Noted Newport Beach Philanthropist : Funeral Services Set for Geneva M. Washburn

Funeral services will be conducted Saturday for Geneva M. Washburn, a Newport Beach philanthropist and longtime supporter of the Republican Party, who died Feb. 1 of cancer at her Corona del Mar home. She was in her early 60s.

Mrs. Washburn, who was known as Gene, was active in many charitable organizations in Southern California, including the Braille Institute of America, the Princess Grace Foundation and Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

In Orange County, she was a supporter of Chapman College and Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach. According to Willard Voit, a close family friend, Washburn was the first woman member of the 552 Club, a support group for the hospital.

Mrs. Washburn also was active in Republican circles. Among the guests at her home overlooking Newport Harbor--which once belonged to the Irvine family--were Richard M. Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. Over the years, she also maintained residences in Palm Springs, Lido Isle, Big Canyon and the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

Mrs. Washburn raised animals on her 1.4-acre estate and grew orchids in a hothouse on the grounds. She also was known for her lavish parties and her extensive collection of fine jewelry, some of which was stolen during a 1971 burglary at the Beverly Wilshire, while she was attending a dinner-dance at the hotel honoring Princess Alexandra of England.

The youngest of 11 children, she moved to Southern California as a teen-ager from her home in Oklahoma City. She married Donald K. Washburn, head of the 7-Up Bottling Co. of Los Angeles and, during her husband’s terminal illness in 1969, she helped negotiate the sale of the business to the Westinghouse Corp., Voit said.

Mrs. Washburn is survived by a daughter, Carole Washburn Grudem, of Sandpoint, Ida., and three grandchildren. Survivors also include sisters Dell Tescher, of Chula Vista, and Caroline E. Lewis, of San Gabriel, and a brother, the Rev. Art B. Fox, of Lake Elsinore.

Funeral services are scheduled for Pacific View Memorial Park in Newport Beach at 11.30 a.m. Saturday. Dr. John Huffman Jr., minister of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, will officiate.

The family has requested that donations be made to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, 301 N. Newport Boulevard, Newport Beach.