Joseph Frances Ptacnik 1937- 2021 “Not just another Joe” We are saddened by the loss of a dear friend, Joseph Frances Ptacnik. He was a proud father to Joe, Jim and Ann Horton and grandfather to Michael. He was known to most of his amateur radio friends as N6JAJ (Just Another Joe), though he was not just another Joe. His career took him to Litton Company, where he worked on communication equipment for Naval ships. Then he worked in Bellview, Washington, building and troubleshooting highly technical machines. He became a technical expert during his career. When he moved to Leisure World in 2005, he was generous with his time and knowledge of electronics, working with the LW Radio Club, Veterans Radio Club and Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES). He taught solder and antenna construction. His diligence to detail in design and fabrication was admired. He held classes in his home and tutored radio technology, helping many individuals pass their licensing exams. He participated in an Emergency Operational Drills at the Naval station as lead operator, transmitting emergency messages to hospitals. Joe had many hobbies. He loved helping others. He was a Boy Scout leader with Chuck Blankenship for the Flaming Arrow troop. He spent many hours with metal detecting devices, a skill he taught to his sons, grandson and friends. He loved boating, having lived on a boat for five years with his family. He was such a good fisherman and taught his sons the fine art, which inspired one of them to start a business selling custom-made fishing rods. His best know, attribute was his spiritual side. He attended University Baptist Church and participated in Wednesday Bible study. He attended special beachside services on Sundays, where he would meditate on the wonders of the universe. A generous man, he would provide many neighbors and friends special Christmas gifts fabricated from recycled wine bottles and fitted with strings of lights. This year, they will all glow a bit brighter in his memory. -paid obituary

Jane M. Legus 1935-2021 Jane M. Legus, 86, of Jone sboro, Arkansas, passed from this life on Oct. 29, at the Flo & Phil Jones Hospice House in Jonesboro. Jane was a caring mother and friend to all. She was born to the late Horace and Catherine Ayers on Aug. 7, 1935, in Montreal, Canada. Jane has resided in Jonesboro for the last two and a half years after spending the previous 30 years at Leisure World, Seal Beach. Jane spent her career working in the aerospace industry for over 30 years, at LW, she was a member of the Ladies Golf Club, Ladies Q Club, and the Cribbage Club. Jane’s love of organizing all the sports championship pools is dearly missed. Her kindness and selflessness will always be remembered. In addition to her parents, Jane is preceded in death by her son, Richard A. Legus, and brother, John E. Ayers. Jane is survived by her niece, Patti Smith of Jonesboro. All services will be private. The online registry can be found at www.emersonfuneralhome. com.

Tivadar Vhal 1934-2021 Tivadar Vhal was born on April 13, 1934, in Budapest, Hungry. He died on Oct. 14. He immigrated to America in 1972 and lived in New Jersey before moving to California. He and his wife, Elizabeth, moved to Long Beach in 1976. In 1993, the pair moved to Leisure World. He had an architecture di- ploma and was fluent in both Hungarian and English. His pas- time was chess, and he established LW’s Chess Club 25 years ago. He went to every meeting until the COVID-19 virus prevented people from meeting in person. He loved to read, swimming regularly and grow his vegetables at the Mini Farm.

Marge Novak 1915-2021 Marge Novak’s life began as Marguerite Sailer in Helena, Montana, on June 20, 1915. Both her mother and father immigrated from Germany in the early 1900s. She grew up in Helena, having lost her mother at age 4 to the Spanish flu. She received her nursing degree and met Joseph (Joe) Novak in 1938. They were married in 1940. They settled in Butte in a house they built. They had three children by 1948. After being discharged from the Army Air Corps, Joe went back to school, earning a BS in mining engineering in 1950 at the Montana School of Mines, courtesy of the GI Bill. Their lives took a challenging and adventurous turn when Joe took a position with Anaconda Copper Mining Company in northern Chile. Their fourth child, Mary, was born in Chile shortly after they arrived in 1953. Marge Novak died on Oct. 18 in Seal Beach, California. She is survived by four children: daughters Joan Gordon (Mark), Jean Cattaneo (Stephen) and Mary Novak (Ted Franklin); and son Stephen Novak (Susan); six grandchildren; and 17 greatgrandchildren. Also surviving are two nieces and a nephew’s family. Marge was a true renaissance woman. She was an accomplished card player, bridge being her favorite. She knitted, crocheted and sewed, making clothes for herself and her daughters. Marge was also an outstanding cook. She won various trophies for golfing and bowling. After departing Chile in 1971, Marge and Joe spent time in British Columbia, Canada; Western Australia; and the Philippines, before settling in Stockton in 1978. Marge, always giving of herself, volunteered at a cardiac rehab center and a senior center. Marge and Joe moved to Leisure World, Seal Beach, in 1997, and they took part in various club activities. As she got older, Marge realized that keeping fit was important. They kept in shape by swimming three times a week and walking 2 miles daily for close to two decades. Even after the age of 100, she worked out at the Leisure World gym several times weekly until COVID struck. Joe died in 2011 and is buried in the National Veterans’ Cemetery near Riverside. Marge is buried next to him. The Braille Institute and its programs introduced Marge to audio books after her eyesight started to fail. She listened to over 2,900 titles and kept a log to keep track of what she heard. Right up to the end, Marge loved to travel. She never passed up an invitation. At 100 years old, she visited the island of Kauai, and went on a sailing trip, receiving a standing ovation from the other passengers when the captain announced her age. This passion and zest for life had kept her very much alive. Her positive attitude and quest to exercise made her “the energizer bunny”—she kept “going and going and going!” Her life motto was “Live It Up!”

Betty Lorraine Quesinberry-Chatham 1931-2021 How does one culminate a life that was the center of family and love? Our Mother, Betty, was born in Bell, California, and was the only child from the union of Vivian May Butler-Quesinberry and Byran Fulton Quesinberry; divorce soon followed. Betty survived a disjointed family life and had four half-brothers. Byran’s sons were Bernard and Robert Quesinberry, and Vivian’s sons were Stanley and Larry Grindstaff. Betty was sent to live with her father in Oregon and was promptly put in a Catholic boarding school, where she soon learned that rules were not her game. She became an ignored and willful child with many time outs on the school bench and slaps on the wrist. That experience lasted in her personality throughout her life. Much later, Betty came back to California to live with her half-brother Robert (Bob) and his wife, Blanche Quesinberry, and their two children Paul and Kim. She graduated from South Gate High School and later enrolled in nursing school, where she met a life-changing friend named Louise Schmidt, who later became her spiritual guide. Through unusual circumstances influenced by her mother, Betty married William Fred Chatham, and they had three children, Paul Terrell, Deborah Sue (Susie) and Melinda Kay (Lindy). Soon after the third child was born, divorce followed, and Betty went to live with her dear friend and rescuer Louise in Downey. Louise became “Grandma Weezes,” and without her guidance, assistance, love and introduction to her faith in God, the outcome would not have been as favorable. Weezes got Betty attending Church of the Open Door in downtown Los Angeles ,and that became the start of our faith in God as a family. Betty later moved down the street from Weezes on Patton Road in Downey. Betty struggled as a single parent, and life was not an easy one, but with the hand of God, she made it through. Betty also got strength from a friend named Helen Gilbert, who helped her through the toils of parenting three children alone. Helen was also a single parent, and they had a lot in common to hash out. Betty’s children became her pride and purpose. Betty had many jobs over the years, including medical assistant, airline stewardess, receptionist, Avon representative and a medical transcriber for the Long Beach Veterans Administration. Betty is survived by her three children, Paul, Deborah (Susie) and Melinda (Lindy). Betty has 10 grandchildren and six great grandchildren. The grandchildren from Paul and Cindy Chatham are Marybeth Ann, Hannah Jo, Tobey Lynn, Kara Joy, Lucas Paul, Jedidiah Seth, Noelle Rose and Brenna Renee. The grandchild from Melinda (Lindy) and Robert Miller is Kascie Lynn. The grandchild from Deborah (Susie) and P. Ablon is Devin Joshua and, currently, son of Daniel, Malson. Betty helped raise infant/young boy Devin after Deborah’s divorce, which she did with much love and necessity. Betty’s great-grandchildren are from Kara and Nathan Bishop: Hosanna Joy, Zechariah David and Obadiah Jones. The greatgrandchildren from Jedidiah and Marcella Chatham are two sons named Seth Michael and Eli David. Then, from Marybeth and Dan Miller, son Josiah Daniel. Much later in life, Ronald and Bertha Cole helped Betty move into Leisure World, Seal Beach. Betty lived contentedly in Leisure World for 25 years. She attended the Leisure World Baptist Church, and Pastor Rolland Coburn would visit her at her home when she was physically unable to get to church. Through struggles, tears, laughter, love and her faith in God, she left us peacefully to meet her loved friends and the Lord