Doris St. Clair; 61-Year Resident Prized Family

Doris Seeger St. Clair, a former 61-year resident of Pacific Palisades, passed away peacefully on December 18. She was 97.

Born in Toledo, Ohio, on July 4, 1915, Doris attended the University of Toledo, and graduated in 1937 with a degree in French and Latin. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and was crowned May Queen of the university.

After graduation, Doris married her high school and college sweetheart, Dean St. Clair. His position in the FBI and CAA (now FAA) took them to many cities before they settled in Pacific Palisades in 1948. Here they lived for 10 years on Temecula and then on Maroney Lane.

Doris loved making a home, puttering in the garden, gathering the family together for celebrations and opening her home to many friends and family members who were in town for a few days, a week or months.  Outside the home she was active in the PTA, the Palisades Woman’s Club, Pi Beta Phi Alumni, and Children’s Recreation Service as a volunteer in local hospitals. She was also an avid bridge player.

Doris and Dean joined the Palisades Presbyterian Church in 1951, the year after it was founded. She was one of the first women elders, was a deacon, and was active in the church’s social groups and service committees.

Traveling was an important part of Doris’ life. She and Dean started traveling the world when he retired, and she continued to do that with Elderhostel after he died in 1979. On one trip her group was caught in Tiananmen Square during the height of the famous uprising; anxious Chinese tour guides escorted them quickly out.

Yet Doris’ favorite place was her cottage in a family compound at Clark Lake, Minnesota, where she and her family enjoyed summer vacations. After Dean died, Doris spent the summer months at her beloved cottage surrounded by her extended family.

In 2009, Doris moved to Bend, Oregon, to live in a retirement home near her daughter, Linda Bennett. She was soon diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and moved to Clare Bridge, a wonderful and caring Alzheimer’s care facility.

Doris is survived by her three children, Dean St. Clair III (wife Margi) of Mar Vista, Linda Bennett (husband Don) of Sunriver, Oregon, and Suzanne St. Clair of Santa Fe, New Mexico; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

A family memorial service was held at the Palisades Presbyterian Church. Donations in Doris’ name can be made to the church, the Alzheimer’s Foundation, or a charity of one’s choice.