Obituary | Sofia A. Pineda

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April 16, 2021

On Saturday, April 3, 2021, Sofia A. Pineda passed away at the age of 80 in Oberlin, Ohio.
Sofia was born on July 19, 1940, in Managua, Nicaragua, to Porfirio Gómez Morales and Ángela Rojas Escoto. She attended La Resurrección Convent School in León, Nicaragua. In 1962 she moved to the United States taking up residence in San Francisco, California. In 1963 she married Roland Pineda. They raised two sons, Baron and André, in South Pasadena, California. She spent the last 8 years of her life in Oberlin and the last 2 years of those in Welcome Nursing Home where she battled dementia.
Sofia left Nicaragua with a yearning to experience all that the world had to offer. Along the way she charmed the people she met with her love of frank conversation, laughter and friendship. She was an empathetic soul who helped many and was helped by many – from strangers to dear friends. She was known for her elegance and style. She also was much loved for listening to people’s stories and giving them sage and direct advice. She was a dedicated wife and a loving and ardently supportive mother and grandmother. She loved dancing, reading, bridge, poker, tennis, and having lunch with her friends and family.
Sofia was preceded in death by her mother, father and eldest son, André Pineda, as well as her brother, Ronaldo Gómez, and her nephew, Armando Otero. She is survived by her husband, Roland Pineda; brothers Porfirio Gómez, Jose Dolores Gómez, Iván Gómez; her sister Lucrezia Otero; her son, Baron Pineda; her daughter-in-law, Gina Pérez; her 3 grandchildren (Antonio, Pablo and Lucia) and 15 nieces and nephews.
A funeral mass will be held at 11AM on Friday, April 16th at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oberlin. In lieu of flowers, a fund that honors her love for libraries and reading has been set up in her name, the Sofia Pineda Memorial Fund, at Oberlin Public Library, 65 S. Main Street, Oberlin, OH, 44074.

Veteran Photographer Highlights Dodgers’ Depth of Field

By

Oscar Areliz

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April 9, 2021

Photo courtesy Lon Rosen
Longtime Dodgers photographer Jon SooHoo (right), who is beginning his 37th season with the organization, is pictured above with former NBA player Jeremy Lin.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are picking up where they left off last year by winning five of their first six games of the 2021 season, and the defending World Series champions are set to play their home opener against the Washington Nationals today.
After what will be infamously known as Major League Baseball’s “pandemic season” that was shortened and did not allow spectators in Dodger Stadium due to COVID-19, L.A. fans will finally be able to watch stars such as Mookie Betts and Clayton Kershaw trot out of the dugout this weekend.
They will see another familiar face on the field — one that gave Dodgers fans images they will always cherish from an unforgettable 2020 campaign where their beloved team finally ended a 32-year World Series championship drought by defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in six games last October.

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Public Works Digs In to Shore Up Water Break on Easter

By

Zane Hill

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April 9, 2021

Photo courtesy Public Works Department
South Pasadena Public Works Department employees scrambled to repair a water main break early on Easter Sunday morning, working late into the night and continuing repairs on Monday.

The South Pasadena Public Works Department found itself in emergency mode during the early hours of Easter Sunday, hustling to repair a water main break that was gushing water after bursting through pavement.
The crew worked well into the night, unable to secure any of its usual contractors for the job due to the holiday.
A high-pressure water main along Indiana Avenue ruptured between Monterey Road and Alta Vista Avenue at around 6:49 a.m. Sunday, April 4. Public Works Director Shahid Abbas said the likely culprits were the cast iron pipes that were laid in the 1940s and which are vulnerable to cracking at any significant disruption.
The Easter holiday complicated matters as well for the small department, which typically retains contractors for more heavy duty work.

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Mural Will Pay Tribute to Kobe’s Legacy

By

Mitch Lehman

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April 9, 2021

Standing in front of the 15-foot-by-15-foot mural of Kobe Bryant, which is being painted at 1020 Mission Street in South Pasadena, include (from left) Andrew D. Bernstein, photographer and tenant; Sandy Kitto, president of SPARC; artist Jonas Never; building manager John Adamson; and Thano Adamson, building owner and owner of Mission Tile West.

An original mural of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, which is currently being painted by renowned artist Jonas Never, will be completed on April 13 at the 1020 Mission Street complex in South Pasadena.
The creation is a joint project commissioned by building owner Thano Adamson of Mission Tile West and tenant Andrew D. Bernstein. The project is co-sponsored by the South Pasadena Arts Council (SPARC).
Bernstein, the Lakers’ longtime team photographer and senior official photographer for the NBA, photographed the entirety of Kobe Bryant’s 20-year, Hall of Fame career and was co-author with Bryant on the bestselling book, “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play.” In 2018, Bernstein was honored by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with the prestigious Curt Gowdy Award for Media.
Never is painting the approximately 15-foot-by-15-foot mural from a photograph Bernstein took as Bryant left the court for the last time in a Lakers uniform on April 13, 2016, following a magical 60-point performance.
The mural unveiling coincides with the five-year anniversary of Bryant’s final professional game. It will be the first tribute mural to Bryant in South Pasadena. Other tribute murals throughout Southern California and the world can be viewed at kobemural.com.

Tigers On a Spring Roll

By

The Review

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April 9, 2021

Photo by Mitch Lehman / The Review
Sophomore Iris Pollard navigates her way downfield during South Pasadena girls’ recent soccer action.

Girls’ soccer is typically a CIF winter sport that takes place between November and February.
However, with the pandemic wreaking havoc on high school calendars (including athletics), the Tigers are enjoying this rare foray into the spring and boast a 2-0 record.
Sophomore Iris Pollard scored three goals when South Pasadena recently clobbered San Marino, 7-0. Junior Sadie Abelson added a goal and three assists and received support from senior Ava Carbonara and sophomores Sabrina Bluml and Ellie Yamada, each of whom scored a goal. Junior Bella Evans added three assists.
The Tigers travel to La Cañada on Wednesday, April 14, for a 3:30 p.m. game against the Spartans.

Huntington Hospital Sues Over Conditions Imposed on Affiliation

By

Camila Castellanos

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April 9, 2021

A lawsuit filed by Huntington Hospital and Cedars-Sinai Health System on March 30 in Los Angeles County Superior Court against the California Department of Justice and the office of the attorney general will challenge the “unprecedented conditions” imposed on them as a result of their proposed affiliation.
The conditions imposed by the attorney general would jeopardize Huntington’s and Cedars-Sinai’s ability to meet the community’s need for access to coordinated, specialized healthcare; lower costs; and provide resources needed for Huntington Hospital to continue critical clinical programs and services for its patients, the two entities said in a joint statement.
The proposed affiliation was announced in March 2020.

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Pandemic Trials of Fremont Centre Theatre

By

Andy Lippman

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April 9, 2021

Photo courtesy of Lissa Reynolds
Fremont Centre Theatre owners and co-artistic directors Lissa and James Reynolds (front), and producers of the YoungStar Theater, Jack and Gloria Bennett (back), struggled when the pandemic shut down all live theater. They hope better times lie ahead and they can soon resume programming.

It is months away from the 25th anniversary of the Fremont Centre Theatre.
And what did founders and co-artistic directors Lissa and James Reynolds get for a present?
Silence.
And — for a theater where actors perform and audiences react — that’s not a good thing.
Where once there was the laughter of children learning lines, now there is stillness. Where once actors wore costumes, those clothes and their accoutrements now rest on metal racks at stage-left. The playbills and photos from past shows still decorate the walls. The lovely courtyard awaits an opening night gala and the theater itself is as dark as the pandemic, which has hung over the city for the past year.
“It’s a silent theater. It’s not a good feeling,” concluded Lissa Reynolds. “There is a sadness because you came here [before the pandemic] and there were the kids and the rehearsals.”
The kids belong to the Young Stars Theater group, which has been putting on “junior” plays with actors age 3 all the way through high school. The quiet troubles also upset the two actors, John and Gloria Bennett, who have run the school for youngsters out of the Fremont since 2008.

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Tigers’ Solid Effort Foiled In Last-Play Loss

By

Mitch Lehman

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April 9, 2021

Photos courtesy Scott Daves
Junior tailback Jack Riffle lunges for extra yards while South Pasadena’s Andrew Buenrostro (61) looks for another opponent to block. The Tigers narrowly lost to San Marino, 22-20.

Losing hurts. Losing to your rival smarts a little but more. And losing to your rival in a game your team led until there was, literally, no time left on the clock, is downright excruciating.
South Pasadena High School head football coach Jeff Chi was still feeling the aggregate agony caused by all three of those factors earlier this week when he was asked about the Tigers’ gut-wrenching 22-20 loss to San Marino.
“I’m still thinking about it and I think I will be thinking about it for some time to come,” Chi said solemnly.
Last Friday night, Chi probably felt confident his squad had done enough to break the then-nine-game losing streak to the Titans and improve to 2-0 on the season when sophomore quarterback Jackson Freking scored on a 10-yard run to give the Tigers a 20-19 lead with a minute left to play in the game.

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Anti-Asian Rhetoric Impacts Locals

By

Zane Hill

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April 2, 2021

Photo courtesy office of Judy Chu
Congresswoman Judy Chu on Sunday leaves flowers outside of Young’s Asian Massage, one of three spas in the Atlanta area where a white gunman shot and killed eight in March, including six Asian women. The killings have helped crystallize a national moment of reckoning against historical prejudice against Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

In recent weeks especially, the Rev. Sam Park said he has had a number of congregants approach him with their thoughts, feelings and questions in tow.
All three have tended to revolve around the topic of hateful rhetoric against Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, which according to reports, has escalated notably in the past year and has come to a head in the last month with violent attacks and a mass shooting dominating national news. Park, founder of the ReNew United Methodist Church on Monterey Road, said it hasn’t been so much guidance that he offers his congregation, which Park estimates is about 60% Asian American.
“More than anything, I have just been listening,” Park said. “They are incredibly hurt. Some of them are afraid. I have someone who said for the first time in a long time she’s glad that people are wearing masks, because when she walks her dog, she can put on sunglasses and no one will know she’s an Asian American, which is very sad.”

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Kipke Named ‘Woman of Influence’

By

The Review

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April 2, 2021

Michele Kipke, a member of the South Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education, has been named among the “Women of Influence” in healthcare by the Los Angeles Business Journal.
The publication lauded Kipke as a nationally known health researcher and policy expert whose research has helped develop the field of HIV prevention. She is a professor of pediatrics and preventative medicine at Keck School of Medicine at USC and is also vice chair of research and a division chief at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. At USC, Kipke is also the co-director of the South California Clinical and Translational Science Institute.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kipke launched a research task force into the coronavirus at Keck School, where she helped coordinate pre-clinical and clinical research as well as population-based research. At the Science Institute, she also helped develop culturally specific messaging and programming to address fears and misconceptions about COVID-19 and the vaccines for the disease.
Kipke was among eight Keck affiliates and three from CHLA recognized by the Business Journal. There were 40 total women recognized as being “particularly stellar health industry stewards” in the L.A. area.
“The health care leaders listed in these pages were chosen by the Los Angeles Business Journal to be recognized for exceptional stewardship and achievement across the full spectrum of responsibility, exemplary leadership as evidenced by the highest professional and ethical standards, and for contributions to the health and wellbeing of the Los Angeles community at large,” the publication wrote.