Barbara Wynn Pritzkat

February 5, 1926 - October 3, 2023 Barbara Ruth Wynn Pritzkat died on October 3, 2023, in the arms of her two sons in the home she and her husband designed and built with their own hands in 1950. Born in Santa Monica on February 5, 1926, to Hugh Wynn, a film editor at MGM, and Esther Wynn, an artist, she was raised in Cheviot Hills, with her younger sister, Patricia.
She and Patricia attended UCLA's University Elementary School, and the family led a storied life until Hugh died suddenly in 1936.
She graduated from Hamilton High Winter 1944 and then attended UCLA. After a required senior semester at U.C. Berkeley, she returned in 1948 and became UCLA's first woman to receive an engineering degree. After graduating, she toured war ravaged Europe and Tunisia with her Berkeley roommate, a life-changing trip that showed her the fragility of civilizations, both modern and ancient, and instilled in her a desire to travel as much as possible.
Upon her return she was hired by Jack Northrop to work for his aerospace firm, where she met Marty, her future husband of 70 years, while they both worked on the YB-49 "Flying Wing." The couple married in 1950 and soon bought an empty lot near the bluffs of Redondo Beach. Over the next two years, while working at Northrop, she and Marty built the home they would live in for the rest of their lives.
In 1955 they sailed to England, bought a motorcycle (neither ever having ridden one) and toured Europe for three months, returning with rich friendships and memories that influenced how Barbara wanted to live her life.
Following the birth of their first son, Wynn, in 1956, Bar, as she liked to be called, joined the League of Women Voters, where she met women who inspired and shaped her–and remained lifelong friends.
In the 1960s Bar began studies and travels focusing on ancient art and languages. After her third son was raised, she returned to UCLA to study archeology, which led to a new career. From 1983 until 2009, she worked as an archeological surveyor in tel Mozan, Syria, with UCLA and in Jordan with the British Museum and Tunisia with Michigan State University. No matter how remote the dig and hot and hard the work, she always found camaraderie and good humor - and ice for her gin-and-tonics.
After retiring from archeology, she turned her attentions to volunteering weekly for the Getty Center, the Natural History Museum, LAX Travelers Aid, the L.A. Conservancy, and Torrance Memorial Hospital. COVID restrictions ended this schedule, but not the friendships, thanks to email and Zoom. She still hosted friends regularly in her home, and she returned to her studies of trigonometry, calculus, and Greek.
Barbara's bedrock and her greatest joy were her family, including three grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Sunday dinners at the house were a long-standing tradition, filled with lively discussions that always culminated in one of Bar's famous desserts. Through the final hours of her life, she continued to observe the world around her with a sharp eye and a distinctive wit.
Preceded in death by her husband, Marty, and their son, Wynn, Barbara is survived by sons Miles (Cathie English) and Carl (Tony Travostino) and Wynn's wife, Marian De Meire; grandchildren, Caitlin (Kevin Foley), Bella and Austin; and great-grandson, Amos.
A memorial is being planned for February 10, 2024, in Redondo Beach. For more information, contact celebrate@pritzkat.net. In lieu of flowers, plan an adventure, work out a quadratic equation, or simply raise a glass to this amazing woman!

To view a more detailed obituary, please go to https://lafuneral.com/obits/barbara-pritzkat/