General News

Ajijic resident Ruth Knowles Shirley died June 1 after complications from a hip replacement precipitated by a recent fall. 

Albert Wharton passed away April 1 in Riberas del Pilar.

Born August 6, 1935 in Laredo, Texas, Wharton joined the U.S. Army and served with the 32nd Infantry from 1956 to 1962. He was a welder and, before retiring in 2003, helped build a submarine using metal salvaged from the 9/11/2001 attacks in New York.

Wharton married his wife Nancy on March 23, 1993.

Wharton had always wanted to live in Mexico, so after retirement he loaded up his wife and three dogs, and drove to Chapala. His spouse says the following years were happy ones at Lakeside.

Wharton will be greatly missed by his wife, pets, family and friends.

Ajijic resident Deborah Greenfield passed away in her home ON April 16 at the age of 94.  

Born in New York City on September 15, 1920, Greenfield attended New York University where she met her future husband James Greenfield, a manufacturing engineer. They married in 1941. 

After her husband returned from World War II, Greenfield worked with her mother in New York as an interior decorator. In 1961, her husband’s business activities led them to Europe. They lived in several cities, including London and Amsterdam, before settling in Milan, Italy. 

Greenfield’s husband passed away in 1966. With her two children in college, she quickly transformed herself from mother to businesswoman, founding a company called Campoverde or “Greenfield” translated in Italian.

She worked for many years in Italy with prestigious fashion brands such as Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan. She was tenacious and indefatigable in her work, always ready to run the extra mile for her clients. She dressed beautifully, more to show off her trade than herself, and was a symbol of modern elegance to her entourage.

At the age of 75, after nearly 20 years running her own company, Greenfield decided to retire. She surprised her family in 1995 with her announcement that she was moving to Ajijic. It was of no matter to Greenfield that she didn’t know anyone living there!

Greenfield was a pioneering and independent woman who found Mexico’s endearing charm, bustle and willingness to grow similar to the life and spirit she discovered when she first moved to Italy. Only a month after settling in Ajijic, she called her grandson in Paris to tell him she was having a housewarming party and had already invited 40 of her new friends! Some years later her youngest son Robert joined her in Mexico following his marriage to Patricia de la Torre, a native of Guadalajara.

During her time in Ajijic, Greenfield served as president of School for the Deaf and was a member of the Duplicate Bridge Club and the Jewish community. She frequented a Wednesday lunch group of ladies, and was an outstanding  hostess.

In Ajijic Greenfield found a large and diverse community of friends and truly considered Mexico to be her loving home and the people in the village to be her family.

She is survived by her children Jay (Hannah) and Robert (Patricia, deceased), grandchildren James, Luke, Molly, Anna and Jaymie Greenfield, and Liz, Helen and Josie Schmidt. Her four great-grandchildren are Louis and Elliot Greenfield, and Maeve and Tula Campman.

A private memorial will be held later in May.

Lakeside resident Thomas James Sumner succumbed to cancer on April 15.  

Born August 13, 1942 in Christine, Texas, Sumner was raised along with his sister, Janie, by his grandparents, Venice and Tom Hale.

Sumner moved to San Antonio, Texas at the age of 11 and lived there until he moved to Guadalajara in July 1995. In 2003, he moved to Lakeside and opened the Chapala Consignment Shop two years later.  His specialty was handling estate sales.

Sumner will be remembered most for his infectious laughter, his generous disposition, for helping his friends, both expatriates and Mexican, and as a businessman in the Lakeside community.  Although not a member, he was immensely helpful to the people at American Legion Post 7 and Unit 7, and was a member of Lakeside Baptist Church.

His beloved sister, Janie Carruth, and her husband Bob Carruth, their parents and grandparents, precede him in death.  His son, Thomas James Sumner II of San Antonio, Texas, and daughter Tamera Webb-Owings of Humble, Texas, and her husband Deano Owings, Jr. survive him.  He is also survived by his half-sister Anna Lee Harrington of Nebraska.  He leaves behind a very special nephew, Rocky Carruth of Houston, Texas and niece Pam and her husband Richard Johnson and niece Deborah Burnett, also from Texas; two grandsons, Cameron Fritz Webb, his wife, Channel, and Dalton Lee Sumner of Georgia, his granddaughter Chloe Lynn Webb, and great-grandchildren, Sadie Camryn Webb, Abigail Maria Bunch and Josey Bunch.

A memorial service will be held at the Lake Chapala Baptist Church on Tuesday April 28, 2 p.m.  The church is located at Santa Margarita 147, Riberas del Pilar, across from the Carretera.

Jerry Unger of Riberas del Pilar died February 6 in a New Jersey VA hospital, following a short bout with lung cancer. He was 75.

Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1939, Unger graduated from St. Mel’s Academy in 1957, and went on to graduate from Wright Junior College in 1962. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in May 1963, and served two years in Germany as company clerk for the 123D signal battalion. A job transfer sent him to Baltimore, Maryland in 1978.

Unger retired in 2005 and moved to Lakeside. He was a member of the American Legion Post 7 in Chapala. He loved gardening and cooking, and was an avid reader.

Unger is survived by his life partner of 45 years, Marty Davis, as well as brothers, a sister, numerous nieces and nephews, all in Chicago, and in-laws, and adopted nieces and nephews in New Jersey and New York.

A private cremation and celebration of his life was held in New Jersey.

Anita Corinne Henry died March 31 in Ajijic. 

Born December 8, 1945 in Missouri, Henry attended Clarksville High School. She received  bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and a PhD from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.  She was a life-long teacher and taught many years as a professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Her specialty was French language and literature.  She also traveled extensively, in France, Russia, Egypt and many European destinations.

Henry moved to Ajijic in 2008.  She loved and appreciated Mexico, and made many friends here. She particularly enjoyed live performances of Mexican music.  In addition, she was a valued member of the Ajijic Writers Group, as well as a volunteer instructor of English at the Wilkes Center.  She will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her son Walt Gray, IV of Los Angeles, California; her sister Reba Sue Haake King (Charles) of Corydon, Indiana; and her loving nieces and nephew Elizabeth Haake and Amy Chudzinski (Neil) of Austin, Texas, and David Haake (Holly) of Corydon, Indiana.

A celebration of her life will be held in the garden of the Nueva Posada on Saturday April 18, 4 p.m.

Egon Johannes Beer died March 25, peacefully and suddenly in his Guadalajara home. Although 90 years old, he remained active and alert, attending weekly luncheons at the American Society and entertaining friends in his home in Colonia Jardines de Guadalupe.

Antonio “Tony” Zennaro died March 8 in Italy due to complications of cancer. He was 45 years old.

Zennaro was born February 28, 1970 in Venice, Italy.  He came to Lakeside in 2005. He was a local fixture, zipping along on his bicycle from one home improvement job to another

He was a gentle soul and will be greatly missed by his friends and family.