Marilyn Christopher

Landon White Hollander

Landon White Hollander, the editor of the Inside La Cruz online magazine and a longtime year-round resident of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, died as a result of a violent robbery in his home on September 18. He was 64 years old.

In 1983 Hollander married Connie Flores, also from Atherton.  They lived in Dallas, Texas; Lawrence, Kansas and St. Louis, Missouri before moving to the Jalisco coastal town of La Cruz de in 2007.

Hollander and his wife soon became involved in community improvement work, maintaining the “Inside La Cruz” website, a valuable resource that always let people know about openings and closings of restaurants, among other news.  

For many years he was involved with the “Amigos de La Cruz” charity and was instrumental in placing 88 trash cans around the village to reduce litter and raise awareness about keeping the town clean.

Hollander established the annual “Taste of La Cruz” event – a showcase for local businesses, restaurants, real estate developers and artisans. During the summer months he held the “Party in the Park,” a similar event for full-time local residents.  

Hollander will be remembered for his community generosity.

Hollander is survived by his wife, Connie. He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Preston.

A memorial service for Hollander will take place Sunday, November 20 at Restaurante Frascati in the La Cruz Marina, from 3 to 5 p.m.  Everyone is welcome to attend, his wife says.  There will be a no-host bar and finger foods will be served.

Rick Cowlishaw

Ajijic resident Rick Cowlishaw died June 20 after a long struggle with cancer at the age of 72.

Cowlishaw was born in 1944 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  He attended Baton Rouge Magnet High School and studied architecture at Louisiana State University.  

After graduation in 1966, he moved to Colorado and worked for several architectural firms.  In the mid-1970’s he went to work for the State of Colorado in the Department of Energy Conservation, where he headed up the residential section.  During that time Cowlishaw created the Colorado Green Program.  The program was adopted by the Denver Home Builders Association as the “Build-Green Program.”  A few years later, the Build-Green program was adopted by the National Home Builders Association and implemented in 38 states.

Cowlishaw left the Department of Energy Conservation to work as a design consultant for a cohousing project in Golden, Colorado: a community of private homes clustered around shared space.  He was one of the founding members of Harmony Village, located at the foot of the Colorado Rockies.  This cohousing project comprised 27 households dedicated to sustainable living.

In 2009 Cowlishaw retired and moved to Ajijic.  He quickly became involved in the design of a cohousing project here called Rancho La Salud Village.  Located west of Ajijic, this community features passive solar architecture, green building concepts and a community devoted to self-sufficiency.  

Cowlishaw also volunteered at the Lake Chapala Society.  He worked with the LCS Architectural Task Group to identify space requirements for a re-designed campus.  His work was critical to the development of a Request for Proposals, which will be used to select an architect for the project.

Cowlishaw is survived by his spouse Wanda and son Chris.  

All who knew him are invited to a celebration of his life, and a dedication of the Conference Center at Rancho La Salud Village, scheduled for Friday, December 2, 11 a.m. at Rancho La Salud Village, Carreterra Poniente 1259 (large green sign), located 200 meters west of Arileo Restaurant on the mountain side.

Ray Fisher

Ray Fisher died in his sleep October 20 at the Casa Nostra assisted living residence in Riberas del Pilar. 

Malcolm Everett McElroy died September 27 at a Guadalajara hospital.

 Damon Combs

Lakeside resident Damon Combs died September 21 after valiantly battling pancreatic cancer for more than a year.

Grace T. Contrades

Grace Contrades died September 18 at her home in Riberas del Pilar at the age of 87.