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With her three loving daughters at her bedside, Ethel 'Ann' Wonka passed away peacefully on November 6 at the Village Healthcare Center in Hemet. She was 90 years old.
Born in Mohawk, Michigan, to John and Mary Sinko, Ann grew up in Grand River, Ohio. She always enjoyed pointing out that her childhood home was right across the street from the family home of famous football coach Don Shula.
Ann studied nursing at Glenville-Huron Hospital in Cleveland, where she became a registered nurse and also met her future husband, Richard Wonka, while he was attending nearby John Carroll University. After he enlisted in the Navy and was sent to St. Louis University Medical School to come a medical doctor, he and Ann were married.
After graduation, Dr. Wonka was stationed at various Navy bases in the United States, including San Diego. The couple fell in love with the West Coast and the Pacific Ocean and eventually moved to Culver City and then Pacific Palisades, where they resided for 50 years.
Ann was the epitome of a homemaker: she loved her family and provided a warm, nurturing, cozy home in which to grow and thrive. Everyone in the family loved animals. There was the special family dog, a poodle named Mimi, and a variety of pets ranging from garter snakes, guinea pigs and rats to a rooster named Benjamin and duck named Pansy Pooper. At one time, Richard had five dogs and they all slept on the bed.
Ann enjoyed watching her daughters ride their horses, named Taffy and Ballago, as they competed in numerous horse shows. She enjoyed playing tennis with friends at the Palisades Recreation Center and at Rustic Canyon Park. She also liked to knit, garden and play the piano. The family enjoyed concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and the Greek Theater together. More recently, Ann enjoyed attending concerts and shows at Disney Hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the University of Redlands and McCallum Theater.
In addition to her sister, Kathryn Tuckerman of Bend, Oregon, Ann is survived by her daughters Patricia Hoyt (husband William) of Eugene, Oregon; Deborah Heneise (husband Kenneth) of Green Cove Springs, Florida; and Barbara Kaylor (husband Robert) of Hemet; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren (plus one more on the way). She was predeceased by her sister Mary Jayne, brothers Johnny and George, and her loving husband of 60 years, Richard.
A funeral mass will be held at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica on Friday, November 20, at 10:30 a.m., followed by internment at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. |
