Wanda McElroy, 94; 50-Year Resident

Wanda A. McElroy, a former longtime resident of Pacific Palisades, died peacefully on December 2 in San Diego of heart failure. She was 94. Wanda was born July 23, 1914 in Montreal, Canada. Her family moved to Detroit, Michigan a year later, where she ultimately became a U.S. citizen. She graduated from Hamtramck High School in Detroit, and completed a college course of study in medicine as a technologist at the Alexander Blain Hospital under the aegis of Wayne State University in 1938. She met her future husband, Lewis W. McElroy, at Wayne State, and they married in 1942. Lewis completed his education as an attorney at Wayne State and entered into private practice. The McElroys moved to California in 1951, seeking better opportunities and more benevolent weather, along with exposure to the rich cultural and artistic environment in Los Angeles that was burgeoning at the time. They purchased a home on Baylor Street when only a few houses existed on the street, and they often spoke fondly of the fine view of the hills to the north that later became Marquez Knolls. Wanda worked as a medical technologist for a doctor in private practice for many years, and served patients in the Westwood, Brentwood, and Bel-Air areas, including many notable celebrities. She later worked at UCLA in the same capacity until her retirement in the late 1970s. Wanda and Lewis enjoyed several overseas trips, where they indulged their appreciation for art and architecture, and were longtime supporters of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Pacific Palisades Library Association, Theatre Palisades-Pierson Playhouse, and the Palisades Symphony Orchestra. After Lewis died in 1992, Wanda continued to pursue her wide-ranging interests, taking many trips to local museums, gardens and architectural exhibitions, and enjoyed long conversations with friends and neighbors about philosophy, art and current events. Each summer, she carried on a tradition she and Lewis had established by closely following the Wimbledon tennis championships. Wanda will be long remembered by her friends and family as an intelligent, thoughtful and inquisitive woman, whose eyes would light up in delight with any encounter that engaged her mind. In October 2001, Wanda sold her home of 50 years and moved to Ocean House, a senior residence in Santa Monica. This past July, her health declining, she moved to a facility that offered more thorough medical care in La Mesa, near her niece Carole Hair. Other survivors include her niece Margaret Hamilton of Royal Oak, Michigan; nephews Michael and Mark Kress, both of Ann Arbor, Michigan; and her many friends and former neighbors here in the Palisades. Memorial services are pending. Donations in Wanda’s memory can be made to the American Heart Association.