Marie Gunter, 69, Member of 2 Historic County Families, Dies After Long Illness

Marie Gunter, a member of two historic San Juan Capistrano families, died this week at South Coast Medical Center after a long illness. She was 69.

Mrs. Gunter’s paternal grandparents, William and Frederika Stroschein, moved from the German settlement in Anaheim to San Juan Capistrano in 1887 after purchasing farmland from the Mission San Juan Capistrano.

Her maternal grandparents, Jose and Francesca Nieblas, were longtime San Juan Capistrano residents who relocated to the city from Santa Ana in 1921 and spent most of their lives in the historic Olivares House on Los Rios Street.

Mrs. Gunter was born in a cottage on River Street in the city’s Los Rios Historic District on Feb. 17, 1924. She was a graduate of the class of 1941 at the former Capistrano Union High School, where she was the editor of The Chimes, a yearbook that won the school’s first national award.

Mrs. Gunter, a life member of the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society, was raised in another city landmark, the yellow house on El Camino Real across the street from the mission. Her family still owns the home, which is now part of the city’s commercial district.

She is survived by her husband, Dave Gunter of San Juan Capistrano; her mother, Ruth Stroschein of San Juan Capistrano; two daughters and four grandchildren. One of her daughters, Pamela Hallan-Gibson of San Juan Capistrano, is a local historian, writer and currently the city manager of La Palma.

No funeral services will be held.