In Passing

Catherine C. Black

Catherine C. Black of Goodyear, Ariz., formerly of Wichita, Kan, was born Feb. 27, 1924, on a farm in Westphalia, Kan., to Paul and Lydia Highberger. She graduated from Westphalia High School, where she excelled in sports, playing with her older sister Eleanor, and future sister-in-law Caroline. She carried her passion for sports throughout her life, proudly wearing her “Mahomes” jersey each week, throughout the Chiefs’ run to the Big Game.

The roots of mom’s deep Catholic faith were instilled during her childhood by her father Paul, and influenced every aspect of her life. She was a wonderful mother, wife, sister, aunt, and friend. She was a PebbleCreek resident since 1997 and enjoyed golf, bocce, and working out at the fitness center. We will miss her deeply and take comfort in celebrating her life well lived.

Mom is survived by her daughter Lynda Atkinson, brother Jude (Sharon), grand dogs Molly and Rowdy, as well as many nieces, nephews, and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband Jim, her parents, her brothers, and sisters-in-law Ken (Caroline), Robert, and Milton (Mona), sister and brothers-in-law Eleanor Matrici (Lyle Moore and Gus) and son-in-law Gary Atkinson. Funeral services were previously held.

Barbara Lee Dillon

Barbara Lee Dillon, 84, of Goodyear, Ariz., died peacefully May 20, 2020, surrounded by loved ones. She was born in Detroit, Mich., to the late Alan and Lola Mattal. Barbara graduated from Detroit’s Mackenzie High School.

She loved to cook and developed that love into a career as a food sales representative and author of several cookbooks. She volunteered her free time throughout her life, and for the last seven years she helped the patients at Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Barbara used her seemingly limitless energy to pursue her passions which included world travel, singing, crocheting, and swimming.

She was preceded in death by her husband Thomas Dillon. Barbara is survived by three loving sons; Bob Emmelkamp (Kat) of Mesa, Ariz.; Scott Emmelkamp (Debbie) of St, Louis, Mo., and James Emmelkamp (Cathy) of Highlands Ranch, Colo. She is also survived by ten grandchildren.

Barbara was a lifelong member of the Unity Church which provided her much joy, peace, and guidance. In lieu of flowers, donations in her name can be made to Unity.org or she would love it if you performed an act of kindness in her memory.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at a later date. Condolences can be sent to thompsonfuneralchapel.com/obituary/barbara-lee-dillon.

Steffen Jacobson

Steffen Jacobson was born June 11, 1948, in Walla Walla, Wash., to Robert and Betty Jacobson, leading the way to four brothers and two sisters. Growing up on a farm outside of Prescott, Wash., and graduating from high school in 1966, he went on to WSU on a music scholarship, playing trumpet. Steffen soon moved to the Seattle area where he stayed until 2012 when he relocated to Goodyear, Ariz. Steffen passed away June 1, 2020, in a Waddell, Ariz., assisted living home while fighting to gain strength following a devastating illness and subsequent diagnosis of a progressive lung disease.

Steffen enjoyed work in real estate development in the Seattle area and spent most of his life near or on the waters of the Pacific Northwest. Steffen loved to travel and greeted every new adventure with the joy and enthusiasm of a farm kid earning the great opportunity of seeing new places, meeting new people, and loving the new food! Steffen and Annie, his wife of 35 years, were very generous with their travels and frequently included friends and family in their experience, ensuring their love of travel was contagious. They were great hosts, never missing an opportunity for a party, big or small, for any occasion and every person joining them went home with cherished memories of a time well spent with loved ones.

Steffen enjoyed snow skiing, fishing, kayaking, and scuba diving in some of the most beautiful places on the globe, while one of his favorite trips was back to the wheat country of his childhood for the annual Prescott High School alumni reunion, to catch up with old friends and family.

Steffen and Annie were buying a place in the PebbleCreek retirement community of Goodyear, Ariz., when Annie was diagnosed with cancer, passing away in October 2011. Steffen stuck to the plan and traded in lake-side living, acres of yard work and ample rain for the “dry heat” of Arizona. He absolutely loved his time with the local theatre group, softball, pickleball, Fine Dining Club, water volleyball, and of course, lots of golf.

Steffen enjoyed many new friendships in Arizona and these last few months of health struggles reminded him how many people cared deeply for him and were pulling for him to get back to his vibrant, fun-loving Steffen, even if a new-normal may be in store.

In lieu of an in-person memorial, please enjoy your favorite meal (whether it be six-courses of fancy or from a box by Velveeta—he loved it all!) with people you love, paired with your favorite beverage and maybe an ice cream treat for dessert. Steffen’s family would love you to join us to raise a glass and toast to treasured childhood friends, wonderful later-in-life friends, devoted family, a lifetime of loving four-legged family, and the many great memories accompanying every little bit of it all.

Steffen is survived by daughter Christine Jacobson of Everett, Wash., three of his four brothers (Danny, Mark, John and preceded in death by Bobby), two sisters (Nancy and Tammy) as well as numerous adoring nieces, nephews, two cousins, and all of their families.

If you feel inclined, please donate to your local Ronald McDonald House Charities, Inc. Their work was important to Steffen and Annie and helping with their efforts would be a great way to honor their commitment.

Bonnie Johnson

Yvonne Marcelene Johnson, known to all as Bonnie, went peacefully to heaven from her home in Goodyear, Ariz., at 5:10 a.m. May 16, 2020. She was just three and a half months shy of her 96th birthday.

Bonnie and her husband, Roy Sr., had four children: Gary (born 1947-2017), Roy Jr. (born 1948), Jean (born 1949)—yes, Bonnie once was mother to a newborn, a one-year-old, and a two-year-old at the same time!—and Dave (born 1955). After a long and blessed life together in Buffalo Center, Iowa, husband Roy Sr. passed away in 2011. Two years later, at nearly ninety years of age, Bonnie left Iowa and bought a home in Goodyear, Ariz., at PebbleCreek, an active adult resort community where her daughter Jean lived. That move also put her much closer to two of her sons, Gary and Dave, in California. Two years later, her son Roy also moved to PebbleCreek. She loved being so close to her children and for her, the move was a refreshing adventure.

During her six years at PebbleCreek, she made great use of the ‘active’ portion of the active adult resort. She was a member of the Knimble Knitters knitting group, Sit ‘n Fit exercise group, did some painting, sometimes watched her children play pickleball, and started a regular coffee klatch. She made many new (albeit, all younger) friends and thrived during her time in the desert. She also loved sitting outside on her patio knitting and reading, and could often be heard saying, “Did you know it was twenty below zero in Iowa yesterday—and here we are sitting outside!” She genuinely loved her last years in Arizona.

Bonnie will be missed by all who knew her. She was a wonderful mother and grandmother, a great friend, and a genuinely loving soul. She lived a beautiful life. She was in great health well past her 95th birthday and, for all her years in Arizona, she lived alone and even drove her own car around her community. Finally, her heart gave out and, after a short battle, she gladly went to heaven the same way she lived—with faith, joy, grace, and gratitude.

Bonnie is survived by three children: Roy Johnson (and wife Judi), Jean Doss (and husband Steve), all live in PebbleCreek, and Dave Johnson (and wife Diane) of Moorpark, Calif., daughter-in-law Joan Johnson (Gary’s wife) of Moorpark, Calif., four grandchildren and her new four-month-old great-granddaughters.

Those who knew Bonnie often heard her sing the phrase, “one day at a time” as a way to approach life’s struggles. However, in her last years she embraced a phrase she loved even more, “We are living in the land of the dying and going to the land of the living.” One of her favorite Bible verses was II Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, I say, and willing to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” Today, Bonnie is absent of her body, in the presence of the Lord, and in the land of the living. And she is smiling her beautiful smile. The rest of us will take it “one day at a time.”

Elizabeth “Betsy” Ann Jones

We bid farewell and Godspeed to Elizabeth “Betsy” Ann Jones, 77, who passed away on May 21, 2020, in Goodyear, Ariz., surrounded by her devoted husband, Ed, and two sons, Mark and Steven. Betsy and Ed made PebbleCreek their home for the past five years after moving here from Santa Maria, Calif.

Betsy will be remembered as a loving and loyal Air Force wife, devoted mother, and fierce friend who endured long separations when Ed was deployed to Southeast Asia. She handled those separations with grace, strength, and elegance. She was a consummate entertainer and had a glow in her spirit that drew people to her. While Betsy’s family and friends were her loves, she also had a lifelong passion for the arts and had a special fondness for southwestern art and pottery. Betsy was a prolific landscape artist whose subject matter was drawn from the areas where she and Ed lived. She filled her days of separation with painting and entertaining. In North Dakota, she painted old barns and prairie scenes. In Santa Maria she became known as “The Vineyard Artist” painting the beautiful vineyards of the Central California coast with Morro Bay and Monterey being two of her favorite subjects. Ed and Betsy spent many days driving around the countryside to photograph new subjects and Betsy would transform them into works of art which Ed would frame. She served as the Sales & Rental Gallery Director at Riverside Art Center and Museum in the 1970s and was recognized nationally for her contributions to the arts. Betsy was a mentor to many and just prior to moving to Arizona, she generously donated art supplies to the Ian M. Hassett Foundation to seed an Artist Exchange with local high schools and Alan Hancock College. Five years later, the program has helped more than 1,200 students obtain art supplies; all because of Betsy’s generosity to get the program off its feet.

Upon arriving in Arizona, Betsy was fascinated with the play of light on the desert and she captured desertscapes powerfully in her acrylics. She always had a canvas (or two) going at the same time and her art made you want to take a walk in the scenes she captured. Her clients became her friends and extended family because she felt that art was a very personal thing. She loved the people that loved her art and they loved her back. Betsy always painted and contributed a painting to the annual Kare Bear fundraiser in PebbleCreek and couldn’t wait to get it done every year.

A “Wine and Sweet Celebration” was held in Unit 43-A on the street in front of her home following her death where neighbors maintained social distancing, shared a glass of wine and a cookie, and witnessed a beautiful sunset—all in her honor.

Betsy was born on Aug. 15, 1942, in Napa, Calif. to William and Muriel (Gaffney) Walker. She is survived by Ed, her loving husband of 56 years; sons Mark (Pamela) and Steven (Malissa), and six grandchildren, Bradley, Merrick, Brionna, Marie, Rose, and Trevor. A Mass of Christian Burial was held on May 26, at Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Avondale with interment following at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Cave Creek, Ariz.