Vera Arlene Bridge
Vera Arlene Bridge, 87, passed peacefully in the arms of her daughter on October 5th,, 2015 after a long illness with Lewy Body Dementia. Her proud parents from Sweden, Gunnard and Esther Johnson welcomed her into the world on January 26, 1928 in Chicago Illinois. One of her favorite childhood memories was spending every summer living in a tent at the Dunes in Indiana with her family. She attended Fenger High School in Chicago where she was a cheerleader. After graduation she studied business at a small college in Chicago. She later fell in love with a former Fenger High football player, Wayne Bridge, and married.
In order to save enough money for their first home, Wayne and Vera moved to Saudi Arabia to work for ARAMCO for five years. They returned to Chicago and had two daughters , Kaarin and Ingrid. The family moved to California in 1960 and bought their first home in Van Nuys. In 1964 they relocated to Santa Barbara. Family vacations were spent fishing and camping in the Sierras. In the later years, Vera instilled the love of international travel in her daughter Ingrid. One of their favorite trips was a college graduation ski trip to Austria where they went sledding by lantern light. She took many wonderful trips with Kaarin to Kaarin's favorite place, Scottsdale, Arizona.
Vera was a stay-at-home mom when her children were young. When they were older, Vera began working as a secretary for the Goleta Union School District. She and Wayne eventually divorced, but remained good friends. Vera spent the next 25 years of her career at UCSB as an Administrative Assistant. She saved enough money to pay for her daughters' college educations. At UCSB, Vera had three wonderful bosses whom she dearly loved: Vice Chancellor Ed Birch, Head Men's Basketball Coach Jerry Pimm and Head Men's Basketball Coach Bob Williams. She worked full-time until she was 77 and loved her job.
Aside from her family, her two greatest loves were dogs and basketball. She especially loved beagles, ones that always seemed to eat the family birthday cakes and anything else in sight! Vera loved her days as a UCSB Gaucho fan and traveled extensively with her Gaucho buddies to basketball games. She would even skip her own birthday dinner if there was a Gaucho game on the same night. These UCSB years were truly her golden years.
In 2000, Vera (Nana) began living with Ingrid's family (Eric, Hanna and Anya). She enjoyed being close to her grandchildren and attended all of their school and sport events. She would pick them up after school and bring them to her job at UCSB where they would watch videos in the coaches' offices until it was time to go home or take them out for ice cream. Hanna and Anya felt especially blessed to have such a loving and sporty grandma. Every summer Vera and the family would vacation at Lake Tahoe where they created memories that will last a lifetime.
Vera was initially diagnosed with Alzheimer's and then later re-diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia. She continued to live with Ingrid's family and they did their best to meet her needs. As time went on, Gina Wagner assisted the family by compassionately caring for Vera while Ingrid was at work. Gina helped for three years until it became too difficult. The following months the family continued to try and meet all of Vera's needs, but the disease had progressed too far and gone beyond the care they were able to provide at home. They found a compassionate caring staff at Alexander Court, where Vera lived for 2 1/2 years.
Vera was the kindest, sweetest, most loving person you could ever meet. She truly was the best mom and grandmother in the world. Even in her final days, her love went beyond the disease and she lovingly smiled proudly at her granddaughter, Anya, and followed her every move with her eyes. Vera couldn't be more proud of her granddaughters. Her family felt she was a gift from God and anyone that knew her would know what they mean. She had a radiant smile they will never forget and a gentle soul.
Vera was preceded in death by her parents Gunnard and Esther Johnson, her ex-husband Wayne Bridge, her dear friend Bill Cobb, and her son-in-law Ted Knighten-El. She leaves behind two daughters, Kaarin Knighten-El and Ingrid Schmitz, a son-in-law Eric Schmitz, two lovely granddaughters Hanna Schmitz and Anya Schmitz and her beagle Greta. She will be missed tremendously, but her love will live on in her family.
The family will have a private celebration of life at sea and lovingly send her on her next journey. They would like to give special thanks to Dr. Anis from the Emergency Department at Cottage Hospital, the caring and compassionate staff at Alexander Court, Visiting Nurses and Hospice, and Gina Wagner for making this transition easier. Donations can be made to UCSB Men's Basketball or the Santa Barbara Humane Society in honor of Vera Bridge.