Lila Lee Lachman, a 57-year Pacific Palisades resident, passed away on New Year’s Eve. She was 89 years old. Born in Memphis, Tennessee on August 8, 1921, Lila Staib met her soon to-be husband, Gene (Benjamin) Lachman, at a wartime dance at a ballroom in Leimert Park, South L.A. She was devoted to Gene and her family for the rest of her life. Lila’s husband along with his brothers Mel, Henry, Lou and Earl, developed the Marquez Knolls neighborhood in the 1950s and ’60s. The family moved into the first two-story home on Lachman Lane, and Lila continued to live there for 57 years.’ Her strong sense of aesthetics, flair for the elegant and the whimsical, as well as her gift of culinary exuberance lent itself to many fond memories of joyous occasions spent with family and friends. She gave in full measure to everyone. Widowed in 1999, Lila is survived by daughters Denise Lachman of Paso Robles and Crystal Pritchard of Pacific Palisades. She has two surviving sisters, Sally Goertzen of Ahwahnee, and Nancy Pufahl of Kula, Hawaii. A loving grandmother, she leaves behind beautiful memories for Elissa Ashwood, Matthew Pritchard and great-grandchildren Katherine and Christopher Ashwood. She will be missed by her entire family and her inspiration will last a lifetime. Funeral services will be held today, January 6, at 11 a.m. at the Lachman family gravesite located in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. Donations in Lila’s name can be made to the American Cancer Society or the Arthritis Foundation.
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