Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, July 3, 2021

MVNews this week:  Page A:3

Mountain Views-News Saturday, July 3, 2021 

REMEMBRANCES 


CLIFFORD J. STUECK 

February 28, 1932 – June 18, 2021 

Born at home in Queens Village, NY, Clifford Joseph Stueck 
was brought into the world by Ar-thur and Florence Keenan 
Stueck. He was the firstborn of five, followed by his siblings, 
Arthur, Patricia, George, and Francis.
Cliff was a decorated Korean War veteran, who was awarded 
the Combat Infantryman Badge, two Purple Hearts, and 
the Bronze Star Medal with “V” for Valor, for his significant 
bravery as a 1st Lieutenant leading a combat platoon for the 
25th Infantry Division.

 Shortly before leaving for Korea, Cliff met the love of his 
life, Lois Elaine Hillicke. Lois wrote to the young lieutenant 
every single day while he was in combat, and it was through 
those letters that they came to know each other and fall in 
love. They were married in 1956 and had six chil-dren, Eileen 
(Ken Leech), Clifford (deceased), Kathleen, John (Jill 
Feinberg), Paul (Peggy Har-low), and Flo (Jen Chotiner), 
and five grandchildren, Catherine (Nicolas Dovetta), Stephen, 
Clifford III, John Jr., and Kieran.
Cliff attended Our Lady of Lourdes, Brooklyn Technical 
High School, St. John’s University, and received an MBA from the University of Connecticut. He spent 
more than 30 years as a sen-ior executive in information systems with Emery Worldwide, retiring as 
Senior Vice President, North America. While at Emery, Cliff was an innovator in computer programming, 
developing a talking computer and one of the earliest package tracking systems, and was famous 
at the office for promoting women to senior positions.

 
At home in Easton, Connecticut, Cliff was an avid gardener and arborist. He took an active role in 
childrearing, advising his children on how to weather life’s inevitable trials and tribula-tions. He was 
no stranger to the kitchen, specializing in killer margaritas and nachos, and creat-ing the still famous 
dinner-for-breakfast meals accompanied by the theme from Star Wars played at top volume. Cliff also 
enjoyed his role as a political husband when Lois became the first woman elected as First Selectman of 
Easton. Later they lived in Ridgefield, CT, and Sierra Madre, CA.

 Cliff was a world traveler, visiting Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, and other exotic locales. For many 
years, Lois and Cliff followed their bliss, driving their small RV many times across the U.S., Canada, 
and Mexico, and spending as much time as possible in the U.S. Virgin Islands. His family was his first 
and abiding love, but Cliff ’s life-long passions also included photography, language, and writing, as 
evident in his soon-to-be-published memoir, Queens Village.
Donations in his memory may be made to Ss. Joachim and Anne School, Queens Village, NY, the Korean 
War Veterans Memorial, Washington D.C., or the Sierra Madre Public Library. A memorial service 
and reception will be held at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, July 5 at 3:30 PM. A ceremony 
will be held at the Long Island National Cemetery, Farmingdale, Long Island, NY, July 21 at 11:00 AM. 

MARGARET 'MAGGI' MCCORMICK GORDON 

1942-2021 

MARGARET 'Maggi' MCCORMICK GORDON, wife of Sierra Madre Playhouse 
President David Gordon, was honored posthumously by family and friends 
at Memorial Park last week. 

 Born on March 10, 1942, she was the eldest of 
four. Their mother, Peggy Humphrey, was a young 
Texan who married Frank on the promise that they 
would Go West so that she could develop her career 
as an actress and Frank his as a photographer. 

Maggi moved to New York in 1964 or thereabouts. 
She soon became a publicist for United Artists. 
While at UA, Maggi went to England for work. She 
loved it. 

I met Maggi soon after she came to London. We 
got married on March 2, 1974. Joshua was born 
in 1977 and Daniel in 1979. Both boys are now 
married, and Maggi was the perfect mother-in-law 
to Nikki and Andreza: non-interfering, non-judgmental, 
loving. And delighted to be a grandmother 
to Dylan. 

We were living happily in London when, through 
a series of unexpected career accidents, I was offered 
the job of director of the Milwaukee Art Museum 
in 2002. Josh was in Los Angeles, and Dan 
was headed there, so the family became an American 
one. At the end of 2014, we decided to join the 
boys in Los Angeles. Josh was living in Pomona and Dan in Glendale, so it made sense to find somewhere 
more or less between them. When our realtor introduced us to Sierra Madre, we fell in love all 
over again - this time for a place. Maggi again joined various quilting groups and immediately started 
to make friends with both stitchers and neighbors. 


In 2011 Maggi made a special trip to view the Red and White Quilts: Infinite Variety exhibition at 
the Armory in New York, which was only on for five days. Her writing culminated in the magnificent 
2015 book of the same name, written jointly with Liz Warren, now president of the American Folk 
Art Museum in New York. 

In 2018, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died on Sunday, June 6. With typical consideration, 
she waited until morning. Her strength, stoicism, lack of complaining during an illness that 
caused exhaustion and discomfort were astonishing to behold. 

She was a great lady. Her loss has been hard to bear, not only by her family but by so very many 
friends. 

SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER 

June 13, 2021 to June 26, 2021 
During this period the Sierra Madre Police Department responded 
to 383 calls for service. 

Collision 
On 6-13-21 at 11:30AM, an officer was dispatched to the 700 block of Woodland 
Dr. for a report of a hit and run accident. An unknown suspect struck a parked truck 
and then fled the scene without exchanging information with the reporting party.
Investigation pendingBattery 
On 6-14-21 at 9:05PM, a motorist standing to the rear of her parked vehicle in the 
400 block of W. Sierra Madre Blvd., was struck on the right side of her body by a 
water balloon thrown from a passing vehicle. No injuries were reported.
Collision 
On 6-15-21 at 11:29AM, a non-injury traffic collision involving two vehicles occurred 
in the 200 block of W. Sierra Madre Blvd. Both drivers were evaluated by the Sierra 
Madre Paramedics and released at the scene. 
Arrest 
On 6-19-21 at 4:42PM a driver was stopped for a vehicle code violation in the 700 
block of W. Grandview Ave. The driver had an outstanding felony warrant from 
Orange County. The driver was arrested and taken to the Pasadena Jail and the 
vehicle was stored at the impound facility. 

BurglaryOn 6-21-21 at 6:60PM, officers responded to the area of Mt. Wilson Trail and E. 
Mira Monte Ave in regards to a burglary from vehicle report. The suspect(s) used 
an unknown blunt object to break the front passenger window and entered the 
vehicle and removed personal items.
Case to Detectives 
Fraud 
On 6-24-21 a resident in the 400 block of Churchill Rd. reported that unknown 
suspect(s) contacted him posing as an employee of Bank of America to resolve a 
fraud alert. Suspect(s) convinced the victim to send money through Zelle. 
Case to Detectives 

WALKING SIERRA MADRE - The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis 

“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, 
tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family 
picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You 
may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.” Erma Bombeck 

First of all, congratulations to Marc 
Garlett, new President of Sierra 
Madre Rotary, and thanks so much 
to past-President, Karen Swisher. 
I interviewed Karen in April of 
2015 for the Mountain Views News 
when she was still heading up Sierra 
Madre Grocery Co. and found her 
to be gracious, charming, funny 
and delightful. I guess I’m saying I 
sorta liked her. I have to share one 
thing about her Sierra Seasoning 
Rub. I’ve still got a bottle with a little 
down at the bottom and as I said in 
2015, I put Sierra Seasoning on fish, 
chicken, every kind of meat and 
the Sierra Rub makes it incredible. 
This particular seasoning, btw, was 
originally developed for a barbeque 
for the Rotary. 


Now that we’re actually going to have a July 4th celebration this year (July 5th, actually) I was reminded 
of this poem I wrote a few years back and thought I’d share it again. 

STAR SPANGLED CELEBRATION 

I’ll bring the hot dogs,
You bring the beer,
The Fourth of July,
Is finally here! 

It’s our day to celebrate,
Our Nation’s story.
Is your hand on your heart?
Here she comes! It’s Old Glory! 

Let’s walk downtown,
And watch the parade.
I hope we can find,
A place in the shade. 

Here come our V.A. guys,
Standing so tall and straight!
Thank you, guys, for your service,
We think you’re just great! 

Oh Look! Here she comes! 
There’s a tear in my eye.
Let’s stand up and cheer!
Old Glory’s passing by. 

We love those old cars,
Filled with folks that we know. 
Rich Johnson and Susan Henderson 
Will be waving together. 

Hey! Throw us some candy!
How far can one little Tootsie Roll…roll! 
The Sierra Madre City College BandWill give us a song. (Hope!) 

We’ll barbeque later,
A burger…or three,
And have potato salad,
Two helpings, after all, it’s calorie free! (Not!) 

We’ll go watch the fireworks,
Down at the park.
And count all our blessings,
There in the dark. 

Be glad that we live,
In a land that is free. 
To celebrate Independence Day!
To Celebrate…. Liberty! 

I’m so hoping the July 4th celebration this year will be pretty much just like that. We always loved 
the parade, my best parade kibitzer buddy, John, and I. We loved seeing the kids from all the teams, 
the parents pulling wagons with little people looking bewildered. We admired the Search & Rescue 
Guys, we waved at the dignitaries smiling in the backs of open cars, trying not to sweat, wondering if 
they’ve got enough sunblock on, working hard to look responsible and re-electable. 

For more years than I care to count, I hosted the entire family at our house and did the BBQ-ing and 
now our middle daughter, Patti and her husband, Dave, host the July 4th festivities and our job was to 
show up with the aforementioned calorie-free potato salad (Repeat: Not!) and a cake. 

Sometime this summer you’re going to need to be someplace with a cake and here’s a really easy one 
that people will absolutely love, and they’ll beg you for the recipe: 

Easy Apple Cake 

2 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut in good sized chunks1 cup sugar 
Place apples in a bowl and add sugar. Let stand 30 min. (That part is really important!) 

Add: 1/4 cup oil 
1 egg beaten 
1 tsp vanilla 

Combine: 1 cup unsifted flour 
1 generous tsp. cinnamon 
1 tsp. soda 
¼ tsp. salt 

Stir into apple mixture. Add 1/2 cup or so chopped pecans or walnuts and I like to throw in 
a handful of dried cranberries, too. Put into well-greased 8” square pan. Bake at 350, 45 to 
50 minutes till cake tester inserted in middle comes out clean. This cake doubles and triples 
beautifully! Cut in squares, dust with powdered sugar and enjoy! 

“I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. 
I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.” Abraham Lincoln 

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis 
Where you’ll find “Sunrises and Sunflowers Speak Hope”
And “A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of Laughter”
Take a look at both of these books, stuffed with hope and theoccasional good recipe, like this apple cake. 
For you Emma Gainsworth fans, 
there’s a new Emma story in the works! 

PLEASE STAY SAFE! 
GET VACCINATED! 

SOCIALLY DISTANCE! 

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