Veronica Marie Catherine Orth

Santa Barbara

Veronica, born March 25, 1910, passed away on December 7, 2012, at the Santa Barbara Convalescent Hospital, where she valued the caring and helping staff, before finally giving in to the pain and lack of independence associated with an osteoarthritic back.Born in North Dakota, of German/Irish parents, Veronica was the third woman to graduate from the University of Minnesota School of Medicine and was believed to have been the oldest living graduate. She met and married Gottlieb Leonard Orth, also a Minnesota graduate, in 1931. During Leonard's service in the Civilian Conservation Corps, U.S Army Medical Corps, and with the State of California they raised five sons in twelve locations before retiring to Santa Barbara in 1969. Golf and bridge were lifelong loves of both. She remained the matriarch of her son's families, encouraging us when our directions were positive and letting us know when our efforts fell short. Veronica lived independently from Leonard's death in 1998 until late this year. For the last five years she very thankfully received weekly menus from Food for the Heart. She faithfully drove herself to mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel every week, and was proud to still have a couple of years left on her California driver's license. Her ashes will be interred with Leonard's at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, where Leonard grew up. Contributions would be welcomed at Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Food From The Heart.