Arilla Eunice Troxell, a former longtime resident of Pacific Palisades, passed away peacefully on February 12 at the age of 94. Born January 21, 1918 in Enid, Oklahoma, Arilla was the daughter of Homer Pernal King and Eunice Lawrence. She was the eldest child, with a brother (Lawrence) and sister (Doris). She moved with her family to California in 1932 and lived in Palo Alto until moving to Los Angeles, where she graduated from Manual Arts High School. She met her future husband, Sidney Troxell, at Manual Arts. Arilla attended Los Angeles Junior College for two years and then the University of Southern California, where she graduated with a degree in medical social work. She worked in Santa Barbara and San Francisco as a medical social worker during World War II. Arilla and Sidney married on July 3, 1942. Not long after the war, Arilla ‘retired’ from her social-work practice to begin starting a family, with her first three children (Lawrence, Paula and Roberta) being born in Westchester. In 1956, she and Sidney moved into their custom-designed house overlooking the mountains and the ocean in Pacific Palisades. Their fourth child, Julia, was born soon after they moved in. The four-bedroom Troxell house, built on a steep double lot on Paseo Miramar, was designed by famed architect Richard Neutra, who included his quintessential modern elements such as a reflecting pool, glass walls, birch doors, radiant-heat pipes under the concrete floors, recessed lighting, and a catwalk outside the master bedroom to make it easier to clean the windows. When Arilla put the property up for sale following her husband’s death in 2003, she told the Palisadian-Post, ‘Neutra would often bring people by from all over the world on Sundays to see the house. All of my children spent many happy hours in the reflecting pool. My grandchildren still do. I will be sad to leave.’ Arilla was active in the PTA and Scouting, a devoted ‘swim mom’ and an accomplished, adventurous cook. Passionate about conservation, she helped save the land above the family home from development, which is now part of Topanga Canyon State Park. Birdwatching was a lifelong interest that she enjoyed daily. Always independent and resourceful, Arilla returned to work in the 1970s, starting a medical employment agency; she later became the legal secretary and office manager for Sidney’s law practice until 2001. Arilla moved to the Sunnyview Retirement Community in 2004, to be closer to her son Lawrence, his wife Marianne and their four children. She is survived by her four children, Lawrence (wife Marianne) of Los Altos, Roberta Troxell (lifetime partner Chris) of Carmel Valley, Julia Washington of Colorado Springs and Paula Kissinger (husband Fred) of Sparks, Nevada; five grandchildren (Chris, Steven, Brian, Katie and Kevin) and a great-grandchild (Calissa). Arilla is missed by all who loved her quiet, loving nature. A memorial service was held March 17 in Cupertino and her ashes were spread at sea with her husband’s. Donations can be given to the California’State’Parks’Foundation.
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