Lilian Gwendoline Staple, Ph.D. passed away on Friday, Jan. 10, 2003. She was 82 years old. Born in London, England, Lilian supported the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain, enlisting in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and working in the Radar Division. She married George Kujawski in 1944. After the war, she attended art school in London. In 1950 she immigrated with her husband and young daughter first to Toronto, Canada and later to the United States in 1953, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1959. Living in Pittsfield, Mass., her family grew with the birth of another daughter and two sons.
In 1961, the family moved to the San Fernando Valley and she began her college education, first at Pierce Community College, and later at UCLA, where she completed her masters in art history in 1969. She began teaching art history first at East LA City College, then at Santa Monica City College beginning in 1972.
She has been a Santa Monica resident since 1976. She earned her Ph.D. in art history from UCLA in 1990, publishing her dissertation on the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood and the Dissident Tradition in British Art. At the same time as pursuing higher education, she became a licensed real estate broker in commercial real estate and a property owner in Santa Monica. Until two years ago, Lilian taught art history at the Santa Monica City Emeritus College. She also was an artist, poet, member of Mensa, and an avid technophile, digitizing her instructional materials and using the Internet to gather information from around the world. She devoted her life to her family and to her love of learning. She was a treasure to her family and will be sorely missed.
She is survived by her brother Ken Staple of Wales, UK; her four children: Teresa Nield, John Kujawski, Sylvia Corwin and Peter Kujawski and her five grandchildren, Wendy Nield, Russell Nield, Andy Nield, Benjamin Corwin and Joseph Corwin.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18, at the First United Methodist Church of Santa Monica.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 15, 2003. Read the original PDF.