Georgia Carol Broyles Dvornychenko

What a woman was Georgia.

The first born of the union of Bernard Carl Broyles and Mary Marjorie Hunt, who met while attending UCLA. Her father bestowed on her the name Georgia, after the great state, as he was from Atlanta, Georgia.

Her mother had relocated to Los Angeles with family: sister Marsha Hunt, who became a movie star with her star on the Walk of Fame, and her parents Earl and Minabel Hunt (who were a Methodist preacher and choir director).

Georgia Carol Broyles arrived March 23, 1939. She grew up in the Hobart area of Los Angeles, graduating from Belmont High School. She then attended University of Southern California on a full scholarship and earned a degree in mathematics, where she also played tennis. Georgia was very athletically inclined, teaching her brothers to play baseball as kids, and leading the after-school baseball games in the neighborhood.

She also was incredibly mathematically inclined and a gifted scientific engineer in an era when it was not common for women to have the opportunity to pursue these attributes. She truly enjoyed commuting by trolley to USC from the charming city of South Pasadena, where her family had relocated to after difficult economic times. The Broyles family started a legacy from the house on Garfield Avenue, where she and the family would settle, including her three younger siblings: Valerie Broyles, Albert Broyles (now Allan Hunt), and Douglas Broyles. Her brothers would both pursue acting careers and the Broyles ladies would remain in South Pasadena throughout their lives.

What a woman was Georgia.

A quintessential overachieving first born, she was a real Renaissance woman with many talents and a keen intellect; a natural leader, through example, not by insistence.

She learned to sew, knit, cook, bake, budget to manage a home, and pop start a Volkswagen bug too. She had a beautiful singing voice, as encouraged by her grandmother. Being an outdoorsy person at heart, she absolutely loved to garden. She enjoyed multiculturalism and international cuisine. She learned German and Spanish and was, again, a real Renaissance woman of her day.

Georgia married Ralph Seline, whom she met while she worked as a civil engineer. In 1962, Georgia gave birth to her first born, daughter Anita Marie. Five years later, Georgia gave birth to her second daughter Monica Valerie. Unfortunately the union ended in divorce. Georgia remarried, this time to Ukrainian-Russian immigrant Vladimir Nikoliavich Dvornychenko, who also attended Belmont High School, although they did not know each other at that time. They worked together at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, in the Flintridge area of Pasadena. Georgia, with her gifted mathematical skills, worked as a "human computer" processing aerospace calculations for NASA space missions. In 1969, Georgia and Vladimir welcomed their daughter Lisa Dvornychenko, Georgia's third daughter and Vladimir's only child.

What a woman was Georgia.

Raising three daughters in South Pasadena, she shone in her talented abilities as a homemaker. Great home cooking and baking, preparing lunches for school with love, and hand sewing custom special occasion dresses. She was extra attentive to family holiday traditions and worked diligently to always entertain family get-togethers with special home prepared delicacies. She encouraged her daughters to learn music and play instruments (clarinet, piano, and violin respectively), play sports, and take ballet lessons (dancing being a family tradition that continues as her grandson is a soloist with the San Francisco Ballet).

She was a Girl Scout leader. The many outdoor camping trips provided her the opportunity to teach her daughters to prepare accordingly and basic survival skills, as well as DIY crafts. The message of "always leave it better than you found it" inspired daughter Lisa to pursue a career in environmental conservation.

What a woman was Georgia.

Although she was a natural beauty, she was a modest salt-of-the-Earth woman, and did not pursue gossip or superficialities. In her free time, Georgia loved to read, but not fiction. She would read the newspaper and journalistic periodicals. She didn't believe in television. She had an encyclopedic mind and could recall obscure facts. She knew a little bit about everything.

What a woman was Georgia.

Georgia will be most remembered for her wisdom and consistent good example. Her humble agape love and kindness was shared with everyone freely without expectation of return. She was a philanthropist, supporting many charities. She would donate her time and perform her civic duty by volunteering on Election Days to work at her local polling station. She also volunteered as a co-chair of South Pasadena Beautiful, helping with the garden tours and sharing her love of gardening. Surely her kindness touched many lives during her service.

When she re-entered the work force, she worked at Wells Fargo Bank in Pasadena, where she had many loyal clients who adored her. Georgia had a gift for making people feel comfortable and heard. It was one of her most beautiful qualities. She truly believed in treating everyone with dignity and kindness.

Some of her classic quotes still resonate and inspire to this day:

"Life by the inch is a cinch. Life by the yard is hard."

"Sometimes it's not a matter of 'right and wrong', it's only right or left."

"You are master of the unspoken word, and slave to the spoken one."

"Coffee is the best of all earthly drinks." (said in Swedish)

And one of Georgia's favorite idioms was: "Cast bread upon the water, it comes back cake."

That sums up how she believed that acts of kindness and love have a ripple effect that continue and eventually come back to you magnified.

What a woman was Georgia.

Georgia was raised a Christian and was baptized Methodist. She sang in the South Pasadena United Methodist Church Choir, which she truly enjoyed. She lived a Christian life to the best of her abilities and believed in the teachings of Jesus.

Some of her favorite Bible verses:

"Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it"

John 1:5

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. "

Matthew 7:7

And, of course, the beautiful words of Jesus at the "Sermon on the Mount" known as the Beatitudes:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5:3-10

Georgia was a peacemaker, she was pure in heart, and she always championed for righteousness. She was merciful, meek, and not afraid to mourn, but always was there to console.

What a woman was Georgia.

Her zest for living started every morning, with her cup of coffee and excitement to seize the day. She gave so much and asked for so little. She always encouraged one to be their authentic self, as she was so secure in her own authenticity.

There will never be another Georgia Dvornychenko but the legacy of her loving spirit resonates on in all who were blessed to know her.

Georgia Dvornychenko is survived by: Daughter Anita Seline (Michael Remez) and grandchildren Marisa Remez, Nathaniel Remez, and Elena Remez; Daughter Monica Allen and grandchild Annika Lile; Daughter Lisa Dvornychenko (John Cook); Georgia's brother Allan Hunt, Allan's sons (Georgia's nephews) Ashley Hunt and his child Cirillo, and Christian Hunt; and brother Douglas Broyles' sons, (Georgia's nephews) Laurence Greca and Bhajan Williams.