Dolores Meeker; 9th-Generation Link to San Juan Capistrano Past

Dolores Wattenberg Meeker, a ninth-generation San Juan Capistrano woman whose ancestor was a soldier in the 1769 Spanish expedition that brought the first Europeans to Orange County, has died. She was 83.

Meeker died Sunday after falling at her home, said her son, Gary Meeker.

Services will be held Friday at Mission San Juan Capistrano, where Dolores Meeker worked as a docent in the 1920s and ‘30s. The family home, where she lived from age 9, sits on a hill overlooking the mission, which was founded by Father Junipero Serra, who also came with the Portola Expedition.

Meeker’s ancestor of several centuries ago was Jose Antonio Yorba, one of the 62 or 63 Catalan soldiers led by Gaspar de Portola through what is now Orange County, a local historian said. It would be seven more years before the mission was built.

In honor of her life spent in San Juan Capistrano, Meeker was named the city’s matriarch in 1995 by the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society, a largely ceremonial role but a prominent one. Meeker and a designated patriarch, Richard Mendelson, represented the city at the annual Fiesta Parade and events leading up to Swallows Day as reminders of the town’s rich history, said Tony Forster, historical society president. He said the titles were an invention of the society, not drawn from Spanish tradition.

As the town’s ambassador, Meeker was initially a reluctant dignitary.

“She wasn’t real enthused about it at the front end, because she’s really very shy--until you know her--and she hadn’t spoken into a mike before,” said Forster, who lived two doors down from Meeker and was her first baby-sitting charge. “She said, ‘I’ll only do it for a little while, until you get someone to do it permanently.’ ”

Dressed in colorful Spanish dresses and mantillas, Meeker reigned as matriarch until her death. It was unclear if a replacement would be named before March 19, Swallows Day, when numerous city activities are planned.

She was born June 8, 1917, in San Juan Capistrano, one of five children. Her parents were strapped financially, and her more wealthy aunt was lonely and unable to bear children, so she took Dolores under her wing, said Gary Meeker. “She cultivated her,” he said, and this upbringing allowed Dolores to attend a Catholic high school.

Dolores Meeker married, had a son and daughter, then divorced. Eventually, she moved back into her aunt’s home, which her uncle had built in 1926 atop the hill overlooking the mission.

Over the years, Meeker was able to support herself with good investments and the vast cattle, sheep and land holdings other wealthy relatives handed down through the generations, her son said. One such relative was Don Juan Avila--nicknamed “El Rico,” for his riches. He had owned Rancho Niguel.

A viewing will take place at 8:30 a.m. Friday at the mission’s old Junipero Serra chapel, followed by services at 9:30 a.m. There will then be a half-mile processional from the mission to the old cemetery, where Meeker will be buried in one of her favorite Spanish dresses and matching mantilla.

She is survived by her son, daughter Janel Ross of the Bay Area, seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.