Services Saturday for Hulda Kettler Stoner; Oldest Native Californian
Services are scheduled Saturday for Hulda Kettler Stoner, who was believed to be the oldest living native Californian. She died Jan. 21 at the age of 109.
Mrs. Stoner, who lived in Santa Monica, was born Dec. 4, 1881, on her pioneer German immigrant family’s ranch in the Wilmington area. The 240-acre ranch had been purchased from the holder of a Mexican land grant.
While visiting a cousin in 1906, Mrs. Stoner personally experienced the San Francisco earthquake.
Her granddaughter, Laurie Merryfield, said Mrs. Stoner often recalled other events in her long life--including arduous family vacation trips to Calabasas by horse and wagon, and the first automobile, radio and phonograph in Los Angeles County. She had been equally intrigued, the granddaughter said, with television coverage of the 1969 moon landing.
Mrs. Stoner, a former teacher who maintained an apartment until she was 103, attributed her longevity to a moderate lifestyle and good luck.
Survivors in addition to her granddaughter include a sister, Lucy Marshall of Newport Beach, a daughter, Eileen Abel of Santa Monica, two great-granddaughters and two great-great grandsons.
The memorial service will be at 11 a.m. in the First United Methodist Church, Santa Monica.
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