Jane Dorrel died peacefully on April 19th, 2023, surrounded by her husband Frank, her daughter Emily, her sister Chrissy and Chrissy’s husband Peter. She had Stage 4 Breast Cancer, which she dealt with for 12 years. She also had a stroke in October of 2022 and sepsis in January of 2023. The sepsis returned. Many thanks go to her doctors: Dr. Lasika Seneviratne and Dr. Alex Chai. And to the nurses and everyone else at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles.
Jane was born in Luxembourg on August 22, 1954. Her mother was Helen “Litzi” Wenneis Holmberg Barker. Her father was Anton “Tony” Holmberg. Her sister Chrissy, was three years old when Jane was born. She became Jane’s best friend for life. The family moved to Merrick, New York in 1955. In 1963 they all moved to Ireland and lived at Shannon Airport, where Tony was in charge of the hanger. They lived in Ireland for three years before returning back to the States to live in Tucson, Arizona.
When Jane was 17, she moved with Litzi and Tony to Irvine, California – where she went to University High School for her senior year. After graduating high school, Jane went to UC Santa Cruz in Northern California, majoring in Economics. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Jane went to Harvard, getting her Master’s Degree in Urban Planning. After earning her Master’s, Jane moved back to California and got a job with Coldwell Banker.
In 1982, Jane began going to the Unitarian Church in Santa Monica, where she met Frank. It was TRUE LOVE after their very first date. Some months later they moved into a loft apartment in Venice. During that time Jane got a new job at TCW – Trust Company of The West. Some years she later became a partner at TCW. Frank and Jane got married on August 21, 1988 at the Marina Del Rey Hotel and had a beautiful wedding.
Jane told Frank that Culver City had a very good school system. So in 1992, they bought a house in Culver City in the Blair Hills neighborhood. Emily was born on August 4, 1994. This was the happiest moment ever for Jane and Frank. Emily has been the love of their life ever since then. She went to El Marino Language School in Culver City, where she learned in Spanish and then on to Culver Middle School and Culver High School. She also did 13 musical plays with Dee-Lightful Productions, which Jane and Frank loved going to see. Emily was quite a wonderful actor and performer. Emily worked at CODEPINK for 3 years. She now works for SEIU-721.
Jane loved going to the movies. She loved watching Seinfeld and Jeopardy (which she was very good at) and doing cross-word puzzles. She loved going out to nice restaurants with family and friends. She also hosted many dinners at their home in Culver City. She was the best hostess. She was very good company and was such a good listener to others. It was never about her. She also had a great sense of humor. And she had the most beautiful smile. And if something needed fixing around the house, Jane would fix it.
Jane supported Emily in all of her many endeavors. She also supported Frank in his anti-war work. Over the years they hosted well over 50 anti-war events at their home, with speakers such as Blase and Theresa Bonpane, S. Brian Willson, Father Roy Bourgeois, Kathy Kelly, William Blum, Barbara Trent, Fernando Suarez del Solar, Norman Solomon, Ron Kovic, Don White, Marcy Winograd, Dennis Kucinich, Cindy Sheehan, Mike Ruppert, Gerard Ungerman, Ed Ellis and others. They also hosted musical concerts at their home.
Jane loved her family. She loved her mom, Litzi. She loved her dad, Tony. She loved her sister, Chrissy and her husband, Peter. She loved Frank, aka Big Frank or Big Frankie. And most of all, she loved her daughter, Emily. She also loved Frank’s mom, Meta and his brother, Jeffrey. And she loved their four Westies: Zachary and Wolfie (deceased) and Ozzy and Bernie (still alive). And they all loved her. Jane and Frank ‘BELIEVE In DOG’. And Jane loved her friends, far too many to name here.
Jane was Frank and Emily’s Rock! Their Everything! She was beautiful inside and outside. And she was loved by everyone who knew her. We will never forget her.
