Eleanor Hatlo Lusignan, a longtime resident of the Monterey Peninsula, passed away peacefully on August 22, 2009 at her home, just five weeks short of her 101st birthday. She was the widow of syndicated cartoonist Jimmy Hatlo, who died in 1963, and of prominent Monterey physician Harry Lusignan, who died in 1992.
She was born Lois Eleanor Dollard on September 29, 1908, in Collins, Ohio, the youngest of eight children. Her oldest sister disliked a local girl named Lois and promptly announced she would never use that name for the baby, so "Eleanor" stuck.
Eleanor attended Oberlin College in Ohio and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where she became a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. She later moved to San Francisco, where she worked in the advertising department of the Greyhound Bus company.
In November 1935 she and a girlfriend got tickets to a football luncheon sponsored by the San Francisco Advertising Club. The door prize was an original cartoon by Jimmy Hatlo, then the sports cartoonist for the San Francisco Call-Bulletin. Eleanor had the winning ticket. Her friend urged her to have Hatlo autograph the cartoon, saying it would make it more valuable. She was right.
Hatlo signed the artwork, mentioning that he happened to have tickets to the upcoming Stanford-California football game. He wondered if Eleanor would like to go. Years later she recalled that she wasn't too sure about him, but she did want to see the Big Game, so she accepted.
He was fond of saying, "The girl won the cartoon, but Hatlo won the girl!" They were married in Monterey in St. John's Chapel at the old Del Monte Hotel (now the Naval Postgraduate School) in May 1937.
Hatlo went on to become internationally known for his syndicated cartoons "They'll Do It Every Time" and "Little Iodine." Eleanor and Jimmy lived in San Francisco, Nantucket, and New York City. (Eleanor later credited her fashion sense to the coaching of friends who were New York models.)
After World War II the couple settled permanently in Carmel, buying a Monte Verde Street house that today is the Tally Ho Inn. They joined a Carmel cartoonists' colony that came to include such artists as Gus Arriola ("Gordo"), Frank O'Neal ("Short Ribs"), and Hank Ketcham ("Dennis the Menace").
A son, Jimmy Jr., was born in 1949. In 1952 the family relocated to Pebble Beach, moving into a home overlooking the 13th green of the Pebble Beach golf course. Hatlo dubbed it "Wit's End." They became known for parties during the annual Bing Crosby Pro-Am (today the AT&T Pro-Am), with Phil Harris and Alice Faye, Fred MacMurray, Guy Madison, and Bob Hope among the celebrity guests.
Eleanor grew deeply involved in Monterey Peninsula cultural organizations, including the Carmel Music Society, the Monterey Museum of Art, the Bach Festival, and the Monterey County Symphony Guild (now known as Friends of the Symphony). She frequently entertained visiting performers like opera diva Leontyne Price and baritone Robert Merrill.
A Red Cross "Gray Lady" volunteer during World War II, Eleanor was active in the organization of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. She served as one of the Auxiliary's "Pink Ladies" for decades. She also was a founding member of Monterey's Casa Abrego Club for women.
Jimmy Hatlo died in 1963. The following year, Eleanor married Dr. Harry Lusignan, who had the distinction of having been the first pediatrician in Monterey County. In the course of his long years of practice he cared for multiple generations of Monterey Peninsula residents and military families. The couple traveled after his retirement, and Eleanor grew used to hearing former patients call out "Hey - Dr. Lusignan!" wherever they went - even on a sidewalk in Athens, Greece.
Harry Lusignan died in 1992 after a long illness. She cared for him at their home until he passed away.
In later years Eleanor focused her energy on nurturing her family. Three of her four granddaughters lived with her at different times while attending school in Monterey. She saw two of them married, and eventually welcomed two great-grandchildren. Well into her 90's, Eleanor was a regular at the Carmel Foundation's exercise classes.
Eleanor was happiest when presiding over large family gatherings, with Hatlo and Lusignan family members enjoying her company. She had family constantly with her during her final months, with frequent visits from close friends. She never ceased being a gracious hostess.
Eleanor is survived by her son, Jim Hatlo of Fremont; her granddaughters, Heather Hatlo Porter of San Jose, Holly Hatlo of Pebble Beach, Jennifer Livingstone of Fremont, and Jessica Hatlo of Seattle; great-grandchildren, Ava Livingstone of Fremont and Harrison Hatlo Porter of San Jose; and a nephew, Charles R. Dipple of Alliance, Ohio.