Lydia

Raymond

Lydia Raymond died peacefully in Hollister, CA on Sunday, January 14, 2024.

The youngest of three children, Lydia was born on August 20, 1936 in Minneola, New York, and raised in Astoria, Queens. She moved with her parents to southern California in the 1950s soon after graduating high school. Trained as a secretary, she worked for various firms in Los Angeles and Pasadena before marrying Robert Raymond in 1969. She became step-mother to his three daughters, Alison, Denise, and Claire, and had two boys of her own, Paul and Matthew. While raising her children in San Gabriel, CA, she worked as a secretary for a law firm and later for a private school.

Her father was Flemish and her mother Basque. Lydia loved telling the story of their meeting on Long Island in the 1920s when they both worked in service for the Whitney's. Very proud of her heritage, she maintained contact with her father's family in Belgium and her mother's family in Spain, visiting Europe numerous times over the years and hosting her European cousins several times in California. Her children and other members of her extended family continue to maintain the contact she established with both families, grateful for the connection to their European heritage.

In later years she resided in Big Bear City, California, where she had owned a beloved cabin since the 1960s. Brooke Haven, as she called it—taking the name from her maiden name Van de Brooke—was a weekend getaway for her family and became the locale for many memorable gatherings both large and small. Family from all over California, as well as New York, and Europe, all visited her there and enjoyed the relaxing and celebratory alpine ambience.

Lydia was an active member of several parishes, most notably the San Gabriel Mission, Saint Joseph's in Big Bear, and St. Catherine's in Morgan Hill, where she moved in 2012 to be closer to family. Her weekly stitch group meetings were a chance to socialize and exchange crochet ideas with her friends. She crocheted endless afghans, which she distributed to sons, step-daughters, grandchildren, and friends over the years, as well as numerous stuffed animals which were gifted to her grandchildren and many other newborns throughout the family.

A fun and funny person, she loved to laugh and was known for her friendliness and her sharp and at times cutting wit. A child at heart, Lydia enjoyed celebrations of all kinds, as well as dirty jokes, a well-placed f-bomb, and the occasional smoke. Despite the dementia that robbed her of many memories and social connections in her last years, her sense of humor remained intact. Her witticisms and one-liners continued to flow.

She is survived by two sons, three step-daughters, fourteen grandchildren, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins, as well as her older sister Anita.

A celebration of Lydia's life will be held on Friday, February 23rd in Morgan Hill following a mass at St. Catherine's. All are welcome. Reach out to family for details.