-month period. These transactions were made at a “high end” jewelry store in Glendale and also included various “high end” clothing purchases in the city.
Lucy Anzalone, born in Velarde, New Mexico, on July 31, 1925, passed away on Feb. 18, 2017 in Burbank, California. She was the youngest of five children, and the only daughter born to Ruperta Miera and Pablo Martinez, descendants of early Spanish settlers. Lucy came to California to study nursing and graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing from Providence College in Oakland in 1949. At the outbreak of the Korean War, she enlisted in the Navy and was stationed at the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego. She met her first husband at this time, Thomas Hayward, who passed away soon after, a casualty of the war. She gave birth to her first child, a daughter, as a widow. Continue reading “IN MEMORIAM – Lucy Anzalone”
In observance of both Black History Month and the city’s reckoning with the racist policies and practices of its past, ReflectSpace has produced a multimedia series that, in multiple episodes, examines those ills and how they have impacted Glendale. The six-episode series — titled “Reckoning: Racism & Resistance in Glendale” — is available for free on the ReflectSpace website and includes audio presentations of the topics and documentation of various news coverage and other stories that describe the historical racism of Glendale. Interactive maps and 360-degree photos allow viewers to pick, for example, different neighborhoods to learn more details. The live exhibit comes after city officials prepared a report on Glendale’s historical reputation as a “sundown town,” which through housing covenants largely barred Black people and other minorities from property ownership in the city. Glendale was hostile in other ways, as well, to the Black community — the city was a popular rally spot for Ku Klux Klan groups and more recently housed offices for Nazi-affiliated and other white supremacist groups.
Nancy Jane Stephens was born June 1, 1925, in Sierra Blanca, Texas. She spent her final days surrounded by her family at home in Burbank, California and passed away peacefully at the age of 95 on the morning of January 10, 2021.
At age 83, when asked to sum up her life in six words or less Jane responded, “Been There, Done That, Worth It.”
Jane grew up along the Rio Grande border between Texas and Mexico, 88 miles south of El Paso, in a small railroad town serving cattle ranchers, the daughter of Johnny Philomel Cox Stephens and Grover Cleveland Stephens and sister to Wyman, Grover, and James Stephens, all of whom predeceased her. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, at the University of Texas, Austin. While attending UT Austin, Jane met her future husband, Robert Ellsworth Shanks, who was stationed there for naval flight training. After her brother Wyman was killed in April 1945, aboard the USS Mobile in the South Pacific, and her previously arranged May wedding date was canceled, Jane boarded a train to travel alone across country to Boston where the couple married in the Harvard University Chapel on June 16, 1945. After the war, the couple returned briefly to Texas, before settling in California, where Robert, known as Bob to friends and family, finished his schooling at USC, earning master and doctorate degrees in Education. Continue reading “Jane S. Shanks – Obituary”
Joyce L. Ricciuti, a longtime resident of Burbank, California and later moving to Reno, Nevada, passed away Dec. 13, 2020 after a short battle with colon cancer. She was born 3/28/1934 in Rhode Island, later married and then moved to Burbank in 1956. Joyce was a very energetic and caring mother and loved spending time with friends and family. She was a longtime parish member of St. Francis Xavier and was also employed there for 25 years. She was a tireless volunteer for the school’s activities and received numerous awards along the way. Continue reading “Joyce L.Ricciuti – Obituary”
Denise Fredrickson, 93, a longtime resident of Burbank, CA. passed away peacefully after a brief illness on January 26, 2021.
She was the oldest of three siblings in her family as both her parents and two sisters preceded her in death along with her husband.
She was a long time member of Calvary Bible Church and made many friends over the years.
Surviving is her four children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren; she will be truly missed.
Denise is finally at Peace….
F. Wayland Parsons, 98, passed away at home in Pismo Beach with his family at his side. He leaves behind his children, Anita (and son-in-law James Merriman), Lauren, and Ross; grandsons Colt and Sparky; sister Georganne Thomsen; nephews Christopher, Peter, Lance & Mark Thomsen and their families: nieces Phyllis Price and Erica Thomsen-Friedman and their families; and life-long friends. He is preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Lucille B. Parsons. Born in Glendale, California in 1922, Wayland graduated from Hoover H.S. in 1940 and began college at the University of Redlands, pursuing a degree in education. In 1942, he joined the Navy and served in the South Pacific during WWII. After the war, he returned to finish college at Redlands, where he met his future wife, Lucille Tuchfarber Bridgers. After graduating with their teaching degrees, Wayland and Lucille married in 1948, beginning careers in education, and then beginning a family in Glendale. Wayland worked in the Glendale Unified School District for nearly forty years, as a teacher, a principal, and an administrator. He attended night school at USC to earn his doctorate degree, and served as Deputy Superintendent until his retirement. Family vacations were often spent boating on lakes of the Colorado River with friends the Daniels, Carnahans and Gardners, and holidays were celebrated with his sister’s family, the Thomsens. Wayland and Lucille spent their retirement enjoying their home, friends and family, traveling around the country in their motorhome, and seeing the world on cruises to cities in Europe, Asia, the South Pacific, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the Panama Canal. They also enjoyed continuing education in music and arts appreciation. His warmth, wisdom and humor will be missed. Donations in Wayland’s memory can be made to the Student Conservation Association (https://www.thesca.org).
Renay Adella Ciemiega Wallace was born February 28, 1931 in Illinois and passed away peacefully at her home in Glendale on January 7, 2021 from complications related to Parkinson’s Disease. She was the only child of Adella Victoria Tarczali Ciemiega and Julius Albert Ciemiega. Renay was raised in Chicago and Lyons, Illinois before the family came out to California in 1944. They lived in South Los Angeles, where she attended George Washington High School, before the family settled in Glendale. Renay attended Business College and found a career in the insurance industry, working in Downtown Los Angeles. She met John Burdette Wallace, and they married on February 9, 1957, buying their own home in Glendale.
Jody Fullerton was living comfortably in her Paso Robles apartment when a fall led to medical complications, which brought about her death on January 2, 2021. In recent years she had been in fine physical health and in good spirits. Roberta Joan “Jody” Fullerton (née Weiler) was born in the small farm town of Wanatah, Indiana on April 16th 1927. While her mother worked in the “big” city of Chicago, their grandparents raised Jody, her older brother and younger sister. Growing up in a small midwestern town during the Depression made a lasting impact on Jody. She lived her life with frugality and a distaste for highfalutin’ propensity that was, in most cases, welcomed by her family. As a young girl Jody was a bit of a tomboy and enjoyed playing sports with her brother and his friends. She spent her summers swimming in the local creek and her school years attending 1st through 12th grades in the one school in town where she graduated from High School in 1945 in a class of 12 students.
