Friday, July 9, 2010
Page 3
Services Set for Tomorrow for Probate Practitioner Peggy Almquist
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A memorial service has been set for tomorrow for Pasadena probate practitioner Peggy Almquist, who died June 24 at age 89.
The service is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the La Canada Presbyterian Church, located at 626 Foothill Boulevard in La Canada.
A member of the State Bar since 1974, Almquist was a longtime participant on Los Angeles County’s Probate Volunteer Panel Program, which appoints qualified private counsel to act as advocates for proposed conservatees, often abused elders, and other at-risk individuals, in primarily conservatorship and guardianship cases.
Attorney John Rogers, a member with Almquist of a probate case law study group, said Almquist “took her responsibilities as an elder lawyer seriously,” adding: “She was an unrelenting champion for the older men and women who had been victimized. She would literally never give up on a case.”
Born Vynette Dolores Klein in St. Louis, Mo., Almquist reportedly at age 4 became weary of her given name and announced to all who would listen that she would henceforth be called “Peggy.”
She moved to La Canada as a young woman and attended USC while bringing up three children with her husband, Carl. She graduated from Southwestern School of Law in 1974, and while there came to the attention of television host Art Linkletter, who was fascinated by the concept of a woman attending law school while raising a family.
Linkletter would go on to interview Almquist on his nationally-broadcast show, but Rogers said it was “indicative of the sort of woman Peggy was that she never really understood why he was making a big deal about her situation.”
Almquist also spent years an instructor at the Arthur Murray Dance Studios, and for a brief period actually worked with Murray himself.
She met her husband while he was one of the students, and the pair went on to be married for 59 years.
Almquist is survived by her husband; her three sons Robert Dobbs Almquist, Carl Louis Almquist III, and John William Almquist; two daughters-in-law; and nine grandchildren.
Copyright 2010, Metropolitan News Company