Lake County News,California

Obits

: Lake County News Reports; Posted On Saturday, 17 October 2020 03:22; 17 October 2020

Alice Annette Knauss

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Alice Annette Knauss, 88, died Oct. 12, 2020, at home in Kelseyville.

Alice was born on Feb. 8, 1932, in San Francisco, California, to Ree and Ruth Beeman. She grew up in Hayward and moved to Lake County during her junior year in high school.

She graduated from Kelseyville Union High School, where she was perhaps best known for the prank of placing a skunk's scent sac into the school's heating vents, leading to not only the evacuation of the entire school but its closure for two days until the air cleared.

After short stints of living in Oxnard, California, and Amarillo, Texas, from 1951 to 1952, Alice lived the remainder of her life in Kelseyville.

She married early, at age 20, but it didn't last. Alice was no quitter, so she gave it a shot three more times. Although it didn't work out with any of the husbands, she remained life-long friends with all of them.

Alice loved flower gardening, mystery novels, her grandchildren, men, beer, crime dramas, all types of music, dogs and raccoons. Not necessarily in that order. She hated warm beer and stuck up people. Not necessarily in that order.

Alice is predeceased by her siblings, Margaret, Evelyn, Barbara and Robert; and by her son, Michael.

She leaves behind daughters, Lane (husband Ariki) and Susan (husband, Steve; children, Jasper and Ruth).

Arrangements by Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary, 707-263-0357 or 707-994-5611, or visit www.chapelofthelakes.com.

: Lake County News Reports; Posted On Wednesday, 14 October 2020 23:39; 14 October 2020

Marilynn G. Smith

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The family of Marilynn G. Smith is saddened to announce her passing due to complications from COVID-19.

Marilynn was born in 1941 at Long Beach, California, and passed at the age of 79 on Oct. 8, 2020, at Lakeport, California.

She is preceded in passing by her father, Charles; mother, Alice; and sister, Theresa. She was with her parents and sister during the attack on Pearl Harbor, where her mother served as a nurse and her father, a U.S. Naval engineer, was killed in action.

Marilynn is survived by her son, Michael; daughter, Chris; four grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.

In her nearly 60-year career, she worked in the aviation industry and was the favorite bartender to countless people who were proud to consider her a close friend and confidant. She will be dearly missed by all.

Marilynn’s son recalls, of the many words of wisdom she shared with him, these stood out; “In this life, you must pull your weight, not wait to be pulled.”

A celebration of life will be announced as soon as the current public health crisis allows.

It was her wish that in lieu of remembrances, donations may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in her name.

: Lake County News Reports; Posted On Sunday, 11 October 2020 01:47; 11 October 2020

Esther Doris Kenneally Short

Esther Doris Kenneally Short, 79

Devoted wife, loving sister, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, Esty was born to Robert Henson and Mary Lister Henson.

She attended school at James Lick High School and Diablo Valley College. She volunteered at Kaiser Home Health and Hospice.

Married to James Kenneally for 57 years prior to his passing and William Short from 2014 to 2020.

She is survived by her three sons Robert, Ronald and Stacey Kenneally, Joseph and Sita Kenneally and her grandchildren Melissa, James, Daniel Kenneally, and Joseph Lowater and their respective families.

If she wasn’t playing golf or traveling overseas her door was always open. Esty’s home was full of laughter, friends, family, adopted pets and the smell of food to share. A woman with the gift of listening, good humor, and gentle strength, she touched all who knew her with her kindness and contagious passion for equality. Her’s was a beautiful life, a life well spent, and a life worth celebrating.

Family and friends are invited to join in a celebration of Esty’s life in spring 2021, a date to be later announced.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the American Lung Society in her honor.

: Lake County News Reports; Posted On Friday, 16 October 2020 02:30; 16 October 2020

Jack Dempsey

NICE, Calif. – Jack Everett Dempsey, born Sept. 24, 1955, in Van Wert, Ohio, went with the Lord on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. He was a resident of Nice.

Jack is survived by his wife of 43 years, Beck Dempsey; his daughter, Jennifer Sevedge; his son, Scott Dempsey; and his siblings, Kathy Robertson and Jim Haber. He was a grandpa to two girls and two boys and a great-grandpa to a boy and a girl.

He was proceeded in death by his mother and father Bill and Ida Haber, his brother Ken Dempsey and his son Jack Dempsey.

Jack graduated from Incline Village High in 1973. He joined the United States Marine Corps and was honorably discharged in January of 1977.

Jack then came home to his loving wife and daughter and eventually added two boys to the family.

He began his lifelong career as a cook which began in Nevada. He then went on to open his family-owned restaurant, The Evening Rose Café in 2000 in Nice and retired in 2019.

Jack enjoyed coaching his two son’s baseball teams, bowling, fishing and shooting.

He was a very wise, informative and kind-hearted man.

Jack, aka Papa, will be missed dearly.

: Lake County News Reports; Posted On Wednesday, 14 October 2020 23:36; 14 October 2020

Carol Perkins

COBB, Calif. – Carol Louise Perkins, 76, a longtime resident of Cobb Mountain, died Oct. 12, 2020.

She was born in Michigan.

She will always be remembered for her tenacity for life and her love of family. She was a loving wife and mother, she will be missed.

She is survived by her husband, Roy; sons, Russell, Curtis and Raymond; and their extended family and friends.

At this time there will be no services.

: Lake County News Reports; Posted On Saturday, 10 October 2020 02:02; 10 October 2020

William ‘Bill’ Kranz

LAKEPORT, Calif. – There was a worn-down broken old house in downtown Lakeport, just a few blocks from the office where Bill would work as a small-town lawyer for the next 46 years. From the moment he saw that old house, he loved it and figured it would be a good place to build a life.

He was a young boy living in Cody, Wyoming, when he decided to be a lawyer. There were a few stops along the way to that small-town house and lawyer’s office.

After Cody, he went to high school in Ontario, Oregon, where he first met Colleen. After high school, he went to college at Gonzaga in Spokane, Washington. That’s where he met Mary.

Because law school at Hastings took him to San Francisco, a whole new world opened to this small-town boy. Hippies, dope, the Summer of Love, concerts in Golden Gate Park … he took it all in.

Bill and Mary explored restaurants and theaters, beaches and movie houses, and walked the hills of San Francisco. At the height of the Vietnam draft, Bill struck a deal with Uncle Sam. Four years as an Army JAG lawyer in exchange for getting to finish law school in those uncertain years. Here was a long-haired law student on his way to the Army marching in peace rallies.

Mary and Bill married and headed across the country to the first of several exotic destinations chosen by the US Army–Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. Among the books he took were Hoyle’s Book of Rules and The Bartender’s Guide. His daughter Jenny was born in Pennsylvania.

But card games and cocktails in rural Pennsylvania didn’t last long. Phu Bai, South Vietnam was calling for a JAG lawyer. Always a movie lover, Bill was the movie projectionist for Camp Eagle. Each night a movie and then, goodnight, Vietnam. Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, California finished out Bill’s Army days, and that’s where his daughter Kirsten was born.

One day he loaded up the family in a little blue Fiat and moved to Lakeport, to that old house and small office and built a life. The law practice grew, the friends grew, the house grew, and a basketball court was added. Over 25 years of Sunday morning old guys’ games there was a revolving roster of probably 50 players.

Bill found time for so many things. Board games and card games, snow skiing, water skiing, tennis, biking, golfing. The county fair, mowing the lawn, local theater, sourdough pancakes and concerts in the park. Bill was always open to any and everything. Except Scrabble, he didn’t like Scrabble.

But into every life some rain does fall. Bill and Mary divorced, but later at the 40th reunion of their Ontario High School class, Colleen again entered Bill’s life. They married, traveled to faraway places and golfed together, and they kept working on that old house for almost 20 years. Bill’s friends became Colleen's friends, and Colleen’s friends became Bill’s friends, and Colleen and Mary became friends too.

Bill died on Oct. 4, 2020, in the house he loved. The people who had lived in it with him were there. He was OK with leaving life. He had lived his life with enthusiasm and gusto. If life wasn’t a cabaret, it was at least a barbecue and some backyard croquet. Oh, and a Hole in One. Just the finishing touch.

To cement the memory of Bill, here’s his last joke. A Hospice worker asked him how his days were. He said, “Well mornings are bad. I wake up every day and we still have the same president.”

Happy Trails, sweet prince, and enjoy the ride to Hushabye Mountain.

Arrangements by Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary, 707-263-0357 or 707-994-5611, or visit www.chapelofthelakes.com.