Obituary

Elizabeth Hungerford Eulogy

• On behalf of the Hungerford and Sleigh Families I want to thank you for coming today as we celebrate the passing of our mother, grandmother, and great grandmother Elizabeth Anne Hungerford into the arms of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

• Elizabeth was born in Glendale, California to her parents Albert Porter and her mother Marie Krelle. She was the second eldest in a family of four with her older sister Pat, brother Albert, and youngest sister, Kathryn, also known as Kay. She was married to Phillip Frederick Hungerford and they lived happily together in Eagle Rock and Pasadena, California and had two children.

• She is survived today by her sister Kathryn Marks, her son Frederick Michael Hungerford, her daughter Ann Marie Sleigh, six grandchildren, Rachael, Greg and Steven Hungerford, Joshua, Jennifer, and Jonathon Sleigh, and her great grandchild, Jack Linehan.

• Even at an early age Mom loved being outdoors, playing basketball, swimming, riding horses, going to the ocean and the mountains, and traveling with her family. Later in her life she enjoyed scouting, sail boating, skiing, and half-midget racing. She had a passion for horse racing and football. I remember that she developed a very complex mathematical formula for picking horse race winners. While she did this basically for fun as tabletop exercise, she would occasionally ask me to go to Santa Anita and place a $2 place bet for her in order to put her formula to the test.

• Elizabeth had a number of interesting careers which started with her helping her father at the family printing business in Hollywood. She assisted my grandfather with a letterset printing and I remember hanging out there with mom and my grandfather watching them set type and I still remember the smell of the paste ink which came in cans. Later, following her love of racing, she became the owner and publisher of Quarter Midget Magazine and even raced half-midgets herself. Later, she started her own lithography business and ran this for several years in additional to being a great mother and loving wife. In her final 15 of her career, she worked as a Secretary for the County of Los Angeles, Assessor’s Office.

• My mother was an extremely organized person and took pride in having a neat home and planned everything. She prepared a weekly menu and had typed chore lists for Ann and myself which were updated weekly. Before we would go on a family vacation she would get every map and tour book and thoroughly plan each day. I seemed to have inherited the trip planning gene.

• After working for most of her life she and my dad retired in their fifties so they could start traveling America. My mom and dad went on many road trips and later purchased a trailer in Blue Jay near Lake Arrowhead where they spent considerable time in the spring and summer. My father was not a fan of snow.

• Elizabeth had a great devotion to the Lord and attended mass every Sunday and supported a number of Catholic charities. During her last few years she was only able to watch mass on television and she always looked forward to the weekly visits of her Eucharistic Minister Bob from St. Killians who would bring her communion and spiritual support.

• My mother taught us self-reliance, love of God and Country, and a deep love of family. We are definitely a family that sticks together. My parents love was eternal and they were blessed with over 50 years of marriage before my father went to the Lord in 1999.

• In her later years, as mom’s health declined she came to reside at the assisted living section of Santa Teresita. She really enjoyed life with the Carmelite sisters who in addition to providing physical care offered spiritual support, companionship, and a lot of fun. I would often stop by at meal times and find my mother, Sister Mary, and Father White enjoying conversation.

• During Elizabeth’s final two years she returned to her home in Mission Viejo with the support of her caregivers, Tess and Mark but we always returned to Santa Teresita to visit and attend the Fall Festival.

• It’s difficult to provide an overview of anyone’s life in a few words but I am deeply grateful that the Lord blessed me with such a loving and supportive mother. While Elizabeth is no longer with us on earth our memories of her will live forever in our hearts.

Thank you again for coming today. You are all invited to join us for lunch at Max’s Mexican Restaurant which is nearby and to the interment which will be held at Holy Cross Cemetery in the Mausoleum at 3:00 p.m. Directions are available.