Tuesday, February 10, 2015 OBITUARIES


Tom Eckert 1938-2015


as a literacy tutor for many years. Tom kept himself physically and mentally fit through programs at the Osher Lifelong Learning In- stitute (OLLI) at CSUF and was an avid fan of college football, especially when the University of Oregon was playing. Tom is survived by his wife


Tom was born at St. John’s


Hospital in Santa Monica on Jan. 7, 1938, and spent his childhood in California, Iowa and Oregon. He graduated from Lebanon Union High School, and served in the U.S. Air Force from 1956 to 1960 as a radio engineer. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in physics in 1963. Upon graduation, Tom went to


work as an electronics engineer at Aerojet in Sacramento. He con- tinued to work at four different Aerojet locations throughout his career, until he retired in 2000. Tom served as president of Aero- jet Toastmasters and the Fullerton Youth Science Center. Tom married Marlene Weiss-


man MacNeal in 1989. Tom and Marlene travelled extensively, both in the U.S. and abroad. They returned from a trip to Park City just four days before his passing on Jan. 21. He was a lover of libraries and


had served as a tireless volunteer with the Friends of the Orange Public Library. He also served


Marlene, daughters Katherine Eckert (Grant Taylor) and Heidi Lenhardt (Mike); grandchildren Owen and Silas Taylor; Leah, Lana and Elle Lenhardt; and Katherine’s mother, his first wife Carolyn Eckert. He was prede- ceased by his parents, Lewis and Virginia, and his brother Jim. A memorial service will be held


at the Orange Public Library – Main Branch on Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. and all are welcome, including children. In lieu of flowers, do- nations to Friends of the Orange Public Library or Osher Lifelong Learning Institute will gratefully be accepted.


Nettie


Courtney 1937-2015


Retired high school counseling


technician Netti Courtney passed away on January 22. She was 78. Nettie began as a substitute


secretary for the Tustin Unified School District in 1987, and be- came a counseling technician at Foothill High, helping to provide assistance to the school guidance and counseling staff, before retir- ing in 2007. She is survived by daughters


Barbara and Debra; daughter-in- law Debbie; sons Ron, Bill and Josh; and seven grandchildren.


Library offers variety of events John P. Nastasi, 53, passed


away in November 2014 at his home in North Fork, California. John was born in Orange on May 19, 1961 and lived there until 2012. He enjoyed fishing, hunting and playing the guitar, and is lov- ingly remembered by his children James and Nikki Nastasi; sisters Deby Pickens and Paula Hambly; and his brothers Mike Nastasi and Ronnie Holifield. He also leaves many friends in the City of Or- ange. A service was held Jan. 30 at Fairhaven Memorial Park.


Jody Black 1966-2015


Home ownership just got more affordable


As the nation’s housing market


continues to improve, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has reduced the annual premiums new borrowers will have to pay by half of one percent. This move is projected to save more than two million FHA homeowners an average of $900 annually, and spur 250,000 new homebuyers to purchase their first home over the next three years, according to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro. This reduction, effective Jan.


Jody Black, retired director of


personnel services for the Tustin Unified School District, passed away on Jan. 30 after battling ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease). Mrs. Black worked in public


education for 19 years, begin- ning as a teacher in 1994 at La- guna Road School in the Fuller- ton School District. She came to TUSD in 1998 as an assistant principal at Robert Heideman Elementary School. Two years later, she went to the Buena Park School District and served as an elementary principal and middle school principal. Mrs. Black re- joined TUSD in 2010 as director of personnel and retired in Sep- tember 2013. She is survived by her husband


Todd, and two daughters, Avery and Kirby. Services were held Feb. 7, at


Mission Viejo Christian Church. In lieu of flowers, the family


The Orange Public Library


and History Center*, 407 E. Chapman, offers a variety of events for all ages and interests. The February schedule includes: Fridays, Feb. 13/20, 10:30


a.m.: Preschool Storytime. At the Canyon Hills Library, 400 Scout Trail, Anaheim Hills. Saturday, Feb. 14, 2 p.m.: the


LEGO Movie. Tuesday, Feb. 17, 7-8 p.m.:


Tech Talk Tuesdays. Learn how to download eBooks, eMaga- zines and eAudiobooks to your electronic devices. The library now has up-to-date technology to accommodate these down- loads. Saturday, Feb. 21, 3-4 p.m.:


Chapman University Guitar Ensemble will perform classical guitar pieces.


Monday, Feb. 23, 2-3 p.m.:


Monday Mysteries Book Club will discuss Smilla’s Sense of Snow. Tuesday, Feb. 24, 11 a.m.:


Play-along songs for young children. At the Taft Branch, Taft at Cambridge, Orange. Monday, Feb. 23, 7-8 p.m.:


Booktalk. The group selects the book that will be discussed the following month. Saturday, Feb. 28, 11 a.m.-


12:30 p.m.: Ukulele Soup. Bring your ukulele, play, sing and learn some songs. Don’t play? Come and sing along. For more information go to


cityoforange.org/library or li- brary.anaheim.net. * All events will be held at the


Orange Library, except where in- dicated.


is requesting donations be made in her memory to the ALS Asso- ciation of Orange County, 3002 Dow Avenue, Unit 204, Tustin, CA 92780.


SCC Foundation


receives gift The Santiago Canyon College


(SCC) Foundation has received a $25,000 donation from Edison In- ternational, the third annual grant the college has accepted from Ed- ison. From this donation, $15,000 will support scholarships for stu- dents enrolled in the college’s STEM (science,


technology,


engineering and mathematics), and $10,000 will sponsor SCC’s Model United Nations Program (MUN).


Before and after pictures jstewarddesign.com 714.588.1748


...and having one of those moments


ROOM STYLING


26, will open the doors for folks that previously may not have qualified under previous FHA guidelines. HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, in- clusive communities and qual- ity affordable homes for all. The mortgage insurance premium re- duction applies only to forward mortgages with terms greater than 15 years, except single fam- ily streamline refinance loans that were endorsed on or before May 31, 2009. If you’ve already been ap- proved for an FHA-insured mort-


gage and have been assigned an FHA case number, FHA will per- mit lenders to cancel existing case numbers and assign new ones so borrowers who have yet to close their loans may take advantage of the new premium reduction. The new case number must be as- signed after Jan. 26. Those borrowers who already


have an FHA mortgage, and wish to take advantage of the reduced premiums, can contact an ap- proved lender to see if it makes sense to refinance their loan. Those borrowers who have an FHA case number and want to cancel, in order to take advantage of the reduced premium, will be allowed to keep their existing appraisal in the cancellation pro- cess.


Borrowers with the


FHA-insured reverse mortgages are not eligible for this premium reduction. With near-record low interest


rates making mortgage payments attractive, along with low down requirements, it is an excellent time to buy, or even help your kids make their first purchase with an FHA-insured loan.


Imagine walking into your home to a beautifully decorated room...


Foothills Sentry


John P. Nastasi 1961-2014


Real Estate


By Ken McCord


Page 17


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