I Left Out a Field Rep!

With apologies to Rita Moreno, here she is in Jay Blackshaw's apartment the other night. Rita was the field representative to City Councilman Bill Crowfoot

For old time's sake, here's a photo of many of the alums when we had dinner shortly before Christmas in 2007, with our dear Judith Zitter, seated third from the right.


Those in this photo who weren't able to be at our dinner at Jay's the other night are Judy Kent, seated at far left, who is Mayor Bogaard's current field representative; Suzanne Berberian, seated second from right, who was field representative to Bill Paparian and has worked for many years now as a community liaison at Pasadena Unified School District; and Joyce Streator, standing at far left, who was field representative to Chris Holden until she successfully ran for council in District 1. She's retired and very busy!

Farewell, Judith

Today was what I'm now calling the Judith Zitter Memorial Block Party. I think she would have loved that since she was, among so many other passions, all about neighborhoods.


Here, in front of the Zitter/Wrightson home in the beautiful Historic Highlands area, more than 300 friends and family gathered to share precious memories of Judith, learn from guest speakers about her special relationships with them, sing, weep, laugh and eat tamales.

It was a beautiful tribute to Judith, whose images on the front of the printed program brought tears to many people's eyes.



Jazz music was prevalent since that was one of Judith's passion. It's not clear whether her love of this genre was serendipitous or because her initials spell JAZZ.



Old friends and immediate family members shed some light on Judith from their own special perspectives, from extemporaneous remembrances to prepared notes to poems to music, including an original jazz piece composed by son Max in memory of his mother, a poem recited by daughter Erica and the reading of a letter from Neal to his beloved Judith shortly after she passed away.



We all stood and sang the famous Irish blessing that today took on a particularly soulful and sentimental tone.



Rest well, dear friend.

Judith in Better Days

I just found this photo of Judith Zitter and her husband Neal Wrightson on the website for the school where Neal teaches.



I'm so glad I came across it. All my old City of Pasadena photos from pre-2000 are in deep storage in the basement and I haven't had any time to dig through everything to find one of our dear friend.

Just a reminder about the memorial gathering:

Sunday, July 13, at 4 p.m. on the street in front of the Wrightson/Zitter home, 1633 N. Mar Vista Ave.

Parking will be available at Longfellow School, corner of Washington Boulevard and Mar Vista Avenue. Shuttles will be provided between Longfellow and 1633 N. Mar Vista Ave.

In lieu of flowers and other gifts, the family appreciates donations to any to the following organizations that were important to Judith:

* ArtAidsArt, a non-profit organization that promotes education and sustainable economic development through the arts in South Africa

* Community Health Alliance of Pasadena (CHAP), a primary care clinic in Northwest Pasadena that offers medical and dental services to children and adults

* Children’s Community School, a non-profit elementary school in Van Nuys that provides an education rich in the arts with an in-depth approach to science and cultural studies.

We love you and miss you, Judith. Rest in peace.

Judith Zitter Memorial Gathering

I posted a photo of Judith Zitter and other former field reps plus me at the Athenaeum in December. See the "In Memory of Judith Zitter" post below.

Read her obituary in the Pasadena Star-News.

A memorial gathering is scheduled Sunday, July 13, at 4 p.m. The family will block off the street in front of their home for this event. The address is 1633 N. Mar Vista Ave.

I know Judith would want people to wear bright attire and big hats!

In Memory of Judith Zitter

Judith Zitter died today. I first met her shortly after I started working at City Hall in early 1991. I was the public information officer, of course, and she was field representative to then City Councilman Rick Cole.

I bonded quickly with all of the field reps, but there was a certain difficult period I went through with my job a few months after I started working here when Judith showed me an abundance of support and friendship that really helped get me through the tough times. I have never, ever forgotten that. She rallied to the point that I wanted to stick it out.

When Rick left elected office, Judith put her degree in social work to great use and took a job at Kaiser Permanente on Walnut, where she worked for many years.

I don't remember exactly when Judith was diagnosed with cancer, but it was probably 15 years ago or so. Her long, flowing hair was no more, and for the rest of her life it was short and sassy!

She was in and out of remission. And in and out and in and out. Through it all, she had the love and support of her family and friends.

She didn't let the disease define her life. She never let it diminish who she was. She never let it get in the way of being Judith.

I was very blessed to be included in some intimate dinners over the past few months with a few of the former field reps from the 1990s, Judith among them. She was weak and in a wheelchair, and needed a lot of assistance, but she was in high spirits and was gabbing it up and laughing with the rest of us. From the Athenaeum in December to Saladang last month, she lit up the room and enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed hers.

Here we are at the Athenaeum. That's Judith seated in middle with the mauve scarf around her neck. (Many thanks to Rita Moreno, who was behind the camera and provided me with this photo.)



Judith was honored in May at the Westin by Community Health Alliance of Pasadena (CHAP), and she looked beautiful and vibrant and had a great big fancy hat on. Rick Cole was there to join in the festivities, which was nice.

She met her husband, Neal Wrightson, when they were students at Blair. Their bright and talented children, Erica and Max, were her top priorities.

Judith was generous with her time, serving on many non-profit boards over the years including Day One and El Centro de Acción Sociál.

She was one extraordinary woman.