Obituary

Mary Redwitz, a long-time Laguna Beach resident, died peacefully at home November 19th, 2013. She was 87 years old.

Beloved mother of three children, Randy, Tom and Ellen, Mary was the quintessential ‘Mom’ and completely focused on the well being of her family. Her life’s passion was insuring her family was happy, and she did an excellent job at it.

Mary MacLaren (her maiden name) was born April 2, 1926 in Pasadena, California. An only child, she and her family would visit Laguna Beach on vacations, renting homes in both Three Arch Bay and Emerald Bay. She loved the sea air and the beauty of the Laguna coastline. Mary attended the University of California at Berkeley developing a life-long love for reading.

In 1945 Mary and Robert (Bob) F Redwitz were married and soon settled in Laguna Beach where they spent nearly 40 years raising their family. Mary’s activities revolved around her kid’s lives and included driving the St. Catherine’s school bus when needed, running school field trips, planning barbeques at the beach and organizing ritual holiday parties for the family. She also was active in helping with functions at St. Catherine’s Church.

Mary was a devout Catholic and her faith in God gave her much strength throughout her life. She was eternally patient, and forever kind to people. One of her grandsons recently remarked, “Grandma is so nice you feel guilty not being nice enough in return”. But this was not the reaction she wished for, because she never wanted someone to feel poorly or be a burden to anyone.

Always active and her mind sharp, she worked for several Orange County businesses after the kid’s moved from home and Bob passed away. In recent years, and until the day she passed away, she worked with her son and daughter’s companies, Robert R Redwitz and Company, and The GDR Group. She also loved to travel with her family and visited Italy and France within the last few years.

Her three children, eight grandchildren, and six great grandchildren survive Mary. A funeral mass in her memory will be held at 11 am on December 5th at St. Edwards Church, Dana Point.