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Lillian 'Dearie' Cornelius

Lillian "Dearie" Cornelius, aged 93, passed away on July 3, 2011. Born on April 25, 1918, in El Verano to Earnest and Pearl Cliff, she was the youngest of six children. She was 7 when her mother died, and was raised by her father, two sisters, and grandmother, Minnie Freck. Lillian attended El Verano Grammar School, and graduated in 1936 from Sonoma Valley High School. She then studied business and worked for Napa Savings and Loan, Studebaker, Bishop Motors, Hansel Ford and Hansel Leasing, retiring in 1978.

She married Emil "Dutch" Cornelius in 1942, and the two spent their early-married years raising chickens on her father's ranch. Their son, John, was born in 1946, and the family moved to Santa Rosa in 1949. She and Emil remained there until his death in 2003, when she moved to Novato to be close John and her daughter-in-law, Vicki.

She learned how to cook and bake, and sew and knit (making many of her own clothes) from her grandmother. She was also an accomplished artist, drawing and sketching at her leisure and designing and drawing plans for the many homes built by her husband in the Sonoma and Santa Rosa areas.

Lillian is survived by her son and daughter-in-law of Novato; grandson Matthew, also of Novato; and grandson Christopher of Los Angeles.

At her request, there will be no funeral services. She will be laid to rest in Mountain Cemetery in Sonoma.