Lucille Landise (nee Kowalski) died peacefully at 103 years old on Feb. 23, 2023, in her home in Laguna Hills, California, so happy to be surrounded by her loving family, making witty comments and singing songs until the last minute.
After marriage, Lucille moved to Chicago from South Bend and opened a hair stylist shop as a beautician. She first joined St. Nicholas of Tolentine parish and years later moved to North Riverside, then California in 2011 to be near her daughters.
Lucille’s love for her family came first. She was deeply spiritual and loved with a higher love, prayed day and night for her children and grandchildren, as well as the freedom of America.
She was proud of her heritage, loved language and teaching, was a Cub Scout leader, Girl Scout leader and a great enthusiast of community, fairness, honesty and integrity. She was deeply interested in people and made friends everywhere easily, bridge clubs, total strangers, poetry groups, checkout clerks. She was always extremely respectful and generous. She enjoyed sharing the lively art of conversation, memorizing jokes and having fun.
Lucille always kept up with the times but not with the Joneses, as she was a little ahead of her time. She was an Aquarius, open-minded, high-spirited, good at analyzing problems, then coming up with solutions.
She provided an example for us to live by in every way. Lu ran a tight ship and was passionate about making things nice. She worked incredibly hard making things nice, preparing dinners, pies, dumplings, cookies, bread and took pride in decorating her home with great care. She emphasized the value of “dining” (not just eating), loved good food but always kept her figure.
Lucille had impeccable style and had enthusiasm for all the fine arts, Strauss waltzes and rock ‘n’ roll, sang in chorus, painted over 30 oil paintings and wrote many poems. She derived joy from beauty and saw life through the eyes of an artist.
Clothing was an art, hair was an art, life was an art. She was cool, a class act, a real lady and always made a good impression. She made friends easily, for she genuinely took interest in people and people loved her back. By setting an example she taught us artistry, etiquette, kindness, dignity and the importance of light heartedness.
Her family misses singing with her, (she said songs were like poems, especially from the ’40s-’60s and knew 50 off the top of her head.) But the one thing they miss most is her unconditional love. She was genuinely interested in anything they had to say.
She would ask them how they were, no matter how she was feeling. Her love, unlike any love, is the kind of love that made life worth living. Her daughter Charisse said, “As a child I never believed death was the end and I know why … because love never dies.”
God bless you Lucille, you remain alive in your family’s hearts through the majesty of infinite divine unconditional love. With the help of God and the angels the family is especially connected to her now. Death is her well-deserved reward. She lives in her family’s hearts in the ever-now, with deep gratitude and love.
Lucille is survived by her three grateful children, Jerilyn Bagwell, Cyril Landise and Charisse Landise, and her three grandchildren, Renee Walt, Neil Bagwell and Oskar Landise.
Her interment was at Our Lady of Heaven Catholic Cemetery beside her husband, Cyril (Cy) Landise. They were married 72 years and he predeceased her by 11.
