July 31, 1922 - January 18, 2017
Lucy Gold Lytle Killea died peacefully at home on January 18, 2017, at the age of 94.

Lucy, the youngest of the four children of Judge and Mrs. (Zelime Pettus) Nelson George Lytle, was a fifth-generation Texan. She was born in San Antonio, Texas, on July 31, 1922. In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, John (Jack) Francis Killea, who died in 1997, as well as by her three siblings, Bro. Nelson George Lytle, Jr., S.M., William Anthony Lytle, and Zelime Lytle Amen Braun.

Lucy graduated from Incarnate Word High School in 1939 and Incarnate Word College, in 1943. In 1975, she earned her Ph.D. in Latin American history from UC San Diego.

During World War II, Lucy moved to Washington, D.C. to work as an Intelligence Analyst with the Army Special Branch. She served as an aide to Eleanor Roosevelt during the first General Assembly of the United Nations, held in London in 1946. In 1948, the Army Special Branch became part of the CIA and Lucy's work dealt with preparing reports on post-war construction in Europe. Lucy was the highest-ranking woman in the U.S. Intelligence Service when she left the agency in 1956, upon the birth of her and Jack's son Paul. The following year, their son Jay was born. With two young boys, the family moved to Monterrey, Mexico, when Jack was named the Consul General for Monterrey, by President Dwight Eisenhower. Several years later, Jack Killea was assigned as Consul General in Tijuana, Mexico. Lucy spoke fluent Spanish and sang with several groups while living in Mexico. Lucy and Jack developed a strong network of friends in both Tijuana and San Diego. In 1968, upon Jack's retirement from the State Department, the family settled in San Diego.

Soon after permanently moving to San Diego, Lucy became an ardent runner, a hobby that she continued well into her 80's, running in many road races and marathons throughout the years. She also enjoyed singing in choirs, continuing this activity into her early 90's.

Lucy served on the San Diego Historic Site Board from 1968 to 1976 and the County Cultural Heritage Committee from 1971 to 1977. She was the first woman to sit on the San Diego Zoo board. In 1978, Lucy was appointed to a vacant seat on the San Diego City Council and was elected to that seat the following year. She was first elected to the State of California Assembly in 1982 by a 10-point margin and joined the State Senate in 1989, where she served until her retirement from public office in 1996. The San Diego Union-Tribune (January 18, 2017) described Lucy Killea as "an independent trailblazer and mentor to women." The UC San Diego News Center (January 19, 2917) wrote that "Former San Diego City councilwoman, assemblywoman and state senator.was an icon in the political world, and a respected mentor to women." The Los Angeles Times (January 19, 2017) wrote that ".she forged her own path in a political world largely dominated by men."

After her life in public office, Lucy spent five years as president and CEO of the philanthropic San Diego International Community Foundation. She served on many local, state, and national boards. She continued to work with civic organizations and was well known for her decades-long involvement to improve cross-border relations with Mexico.

Over the years, Lucy received numerous honors and awards, most recently being named "Mrs. San Diego 2016" by the San Diego Rotary Club.

Lucy is survived by her two sons and daughter-in-law, Paul Anthony Killea and John (Jay) William Killea and his wife, Suzanne (Willoughby), as well as by her two grandchildren, Ryan Killea and Phoebe Killea. She is also survived by her cousins: Betty (Lawrence) and Jonathan C. Calvert, Sallie Gold (Regan) Aiguier, and her nieces and nephews, Joan (Brotzman) and Edward Holmgreen, William Seth Aiguier, Sallie Gold (Aiguier) and Bradford Beck III, Monica (Campos) and Robert Brice Aiguier, Zelime (Amen) and James Tillman Ward, Jr., Barbara (Amen) and Laurence K. Harper III, Beth (Amen) and James C. O'Brien, Jr., Kathy (Lewis) and Henry J. Amen III, Ruth (Amen) and James R. Berg, Lucy (Amen) and Alan Warner, and Sheila (Bath) and Nelson P. Amen; as well as many great-nieces and great-nephews.

Lucy spent the last years of her life as she spent the whole of it, devoted to her family, friends, and community.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on March 9, at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in San Diego, California.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to: Gompers Preparatory Academy, a UCSD Partnership, 1005 47th St., San Diego, CA 92102, (619) 263-2171, http://www.gompersprep.org or to Balboa Park Conservancy, 1549 El Prado, Ste. 1, San Diego, Ca 92101, ww.balboaparkconservancy.
org/ giving, or to a charity of one's choice.