Memorials › Nettie Mae Myers Pinnell

Nettie Mae Myers Pinnell

11 Mar 1902 – 11 Oct 1999

Birth11 Mar 1902
Death11 Oct 1999
CemeteryCypress View Mausoleum and Crematory
San Diego , San Diego County , California , USA
Added bypLot Lzrd on 09 May 2021
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/224910661

Bio

San Diego Union-Tribune, The (CA) - Friday, October 22, 1999 When Nettie Mae Pinnell settled in San Diego in 1931 with her husband, Richard, jobs were scarce in a Depression-ravaged economy. But work resulting from the devastating 1933 earthquake in Long Beach gave her husband, an aspiring architect, the opportunity he needed. By 1944, the couple were partners in their own San Diego architectural firm. With Mrs. Pinnell relying on her background in business education, and her husband providing the technical expertise, the firm designed private homes, social service buildings for the Salvation Army and a sorority house at San Diego State. Mrs. Pinnell, who became a fixture in various civic and charitable organizations over the years, died Oct. 11 in her La Jolla home. She was 97. The cause of death was complications from a stroke and congestive heart failure, said Daniel Foster, a family friend. While the Pinnells operated their architectural firm, Mrs. Pinnell served during the 1950s as San Diego's representative in the California Women's Architectural League. Her husband, who had served on the national board of the Salvation Army, found steady work in San Diego in a firm headed by William Templeton Johnson, designer of the San Diego History Museum and the Fine Arts Gallery. Before long, Mr. Johnson had established a reputation of his own, designing the Ford Bowl in Balboa Park and working on plans for a downtown post office. Mr. Pinnell's husband died of a heart attack in 1967 at age 63. Two years later, she moved the family home, which her husband had designed in 1957 on La Jolla Boulevard, to a lot above Kate Sessions Park on Mount Soledad. She lived there for the rest of her life. "After her husband's death, Nettie gave herself primarily to community and charity work," Foster said. "She was known for her quick wit, forthrightness and intelligence and a fearless pioneering spirit." Mrs. Pinnell was a founding member in 1977 of the Soledad Club, a nonprofit organization in Pacific Beach, where she was an avid bridge player and participant in charitable work. She also volunteered for United Way and the Salvation Army and was active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Women's Republican Club. One of seven children in her family, Mrs. Pinnell was born on a farm in Burwell, Neb. She graduated from Nebraska State Teachers College in Kearney and taught business communication in Nebraska for three years. In 1926, she married Richard Pinnell, whom she had met in college. The couple lived in Seattle and San Francisco before moving to San Diego. Mrs. Pinnell's husband was instrumental in drawing up plans for the reconstruction of Long Beach Polytechnic High School after the earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 had left 115 dead. The Pinnells eventually settled in Mission Hills and opened their architectural office on Fir Street. In 1947, the Pinnell firm designed the clubhouse for the Mission Valley Golf Club, which opened the Stardust Country Club. Today the course, reconfigured after the installation of a San Diego Trolley Line, is known as Riverwalk Golf Course. For 30 years, Mrs. Pinnell was active in Community Congregational Church of Pacific Beach. She directed a scholarship program there for underprivileged children in such countries as Mexico and India. "Even at 95, with a variety of ailments, from pneumonia to a series of strokes and numerous infections, Nettie recovered to be able to walk and get out of the house daily," Foster said. Mrs. Pinnell is survived by several nephews and nieces. Services were Saturday at Community Congregational Church of Pacific Beach. Entombment was Monday at Cypress View Mausoleum. Donations are suggested to the Community Congregational Church of Pacific Beach, 2088 Beryl St., San Diego 92109.

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