Died on Saturday, May 19, 2018, in Oceanside, CA. She was 89. A remarkable person, Thill had an enormous impact on the people she encountered and the city she loved; her legacy of learning, friendship, community service, and institution-building far exceeded her goal "to make Oceanside a better place to live."
Thill was born in Oceanside, CA, on June 21, 1928. After earning a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Redlands in 1950, she taught elementary school, and then began devoting a great deal of energy to community organizing and service. In these latter activities, she revealed a keen talent for generating interest in civic projects that both distinguished the city and connected the community in meaningful ways, encouraging individuals and business leaders to volunteer, participate, and contribute. A hallmark of her achievements was that they were rooted in her curiosity-driven, optimistic leadership, which ultimately led to the highly collaborative creation of successful and well-established institutions.
Thill has been recognized for her vision and achievements in advancing education, history, art, and culture. As mayoral-appointed chair of the Oceanside Bicentennial Committee, she led in the establishment of the Heritage Park Village and Museum, with the collective aim of enriching civic life. The park incorporates an eclectic collection of late-nineteenth-century architecture, including an early newspaper building, a residence, and the first local jail. The buildings are situated in close proximity, creating an immersive educational destination that both represents and encourages interpretation of early life in the city. Thill said it was "important to me that we contribute something lasting, something that stood to mark the importance of the event."
This period of patriotism led to the development of the Meet the Americans program, which sought to cultivate relationships between communities of people from foreign countries living in North County, in order to further develop mutual international cultural understanding. Reflecting her enthusiasm, spontaneous inclusiveness, and inquisitive mind, her leadership and achievements were acknowledged with a city proclamation and a plaque at the park recognizing her selection as a "Woman of the Year."
Thill was also a trustee emeritus of the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA), which had its formal beginnings in an historic modernist building by architect Irving Gill in the 1990s, and she advocated for it to sustainably grow over time into a larger institution. These efforts bore fruit in 2008 with the addition of architect Frederick Fisher's award-winning Central Pavilion, which includes a library that bears Thill's name. OMA has served to help raise the city's profile and inspire local creativity through its exhibits and educational programs, and also provides a site for cultural production that deepens and extends dialogues on important contemporary topics through its ambitious exhibitions and broad news coverage of them.
Thill expressed ongoing enthusiasm for OMA and exhibited her trademark amazement at the attendance at its early exhibits, as she met people who traveled by train from Los Angeles and arrived from far-flung countries. She was especially passionate about OMA's educational programs aimed at engaging young people in the arts, evoking her own contributions as an educator. She happily recounted that when an instructor asked if a student needed more paper, he emphatically replied, "Yes, you can't stop art!"
Her love of learning and reading found expression in service through her ongoing relationship with the Oceanside Public Library, which included membership in the Friends of the Library and her initiative the Book Memorial Program, which she designed to encourage people to donate new books to the library, both to honor individuals and to personalize and expand the library's collection. This is a representative example of her ability to create unique, lasting ways for individuals to contribute to the community.
In 2001, Thill's service was recognized with a Women of Merit Award by the North County Times, which was outspokenly described by its creator as for "women who saw a need and did something about it!" In fact, Thill's efforts to identify, promote, and mentor women to be successful in leadership roles were an important part of all her endeavors. Engaging people and ideas and making progress animated her service; she believed that individuals can contribute to improving and enriching the community in their own ways and through their own unique interests.
In 2010, Thill was inducted into the Oceanside High School Hall of Fame for Community Service, sharing the honor with athlete Junior Seau, among others. In 2016, the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce recognized her 65 years of public service.
She enjoyed surf fishing and hunting at El Club de Cazadores de La Grulla, knitting afghans – which she also donated to programs for families and individuals in the community – and hearing or telling a good joke or story. She was well known for taking a personal interest in and appreciating nearly every person she met, demonstrating her passion for inquiry by finding the connections between people who were new to her and eliciting the latest happenings from longtime friends, with such cheerfully disarming open-ended questions as "What's new?"
Thill was preceded in death by her husband, John A. Thill, of Oceanside, CA; her mother, Dora Wilcox, of Oceanside, CA, her father, Ray A. Wilcox, of Oceanside, and her sister, Mariana Magana, of Redlands, CA.
She is survived by daughter Robin T. Beck and son-in-law Michael H. McCann, of Laguna Niguel, CA, and grandsons Jack Beck, of Oakland, CA, and Alec Andrew Beck and Amelia Brodka, of Vista, CA; son Randall J. Thill, daughter-in-law Karen Spignese Thill, and granddaughters Kristina Thill and husband Aaron Alarcon, of Oceanside, CA, and Andrea Thill, of Vista, CA; daughter Patty Thill, of San Diego, CA; son John Thill, daughter-in-law Annette Thill, and granddaughters Nicole and Natalie Thill, of Oceanside, CA; son Robert Thill, of Brooklyn, NY; and nephew David Wilcox, of Chesapeake, VA, and nephew Kevin Bender, of Carlsbad, CA.
Thill was born in Oceanside, CA, on June 21, 1928. After earning a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Redlands in 1950, she taught elementary school, and then began devoting a great deal of energy to community organizing and service. In these latter activities, she revealed a keen talent for generating interest in civic projects that both distinguished the city and connected the community in meaningful ways, encouraging individuals and business leaders to volunteer, participate, and contribute. A hallmark of her achievements was that they were rooted in her curiosity-driven, optimistic leadership, which ultimately led to the highly collaborative creation of successful and well-established institutions.
Thill has been recognized for her vision and achievements in advancing education, history, art, and culture. As mayoral-appointed chair of the Oceanside Bicentennial Committee, she led in the establishment of the Heritage Park Village and Museum, with the collective aim of enriching civic life. The park incorporates an eclectic collection of late-nineteenth-century architecture, including an early newspaper building, a residence, and the first local jail. The buildings are situated in close proximity, creating an immersive educational destination that both represents and encourages interpretation of early life in the city. Thill said it was "important to me that we contribute something lasting, something that stood to mark the importance of the event."
This period of patriotism led to the development of the Meet the Americans program, which sought to cultivate relationships between communities of people from foreign countries living in North County, in order to further develop mutual international cultural understanding. Reflecting her enthusiasm, spontaneous inclusiveness, and inquisitive mind, her leadership and achievements were acknowledged with a city proclamation and a plaque at the park recognizing her selection as a "Woman of the Year."
Thill was also a trustee emeritus of the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA), which had its formal beginnings in an historic modernist building by architect Irving Gill in the 1990s, and she advocated for it to sustainably grow over time into a larger institution. These efforts bore fruit in 2008 with the addition of architect Frederick Fisher's award-winning Central Pavilion, which includes a library that bears Thill's name. OMA has served to help raise the city's profile and inspire local creativity through its exhibits and educational programs, and also provides a site for cultural production that deepens and extends dialogues on important contemporary topics through its ambitious exhibitions and broad news coverage of them.
Thill expressed ongoing enthusiasm for OMA and exhibited her trademark amazement at the attendance at its early exhibits, as she met people who traveled by train from Los Angeles and arrived from far-flung countries. She was especially passionate about OMA's educational programs aimed at engaging young people in the arts, evoking her own contributions as an educator. She happily recounted that when an instructor asked if a student needed more paper, he emphatically replied, "Yes, you can't stop art!"
Her love of learning and reading found expression in service through her ongoing relationship with the Oceanside Public Library, which included membership in the Friends of the Library and her initiative the Book Memorial Program, which she designed to encourage people to donate new books to the library, both to honor individuals and to personalize and expand the library's collection. This is a representative example of her ability to create unique, lasting ways for individuals to contribute to the community.
In 2001, Thill's service was recognized with a Women of Merit Award by the North County Times, which was outspokenly described by its creator as for "women who saw a need and did something about it!" In fact, Thill's efforts to identify, promote, and mentor women to be successful in leadership roles were an important part of all her endeavors. Engaging people and ideas and making progress animated her service; she believed that individuals can contribute to improving and enriching the community in their own ways and through their own unique interests.
In 2010, Thill was inducted into the Oceanside High School Hall of Fame for Community Service, sharing the honor with athlete Junior Seau, among others. In 2016, the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce recognized her 65 years of public service.
She enjoyed surf fishing and hunting at El Club de Cazadores de La Grulla, knitting afghans – which she also donated to programs for families and individuals in the community – and hearing or telling a good joke or story. She was well known for taking a personal interest in and appreciating nearly every person she met, demonstrating her passion for inquiry by finding the connections between people who were new to her and eliciting the latest happenings from longtime friends, with such cheerfully disarming open-ended questions as "What's new?"
Thill was preceded in death by her husband, John A. Thill, of Oceanside, CA; her mother, Dora Wilcox, of Oceanside, CA, her father, Ray A. Wilcox, of Oceanside, and her sister, Mariana Magana, of Redlands, CA.
She is survived by daughter Robin T. Beck and son-in-law Michael H. McCann, of Laguna Niguel, CA, and grandsons Jack Beck, of Oakland, CA, and Alec Andrew Beck and Amelia Brodka, of Vista, CA; son Randall J. Thill, daughter-in-law Karen Spignese Thill, and granddaughters Kristina Thill and husband Aaron Alarcon, of Oceanside, CA, and Andrea Thill, of Vista, CA; daughter Patty Thill, of San Diego, CA; son John Thill, daughter-in-law Annette Thill, and granddaughters Nicole and Natalie Thill, of Oceanside, CA; son Robert Thill, of Brooklyn, NY; and nephew David Wilcox, of Chesapeake, VA, and nephew Kevin Bender, of Carlsbad, CA.
Died on Saturday, May 19, 2018, in Oceanside, CA. She was 89. A remarkable person, Thill had an enormous impact on the people she encountered and the city she loved; her legacy of learning, friendship, community service, and institution-building far exceeded her goal "to make Oceanside a better place to live."
Thill was born in Oceanside, CA, on June 21, 1928. After earning a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Redlands in 1950, she taught elementary school, and then began devoting a great deal of energy to community organizing and service. In these latter activities, she revealed a keen talent for generating interest in civic projects that both distinguished the city and connected the community in meaningful ways, encouraging individuals and business leaders to volunteer, participate, and contribute. A hallmark of her achievements was that they were rooted in her curiosity-driven, optimistic leadership, which ultimately led to the highly collaborative creation of successful and well-established institutions.
Thill has been recognized for her vision and achievements in advancing education, history, art, and culture. As mayoral-appointed chair of the Oceanside Bicentennial Committee, she led in the establishment of the Heritage Park Village and Museum, with the collective aim of enriching civic life. The park incorporates an eclectic collection of late-nineteenth-century architecture, including an early newspaper building, a residence, and the first local jail. The buildings are situated in close proximity, creating an immersive educational destination that both represents and encourages interpretation of early life in the city. Thill said it was "important to me that we contribute something lasting, something that stood to mark the importance of the event."
This period of patriotism led to the development of the Meet the Americans program, which sought to cultivate relationships between communities of people from foreign countries living in North County, in order to further develop mutual international cultural understanding. Reflecting her enthusiasm, spontaneous inclusiveness, and inquisitive mind, her leadership and achievements were acknowledged with a city proclamation and a plaque at the park recognizing her selection as a "Woman of the Year."
Thill was also a trustee emeritus of the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA), which had its formal beginnings in an historic modernist building by architect Irving Gill in the 1990s, and she advocated for it to sustainably grow over time into a larger institution. These efforts bore fruit in 2008 with the addition of architect Frederick Fisher's award-winning Central Pavilion, which includes a library that bears Thill's name. OMA has served to help raise the city's profile and inspire local creativity through its exhibits and educational programs, and also provides a site for cultural production that deepens and extends dialogues on important contemporary topics through its ambitious exhibitions and broad news coverage of them.
Thill expressed ongoing enthusiasm for OMA and exhibited her trademark amazement at the attendance at its early exhibits, as she met people who traveled by train from Los Angeles and arrived from far-flung countries. She was especially passionate about OMA's educational programs aimed at engaging young people in the arts, evoking her own contributions as an educator. She happily recounted that when an instructor asked if a student needed more paper, he emphatically replied, "Yes, you can't stop art!"
Her love of learning and reading found expression in service through her ongoing relationship with the Oceanside Public Library, which included membership in the Friends of the Library and her initiative the Book Memorial Program, which she designed to encourage people to donate new books to the library, both to honor individuals and to personalize and expand the library's collection. This is a representative example of her ability to create unique, lasting ways for individuals to contribute to the community.
In 2001, Thill's service was recognized with a Women of Merit Award by the North County Times, which was outspokenly described by its creator as for "women who saw a need and did something about it!" In fact, Thill's efforts to identify, promote, and mentor women to be successful in leadership roles were an important part of all her endeavors. Engaging people and ideas and making progress animated her service; she believed that individuals can contribute to improving and enriching the community in their own ways and through their own unique interests.
In 2010, Thill was inducted into the Oceanside High School Hall of Fame for Community Service, sharing the honor with athlete Junior Seau, among others. In 2016, the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce recognized her 65 years of public service.
She enjoyed surf fishing and hunting at El Club de Cazadores de La Grulla, knitting afghans – which she also donated to programs for families and individuals in the community – and hearing or telling a good joke or story. She was well known for taking a personal interest in and appreciating nearly every person she met, demonstrating her passion for inquiry by finding the connections between people who were new to her and eliciting the latest happenings from longtime friends, with such cheerfully disarming open-ended questions as "What's new?"
Thill was preceded in death by her husband, John A. Thill, of Oceanside, CA; her mother, Dora Wilcox, of Oceanside, CA, her father, Ray A. Wilcox, of Oceanside, and her sister, Mariana Magana, of Redlands, CA.
She is survived by daughter Robin T. Beck and son-in-law Michael H. McCann, of Laguna Niguel, CA, and grandsons Jack Beck, of Oakland, CA, and Alec Andrew Beck and Amelia Brodka, of Vista, CA; son Randall J. Thill, daughter-in-law Karen Spignese Thill, and granddaughters Kristina Thill and husband Aaron Alarcon, of Oceanside, CA, and Andrea Thill, of Vista, CA; daughter Patty Thill, of San Diego, CA; son John Thill, daughter-in-law Annette Thill, and granddaughters Nicole and Natalie Thill, of Oceanside, CA; son Robert Thill, of Brooklyn, NY; and nephew David Wilcox, of Chesapeake, VA, and nephew Kevin Bender, of Carlsbad, CA.
Thill was born in Oceanside, CA, on June 21, 1928. After earning a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Redlands in 1950, she taught elementary school, and then began devoting a great deal of energy to community organizing and service. In these latter activities, she revealed a keen talent for generating interest in civic projects that both distinguished the city and connected the community in meaningful ways, encouraging individuals and business leaders to volunteer, participate, and contribute. A hallmark of her achievements was that they were rooted in her curiosity-driven, optimistic leadership, which ultimately led to the highly collaborative creation of successful and well-established institutions.
Thill has been recognized for her vision and achievements in advancing education, history, art, and culture. As mayoral-appointed chair of the Oceanside Bicentennial Committee, she led in the establishment of the Heritage Park Village and Museum, with the collective aim of enriching civic life. The park incorporates an eclectic collection of late-nineteenth-century architecture, including an early newspaper building, a residence, and the first local jail. The buildings are situated in close proximity, creating an immersive educational destination that both represents and encourages interpretation of early life in the city. Thill said it was "important to me that we contribute something lasting, something that stood to mark the importance of the event."
This period of patriotism led to the development of the Meet the Americans program, which sought to cultivate relationships between communities of people from foreign countries living in North County, in order to further develop mutual international cultural understanding. Reflecting her enthusiasm, spontaneous inclusiveness, and inquisitive mind, her leadership and achievements were acknowledged with a city proclamation and a plaque at the park recognizing her selection as a "Woman of the Year."
Thill was also a trustee emeritus of the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA), which had its formal beginnings in an historic modernist building by architect Irving Gill in the 1990s, and she advocated for it to sustainably grow over time into a larger institution. These efforts bore fruit in 2008 with the addition of architect Frederick Fisher's award-winning Central Pavilion, which includes a library that bears Thill's name. OMA has served to help raise the city's profile and inspire local creativity through its exhibits and educational programs, and also provides a site for cultural production that deepens and extends dialogues on important contemporary topics through its ambitious exhibitions and broad news coverage of them.
Thill expressed ongoing enthusiasm for OMA and exhibited her trademark amazement at the attendance at its early exhibits, as she met people who traveled by train from Los Angeles and arrived from far-flung countries. She was especially passionate about OMA's educational programs aimed at engaging young people in the arts, evoking her own contributions as an educator. She happily recounted that when an instructor asked if a student needed more paper, he emphatically replied, "Yes, you can't stop art!"
Her love of learning and reading found expression in service through her ongoing relationship with the Oceanside Public Library, which included membership in the Friends of the Library and her initiative the Book Memorial Program, which she designed to encourage people to donate new books to the library, both to honor individuals and to personalize and expand the library's collection. This is a representative example of her ability to create unique, lasting ways for individuals to contribute to the community.
In 2001, Thill's service was recognized with a Women of Merit Award by the North County Times, which was outspokenly described by its creator as for "women who saw a need and did something about it!" In fact, Thill's efforts to identify, promote, and mentor women to be successful in leadership roles were an important part of all her endeavors. Engaging people and ideas and making progress animated her service; she believed that individuals can contribute to improving and enriching the community in their own ways and through their own unique interests.
In 2010, Thill was inducted into the Oceanside High School Hall of Fame for Community Service, sharing the honor with athlete Junior Seau, among others. In 2016, the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce recognized her 65 years of public service.
She enjoyed surf fishing and hunting at El Club de Cazadores de La Grulla, knitting afghans – which she also donated to programs for families and individuals in the community – and hearing or telling a good joke or story. She was well known for taking a personal interest in and appreciating nearly every person she met, demonstrating her passion for inquiry by finding the connections between people who were new to her and eliciting the latest happenings from longtime friends, with such cheerfully disarming open-ended questions as "What's new?"
Thill was preceded in death by her husband, John A. Thill, of Oceanside, CA; her mother, Dora Wilcox, of Oceanside, CA, her father, Ray A. Wilcox, of Oceanside, and her sister, Mariana Magana, of Redlands, CA.
She is survived by daughter Robin T. Beck and son-in-law Michael H. McCann, of Laguna Niguel, CA, and grandsons Jack Beck, of Oakland, CA, and Alec Andrew Beck and Amelia Brodka, of Vista, CA; son Randall J. Thill, daughter-in-law Karen Spignese Thill, and granddaughters Kristina Thill and husband Aaron Alarcon, of Oceanside, CA, and Andrea Thill, of Vista, CA; daughter Patty Thill, of San Diego, CA; son John Thill, daughter-in-law Annette Thill, and granddaughters Nicole and Natalie Thill, of Oceanside, CA; son Robert Thill, of Brooklyn, NY; and nephew David Wilcox, of Chesapeake, VA, and nephew Kevin Bender, of Carlsbad, CA.
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