Sun City Anthem resident Lynn McIlwain Pendleton, 73, passed away peacefully on June 26, 2011, just three short months following the death of Rich, her beloved husband of 56 years.
Lynn was born on July 11, 1937 in Evanston, Illinois, and attended New Trier High School where she met Rich.
She studied at Purdue University and pursued a lifelong commitment to her family and to her community. She accompanied her husband across the country during his frequent job transfers in the 1960s. No matter where they settled, she immersed herself into the community and became an active volunteer and leader.
Lynn served as President of the Junior Chamber of Commerce Wives’ Program in Neosho, Missouri, and again in Dayton, Ohio. She was the Director of the Ohio State Convention for the Jaycee Wives’ program in 1968 and held several officer positions with the Junior Women’s Club of Canoga Park, California.
In 1970, she and Rich returned to the Los Angeles area where they remained for 31 years. During this time, she continued her philanthropic and community activities while also beginning a professional career. Her first “real” job was as Fashion Coordinator, Charm School Instructor, and Teen Board Advisor for Sears Roebuck. While at Sears, she received numerous national recognition awards and also served as the store’s Chairman of the Good Citizenship Committee.
After eight years with Sears, she continued her career in sales and customer service management in the employment agency, health care, publishing, and internet industries.
In 2001, Lynn and Rich retired in Henderson. During her retirement, Lynn loved and embraced her life in the Sun City Anthem community, where she served on the Lifestyle Committee and participated in several other social groups.
She and Rich and were instrumental in the founding of The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Henderson.
Lynn enjoyed traveling and was truly passionate about her family and friends. She is survived by four children: Debra Shatford of Glendale, CA; Laura Kolderup of Darien, CT; Rick Pendleton of Truckee, CA; and Brian Pendleton of Los Angeles, CA. In addition, she and Rich were blessed with seven grandchildren who were the light of their lives.
A service celebrating Lynn’s life will be held on Thursday, July 7, 10:00 a.m. at The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, 9041 Pecos, Suite 4000, in Henderson. The church is in the Sansone Office Park, on the corner of Pecos and Pebble. Coming from Sun City Anthem, this is on the left, just past the Pecos/St. Rose Exit of the 215 Beltway. The church is towards the back, on the southwest corner of the office park.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to St. Rose Dominican Health Foundation, 3001 St. Rose Parkway, Henderson, NV 89052.
---------------
Polly Schwartz, a former co-worker and longtime personal friend of Lynn’s, is one of many who were touched by Lynn’s warmth and personality over the years.
Here is Polly’s moving tribute to Lynn:
My Memories of Lynn Pendleton
June 30, 2011
My first meeting with Lynn was in 1972 at the Sears, Canoga Park CA., Retail Store. She was employed there as:
Winnie the Pooh Coordinator - At that time Sears had permission to use the Winnie the Pooh character in store promotions. Lynn had the responsibility of scheduling Winnie, who came in a huge trunk, insuring timely arrival and prompt departures to his next performance. She also arranged for the person to wear the heavy, hot costume, and that was not easy.
Fashion Show Coordinator – Lynn worked with various civic and benevolent organizations to help produce fund-raising fashion shows using Sears’ fashions. She was expert at choosing suitable outfits to fit the models usually provided by the particular organization. However, upon occasion she had difficulty obtaining the cooperation of various staff members, prompting the now famous letter to the store manager describing her efforts as “a fart in a whirlwind.” Needless to say, this prompted closer cooperation from store staff in future endeavors.
Teen Board Advisor – This was a group of local high school students selected each year to advise on current fads in fashion while working part time. Lynn coordinated their activities as well as their work schedule, sometimes using them as models in the fashion shows.
Charm School Instructor – At that time, Sears had a program for young girls and boys whereby they would learn proper manners on how to conduct themselves as ladies and gentlemen in society. She was the perfect person to conduct such classes and won contests several years whereby the winners were provided all-expense trips to the Sears Chicago Headquarters. I wish the young people of today had such an opportunity.
At that time Sears had a program called “Good Citizenship” whereby the local employees were given the opportunity to hear various candidates for political offices. This usually occurred during the Presidential election years. Lynn was chairman of that committee and we worked together to get speakers for those meetings. We were instructed to secure speakers from both political parties and had written the White House to get a speaker to represent the President, who was running for re-election.
Lynn received a phone call from someone representing themselves to be from the President’s Office. She asked, “President of what?” As she later explained, she knew presidents of many organizations.
One speaker at one of these meetings was Barry Goldwater, Jr. who was running for Congress from a local district. Lynn was very politically adept. She had prompted a couple of employees to start the question and answer portion with good questions which managed to get Barry’s attention and he really had a good session. Our store program with pictures was featured in the next campaign booklet published throughout the Pacific Coast Territory by the Public Relations Office.
Now, for the personal memories:
Our friendship and association at Sears soon included Lynn’s husband, Rich, and my husband Tom. We had many common interests including visiting and traveling. Lynn and Rich owned a couple of timeshares, as did Tom and I. We traveled to these together using theirs or ours, or trading for locations away from the home resorts
We traveled several times to Mexico, both Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan. Those resorts were on the ocean, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We did take tours into the countryside, attend fiestas, and watched the bull fights in Mazatlan. We had really great times there.
We used Lynn and Rich’s timeshare in a trade to the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, exploring various scenic spots and even spending a day on a secluded north portion of the island where a river ran into the ocean and there was a very nice beach. Sun tans and burns were the order of the day.
We all traveled together several times to Maui where Tom and I had a timeshare. We rented a car and drove the “Road to Hanna,” a narrow, twisted road with about 600 bridges, some single lane. That is always a challenge to visitors to Maui. We also visited the Haleakala Crater, an extinct volcano, and of course the usual Luau with the Polynesian Dancers.
We also made trips to Sedona, AZ together and while there toured the Grand Canyon and other local scenic spots. That was the time Lynn and Rich took the Jeep tour and returned covered in red dust. Think they had a good time. Barbecue steaks and wine were part of that trip, as well as local shopping.
I am not sure what eventually happened to it, but Lynn’s mother had a collection of colonial costumes and used to present these in fashion shows. I remember providing a black dress, hat and jewelry as a representative of the 1950s. There are pictures somewhere of Lynn modeling these for her mother. I remember the collection and Lynn traveling to Havre, Montana, one cold winter day for such a show. Took Lynn a long time to warm up after that trip.
There is a story Lynn told about living in Neosho, MO while Rich was there on the job. Think they went to a costume party with Lynn as a Playboy Bunny. Think the whole town believed she had been one. In those days, she could have qualified!
One of the special things I remember about Lynn and Rich was their love for and pride in all their children and their achievements. Of course, there were some rules, but there was nothing they would not have done for any one of them.
Tom and I attended Debbie and Will’s wedding – Tom was bartender at their home after the formal reception was over. I remember Lynn’s support of Rick’s marriage to the lovely lady from Scotland when the Federal Immigration Officer came calling, and the reception given after Laura and her new husband returned from their honeymoon. We all attended a play Brian was in when he was an aspiring actor. Think all four children turned out very well. There are lots more stories about their growing up. But perhaps is better that they not be mentioned here.
I also remember Tom and Rich working together to get Rich’s company, Automate, Inc., started.
We talked about the new company while we were on our way to spend a weekend on our sail boat, the West Wind, which had remained in the San Francisco area after Tom was transferred back to Los Angeles. Incidentally, one of the staterooms was called “The Pendleton Suite.” Rich and Brian assisted in sailing the West Wind down to Los Angeles. Lynn and I flew up to bring the car back. It had been used to transport some gear needed for the sail down.
After Lynn and Rich moved to Henderson, NV, they were very active in the Sun City Anthem homeowners association. Both served in many capacities and we heard stories of the problems and solutions.
Separate from this, I believe they were “missionaries” to Las Vegas in that they were instrumental in founding a new Episcopal Church for parishioners in their neighborhood. Tom and I attended a couple of the services while visiting them – one of the first was in the local police station conference room. Another was in a commercial building with a much larger congregation. This is truly “church planting” that missionaries undertake all over the world.
No matter where we moved to or lived, our friendship endured, with visits to each other in the new locations. We could talk about many subjects that most friends avoid. We covered and in our own way could (if we had the power) have solved many world problems. Subjects included far-ranging topics such as: God, religion, government, politicians, taxes (property and income), earthquakes, school busing, PTA, child rearing and discipline, drugs, new technology (computers, etc), space program (Rich was a rocket engineer), which cars were better (Tom was with Chevrolet), wine and food, education, entertainment, travel, sailing, health and medical treatments, music, dancing, charities, volunteering, genealogy, wars, clothing styles, holidays, and often including our children’s education, lifestyles, marriages and grandchildren. This list is probably not complete but gives an indication of our almost 40 years of friendship. Expanding upon those subjects would likely lead to many pages. Tom and I considered Lynn and Rich our best friends.
God, in his Infinite Wisdom, has chosen to take Lynn home to be with Rich and they are together now in His Paradise.
Rest in Peace
Lynn Pendleton
July 11, 1937
June 26, 2011
With Love and Friendship,
Pauline Marie Harris Schwarz
(Polly)
---------------
This reporter ran the photo you see below in early April after Rich Pendleton’s passing. At that time, I noted that three of the four fellow residents and friends pictured in the photo were gone from us. From left to right are Lynn, Barry Friedman, Bonnie Weitzman and Rich Pendleton. Ironically, Bonnie and her husband Warren died within about 90 days of each other, as have Rich and Lynn.
When such good people pass from what has been called “this mortal coil,” it of course leaves a big hole in the lives and hearts of their families and loved ones, but it also takes something from those who knew them as good friends. The best way to honor their memories, I believe, is to simply be kind to others and to make a new friend whenever the opportunity presents itself. Life is too short to do anything less.
Recent Comments