Wanda Svendsen, beloved grandmother, mother, and wife, accomplished artist and athlete, passed away at her longtime home in Rustic Canyon on November 7 after a 22-month struggle with lung cancer. She was 77. Svendsen was born on February 5, 1932, in Mineola, New York, to Walter and Vivian Corbin. She grew up in Port Washington, New York, and graduated from St. Margaret’s Academy in 1950. She married Sven B. Svendsen, a civil engineer and recent immigrant from Norway, on December 15, 1952, in New York City. She was married to Sven for 56 years. Svendson began her married life by taking the first of dozens of trips to Kristiansand, Norway, to meet Sven’s family, beginning what became life-long friendships with his sisters Liv, Ester and Helga, and with his cousins. Wanda and Sven had four daughters, and lived in Spain, Venezuela and Japan before settling in Rustic Canyon in 1965. She embraced the challenge and excitement of living abroad, learning to speak fluent Spanish, developing her artistic talents, and fending off snakes from the Venezuelan jungle. Wanda was a beautiful, elegant, and engaging woman, with a gift for telling funny stories. Her Christmas dinners were the stuff of legend. She was an award-winning modern artist, an ‘A’ tennis player, an avid golfer, and a true card shark; her poker face regularly put men thirty years her junior to shame. She served on the boards of United Cerebral Palsy LA, THE GROUP at Otis College of Art and Design, Women Painters West, the Riviera Club Ladies Golf Auxiliary, and the Homeowners Association of Rustic Canyon. In additrion to her husband Sven, Wanda is survived by her brother, Walter, her daughters Liv husband Nils), Berit (husband Marwin), Mia (husband Mike) and Randi, and her six grandchildren, Chrix, Annika, Kirstin, Tia, Kai and Finn. The family held a private service. In lieu of gifts or flowers, please send donations to the Mayo Clinic.
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