Lucia Kondas Remembered for 'Spirit of Gentle Joy'

In the reception hall at St. Anne Catholic Church in Seal Beach, photos flashed across the big screen television of Lucia B. Kondas in places around the world. She and her husband, Michael, loved to travel and had taken 26 cruises together.

She was seen off on her final journey Friday by hundreds who crammed St. Anne's to say goodbye to a devoted wife and friend.

One of the eight victims of the Salon Meritage killings Oct. 12, Kondas, 65, was remembered as "a generous host and a fine cook" who "possessed a spirit of gentle joy" by longtime friend Mike Catanzaro.

Monsignor Gary Bauler, also a longtime friend of the Kondas family, said he had heard talk of those who perished being "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Instead, Bauler reasoned, Kondas and the others "were in the right place at the right time. It was the shooter who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, doing the wrong thing."

Kondas, 65, lived in Huntington Harbor with her husband of 42 years and was a graduate of Long Beach State, where she received a degree in English. She loved reading, as well as cats, and did crossword puzzles daily with Michael. When it came to cooking, she was well-known for her pasta dishes.

She also was fluent in Spanish and it had served her well as an administrator with the Los Angeles County Department of Public and Social Services, and the Health Care Agency of Orange County.

Catanzaro, a family friend for more than four decades, was the only person to deliver a formal eulogy. In trying to describe the friendship between his family and the Kondases, he made up a word, "giftness," to mean that which is given back and forth.

"Other friends of ours who met Lucia instantly liked her," Catanzaro said. "I never met anyone who did not like her. I reflected on that and recognized why that was so: She possessed a spirit of gentle joy, a joy not founded on ha-ha laughter or derisive humor but on a strong spiritual foundation of allegiance to her values, respect for her womanhood and consideration for all she met, as well as a loyal love for her husband and friends."

He also said: "At this time, she is being served at the table of the Lord with everlasting love, peace, eternal joy and everlasting life. She deserves a high place at the table."

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story misspelled Lucia Kondas' last name in the headline. Patch regrets the error.