Terry Wolfenden, 57-Year Resident

Longtime Palisadian Terry Wolfenden passed away on January 29, after a recurrence of throat cancer. He spent six weeks in the hospital and three weeks at home. He had been working daily, until age 89, at his office on San Vicente Boulevard. Friends and family knew Wolfenden as a generous man, a financial wizard and owner of several businesses. A loud, native Texan, he still loved to wear his boots and large-buckled belt late in life. Born in Carthage, Texas, in the eastern piney woods, Wolfenden moved to Elk City, Oklahoma, in high school. He was a football hero and fell in love with Kathleen Frances Shields after being introduced to this cute girl in overalls, who was holding a kitten. They were finally married on June 14, 1941, and moved to Inglewood, California. Wolfenden had come to California in 1939 and found a job at North American Aircraft. During the war, he located a better job at Hughes Aircraft, where he made parts for the PT Mustang. He continued completing manufacturing tools and materials until the war was over, when he started his own business, Exacto, followed by Masterite and United Energy Corporation. Wolfenden, his wife and two daughters moved to Pacific Palisades in late 1951, when he outbid another gentleman on a spec house on Toyopa Drive. It was one of the few houses on that side of the block (and his daughters recall that various empty lots became pet cemeteries until builders arrived). Joining the Bel-Air Country Club in 1954, Wolfenden was a tournament golfer until age 78. He was club president and held many other roles during his membership. Until recently, he still joined his cronies in the Grill Room for lunch. Terry Wolfenden had a wonderful sense of humor, with a great laugh. His family treasures many legendary stories from him, including the time he and a neighbor tried to remove a petrified tree stump from a yard. He will be sadly missed by ‘The Locusts,’ a large group of family including daughters Christina Woods (husband Bruno Loren) of Pacific Palisades and Jeanine Meunier (husband Leo) of Boston; grandchildren Jennifer Hranek (Nate), Patrick Woods, Meghann Woods and Mark Meunier; and great-grandchildren Marshall Woods and Vance and Harlowe Hranek. Also, family member Kim B. Woods. Private family services have been held.