It is with great sorrow the family of Lillian R. Sawyer announces the passing of our beloved wife and mother on Saturday, April 30, 2022.
Lillian was born to parents Leo Forrest Ellison and Marie (Ortega) Ellison on November 16, 1932, in Columbus, Ohio. She was raised in San Diego and graduated from La Jolla High School in 1950 and San Diego State University in 1954 with a BA in Social Sciences.
She began a career as a Social Worker at San Diego County Hospital where she met her future husband John (Jack) D. Sawyer MD while he was doing his medical internship. They moved to Seattle in 1957 after John was inducted into the Navy. While In Seattle, Lillian continued working as a social worker at King County Hospital.
In 1959 John and Lillian moved to Akron, Ohio where John began a residency in General Surgery. While in Ohio, their two sons David and John were born.
Upon completion of John’s residency in General Surgery, the family moved back to California in 1963. The family settled in Lompoc where John set up his medical practice in 1963.
The family was complete with the arrival of Daughter Diane Marie who was born in Lompoc in 1965. Lillian continued her career as she directed Social Services at Lompoc District Hospital for 19 years, retiring in 1989.
She was active in the Children’s Home Society (past president) and was a charter member of the Lompoc Branch of AAUW, and the Republican Woman’s Club.
She was preceded in death by her parents Leo and Marie Ellison, sisters Carmen Taylor and Jean Klein, and brother Edward Ellison. She is survived by her husband John D. Sawyer, children, David B. Sawyer, John M. Sawyer, and Diane M. Dietrich (Sawyer), grandchildren, Jacqueline Krallman, Amanda Paige, Matthew Sawyer, Ryan Krallman, John Krallman, Jessica Sawyer, and Christina Sawyer.
The mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Monday, May 9, 2022, at 10 am at La Purisima Catholic Church followed by interment in the Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery.
