In Passing – May 2025

Karen Bigos

Karen Jean Bigos (nee Kovanda), a resident of PebbleCreek, passed away on the morning of March 6, 2025. She was a wonderful person with a great personality, always ready to help others and welcoming to new friends and neighbors.

Karen was born in Oak Park, Ill., on Nov. 21, 1949. Early years were spent on Chicago’s south side. The family moved to Berwyn, Ill., and Karen attended St. Mary of Celle grammar school and Morton West high school. While in high school she used her own money to take two school sponsored trips to Europe. She became a lover of travel and adventure.

Karen went to business school and learned the art of key punching IBM cards. She was very proficient and hired by the Sears Roebuck Company as a key punch operator. She made many friends and enjoyed her time there.

Karen met her future husband Randall Bigos while in high school and they hit it off right away. She would type papers for Randy when he was in college. Randy and Karen were married in August of 1970. Karen became a Navy wife when Randy completed Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Fla., and started Navy Flight Officer training. While Randy was in Pensacola Karen attended the François Pope Culinary School in Chicago and became an accomplished chef. Karen and Randy spent 25 years in the Navy and were sent all over the country and overseas, sparking many adventures. She was an expert at hosting groups of Navy personnel who came to visit, using her culinary skills.

In Okinawa, Japan, she became interested in the art of Ikebana flower arranging and won recognition for her work. As a Navy wife she became one of the first ombudsman championing the causes for those left behind while husbands were deployed. She excelled at locating places to take wives groups out for a day and providing information to young wives who needed help.

Randy and Karen were blessed with two boys, Randy Jr. and Jeffrey.

Karen was often left to be a single parent raising the boys and handling the household affairs while Randy was deployed for 6 months at a time. She was an expert at handling this task while Randy made a total of seven deployments over the years. She was a wonderful mother and did an excellent job of raising Randy Jr. and Jeff, who grew up to become real gentlemen.

After the Navy Karen volunteered for her HOA and was instrumental on the board of directors. She started a 20-year career with a nearby HOA and became the go-to person for resident concerns, receiving accolades for her work.

Bitten by the travel bug, she meticulously planned eight different cruises, the last one to the Mediterranean last August.

Retirement brought her to Arizona where she absolutely loved building her new home in PebbleCreek. She made many good friends and enjoyed going to parties and lunches. She tried pickleball but gave up her paddle for the Bocce courts. She joined the Bocce league and loved to play for her team.

Karen is survived by her husband of 54 years Randy; sons Randy Jr. (Jennifer) and Jeffrey (Tanya); three grandsons Evan, Mason, and Aaron and granddaughter Katherine; two sisters Marilyn (Anthony) and Debra (Victor); and numerous nieces and nephews. Karen was preceded in death by her parents Jacob and Evelyn Kovanda.

Karen will be sorely missed by family and friends. She will forever be in our thoughts, prayers, and fond memories.

John Boudreaux

John Boudreaux, who grew up in Franklin, La., and went on to a journalism and public relations career, died March 8 in his sleep at home after a lengthy illness. He was 78 and is survived by his wife, Emily Grotta.

Boudreaux had been city editor of the Houston Post newspaper, where he supervised reporters who covered news in Houston; Washington, D.C.; and in the state capitol bureau in Austin. He later joined IBM and was a press spokesman for the company on financial, legal, and human resource matters. He became involved with the internet early on and was managing editor of www.ibm.com.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Louisiana State University, where he was editor of the student newspaper. He began his writing and editing career at the Banner-Tribune at age 14 and at one time was believed to be the youngest sports editor in the United States. He also wrote and edited for the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate.

Boudreaux enjoyed baseball, bourbon, beer, steak, LSU athletics, crab, the New York Yankees, seafood gumbo, rock and roll from the 1950s and 1960s, and the New Orleans Saints. He also enjoyed the authors F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote, John Updike, John Grisham, James Lee Burke, and Larry McMurtry. He loved visiting his beloved New Orleans and San Francisco and was a regular at the bars in PebbleCreek, where he and Emily enjoyed meeting regulars and new friends.

He moved to PebbleCreek from Larchmont, N.Y., in 2011. In PebbleCreek, he was a member of the Democratic and Shalom clubs, was a volunteer with LifeLong Learning, and was a devotee of the Tuscany Falls Fitness Center until his health worsened.

In addition to his wife, his immediate survivors are his stepson, Jacob Grotta and his wife Aeron of San Francisco; his son-in-law Dave Dreher of Portland, Ore.; his sister Judy Miller of Jacksonville, Fla.; and A.J., Esme, Eben, and Emil, the children of Jacob and Emily’s daughter Amy, who died in 2019.

He will long be remembered for his warm smile, quick wit, a genuine concern for people he knew, and his sharp mind. Donations in his memory may be made to the ACLU, the Innocence Project or Larchmont Temple’s L’Chayim Campaign.

Walter M. Hohlstein

Walter M. Hohlstein, 93, was called to his heavenly home on Feb. 11, 2025. He was born in Maplewood, Mo., to Walter and Alma Hohlstein.

Walter obtained his veterinary degree at the University of Missouri Columbia in 1962. He was a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. During his years of veterinary practice Walter also continued his education at the University of Minnesota obtaining his PhD to become the regional poultry epidemiologist for the 13 New England states. After many years of private veterinary practice, in Arizona, he retired in 1997.

Walter was a man of many talents. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping, scuba diving, golfing, playing bridge, and being a small aircraft pilot. He was an avid bocce and Wii bowling player. He was considered the “King of Bocce” by his teammates. Walter was a member of many bocce teams in PebbleCreek where he resided for the last 13 years.

Walter was preceded in death by wives, Phebe, Joanna, and Helen, and daughters Terry and Jane. He is survived by his first wife Arlene, daughters Susan and Sheryl, stepson Tom, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Walter lives on in our hearts and will be forever missed.

Ethel Constance Montgomery

Ethel C. Montgomery … Connie, Ms. Connie … passed away on Sunday morning, March 16, 2025, at the age of 93 in Goodyear, Ariz. Born July, 1931, Morristown, N.J., to Aletha and Arnold Mounter, of Madison, N.J.

Married to WIlliam O. Montgomery (deceased), she leaves two children, Lisa of Goodyear, Ariz., Byron of New York. She was predeceased by two sisters, Clareen of Madison, N.J., and Carmen of Barbados; leaves behind two sisters, Muriel of Goodyear, Ariz., and Catherine of Atlanta, Ga., and a host of nieces, nephews, friends throughout the United States and globally including England, the Netherlands, Canada, Nova Scotia, and Barbados.

“Connie” graduated from Morristown High School, 1949 and attended College of St. Elizabeth’s, majoring in Business Administration. She worked at Morristown Neighborhood House, joined Bell Laboratories, and continued her career as a manager at AT&T.

Connie was an integral part of Morristown and the state of New Jersey. Her accomplishments are many as she had led an active life working for a more inclusive and integrated society, especially for young people. She had the first integrated Girl Scout Troop in Morris County in 1952 and founded Carettes in 1959, a group that provided college scholarships and social activities for African American High School Juniors.

In 1966, she ran for the Morristown Board of Education. She was the first African American elected to the school board; served as Vice President in 1968 and President in 1972. During the merger of area school districts she served as the first Vice President of the new school board. Her dedication and passion did not go unrecognized. In 1975 she was appointed by Governor Byrne as a member of the NJ State Board of Education and served until 1981. In 1982 she was elected Council Woman at Large and served on the Morristown Council until 1990. During her tenure, she held the offices of President and Vice-President. In 1989, she ran for mayor of Morristown, losing by only 195 votes.

Once again, Connie turned her attention back to young people. She started a 4-H club in 1997, serving youth between 6 and 14 years of age. The club began with 21 and grew to over 100 within 2 years! She was also involved with rehabilitating older homes; placing them on the market as affordable housing.

After 78 years in NJ, Connie moved to Goodyear. She found much joy and friendship especially  with Sisters of the Valley, a Social Club serving women of African descent, and the Just Folks community of PebbleCreek.

Hers is a life we CELEBRATE—the dynamic, selfless woman who gave 93 years to helping others. She was a force, a champion of equality, and an inspiration to all. Connie always said that “She is doing what God planned for her to do.”

A celebration of life for Connie was held March 25 at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Litchfield Park. She asked that donations be made to Spence-Chapin Adoption Agency, spence-chapin.org/donate.

Louise Warren

After a two-year fight against breast cancer, Louise’s battle ended on a rainy March 13 with family at her side. Louise was born in Galax, Va., in 1945, daughter to Kyle and Lillie Poe. Louise’s childhood was spent in Virginia, mostly with grandparents until her early teens when she moved to live with her mother and stepfather Wally Bailey. Wally’s career was with GE, and because of work relocations, Louise moved several times before finishing high school in Cherry Hill, N.J., and business school in Philadelphia. She then followed her parents to Daytona Beach, a large GE facility that supported NASA’s Apollo program. It was there that she met Lynn Warren, a young engineer and future life partner, at a TGIF party; they married a year later and this union lasted for the next 58 years.

Because of work opportunities and a desire to see different parts of the country, Lynn and Louise lived in several interesting parts of the country before welcoming son, Christopher, in Boulder, Colo., in 1970. Eventually the family moved to Bellevue, Wash., where they spent the next 30 years (until Lynn retired from Boeing) before following son and daughter-in-law, Linda, to PebbleCreek in 2011.

Louise loved Christmas and found an ideal job in Bellevue working at a year-round Christmas House; she loved people and was a great organizer and planner and participated in numerous activities including the SAAB Club in Washington, the Hiking Club, Bocce, Pub Trivia, and T.T.T. organizations in PebbleCreek. She also excelled in finding thoughtful gifts and creative event displays, and never met a slot machine that she didn’t like. Although her husband was, Louise was never a hiker but was a great friend of the club and helped to organize and support many memorable events over the years.

Louise leaves behind husband, Lynn, son Christopher and daughter-in-law, Linda, as well as a younger brother, Ronnie. If desired, you may donate in Louise’s name to breast cancer research, the National Park Service, or the Humane Society (Louise also loved animals).

Dean Wegehaupt

Dean Edward Wegehaupt, 82, of Goodyear, Ariz., passed away peacefully on April 4, 2025, surrounded by the love of his family after living with heart disease for 38 years. He was born on Aug. 12, 1942, in Delmont, S.D., and spent his childhood learning the value of hard work from those around him. After high school, Dean traveled the world with the U.S. Navy and then graduated from Southern State College of South Dakota, where he met his future wife, Patti Pettit.

Dean was granted an assistantship from Ohio University to attend graduate school and work as a resident director. He spent 28 years raising his family in Amherst, Ohio, while working as a junior high guidance counselor. After he retired, he spent time as a limo driver, pharmacy delivery driver, and Boy Scout Camp volunteer. Dean and Patti moved to PebbleCreek in 2000 for warm weather so he could concentrate on his golf game. When it was too hot to play golf, he stayed out of trouble by working at the Palm Valley Community Center.

Dean enjoyed traveling, camping, fishing, hiking, and happy hours. Road trips, preferably in a Volkswagen camper van and an AAA Triptik, were his favorite adventures. He was always eager to lend a hand, whether to his family, friends, a student from school, or a complete stranger.

Dean leaves behind a legacy of love, laughter, and the simple, powerful impact of a life well lived. He will be deeply missed by his wife of 54 years, Patti; son Rhett of Westlake, Ohio; daughter Tara (Justin) Young of Seattle, Wash.; grandsons, Carson and Brendan Young; sister, Maxine Vandemore of Canton, S.D.; many nieces and nephews, and countless friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Rudolf and Leona Wegehaupt.

In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to Homeless Youth Connection, 224 East Hatcher Road, Phoenix, AZ 85020.