Mathilde Goy Lopez

Lopez, Mathilde Goy
March 16,1906 - December 2, 2010
Mathilde Isabel Goy Lopez, born March 16, 1906, passed away December 2, 2010. She will be laid to rest between her husband, Alfred, who passed in 1956 and their son, Arnold, who died in 1946. Her legacy passes to her two daughters, Henrietta Knapp Lian and Jeanette Phillips, six grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.

Mathilde was a loving wife and mother who dedicated herself to raising and educating her children and tending to her large extended family and friends.

As a child, Mathilde and her pioneer family lived in the Arizona Territory before it became a State. Her parents would drive across the open desert between the mining town of Superior and Phoenix to visit their children at St. Mary's convent boarding school. They had to replace all of their tires after every trip. The family also lived in California and would journey from Yuma across wooden-planked roads to spend summers on the canal in Venice. To avoid the desert heat, they would stop for water at Palm Springs and for berry pie from Mrs. Knott. When traveling farther north they would often cross San Francisco Bay by ferry. Mathilde was baptized at the Old Plaza Church in Los Angeles.
As an active PTA member, Mathilde was a driving force in the original student visits to Saturday morning rehearsals of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. She loved to read and was also a volunteer librarian at her local library. Among the last books she was able to read were the two-volume Lewis and Clarke Expedition. She had a passion for travel, visiting Europe, Mexico and Hawaii several times, as well as the Middle East and China.

We are grateful our mother reached a wonderful and remarkable age, able to live independently at her home in Laguna Woods, CA until her final year.

Her funeral Mass will take place at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City Wednesday at 11:00 A.M. December 15, 2010.

Please pray for the repose of her soul.