Ellen Lantaff

Ellen Lantaff, 92 years old and longtime Sun City resident, passed away peacefully on January 31, 2011. She was born and raised in Nebraska. Following WWII, she married Robert E. Lantaff and moved to Riverside, California where they raised four children. Following Robert’s death in 1981, she moved to Sun City and led a full and involved life. She was an avid card player and quite active in the community, particularly in support of St. Clement’s and the meals program at the Olive Branch Center. She was especially proud of her participation in a program of sewing Christmas dresses for elementary school girls in Surprise, AZ. For many years, she personally made hundreds of beautiful dresses, each unique, and was especially fond of the day on which the little girls got to choose their own. She is survived by her sister, Betty Budler of Sun City, AZ and brothers, John Finn (Marge) of Kansas, Richard Finn (Edna) of Texas, and Dean Finn of Sun City. She is also survived by her children: Roger Lantaff (Teri) of Washington, Ruth Baran (Kurt) of California, Gary Lantaff (Barbara) of Colorado and Mary Hogan (Richard) of Sun City as well as her 8 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. She has many, many nieces and nephews who will miss her dearly. A memorial mass at St. Clement of Rome Catholic Church with a remembrance to follow will be held on March 5, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Ellen’s name to Valley View Community Food Bank, Youngtown.