Obituary of Bernard George Lennon

On December 20, 2019, surrounded by his family, Bernard “Bernie” Lennon passed away due to complications from a heart attack. Bernie was born and raised in Chicago, IL and spent his childhood summers with his Aunt and Uncle in Crystal Lake, IL sailing, boating, and waterskiing; never losing his love for the water.

Bernie spent 2 years in the United States Navy after graduating from high school. After the Navy, Bernie played football at Western Michigan University before transferring to the University of Arizona.  He graduated from The University of Arizona in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.  In 1955, he started his career with Procter & Gamble as a salesman in Santa Barbara, California- a career that would span 35 years culminating with his retirement in 1990.

On April 4, 1959, Bernie married the love of his life the former Josephine “Joie” Quinn. In retirement, he traveled the world with his wife, played golf with his salesman buddies, researched his family genealogy, and spent time with his children and grandchildren.

He was Bernie to his wife, Joie, friends, and work colleagues. Dad to his 4 children; Poppy to his 8 grandchildren; and Mr. Lennon to all his kid’s friends. Bernie loved the water buying his first boat at 10 years old.  He taught all 4 of his children to waterski and play golf, two activities they could participate in their entire lives. Over his lifetime, he taught hundreds of adults and kids to waterski and you could feel his passion for teaching others the sport he loved. He was always the “life of the party” and the Lennon household was the gathering place for all his children’s friends when they were teenagers.

Bernie will be dearly missed by his wife Joie; sons Ward and Guy; daughters Berni Ann and Tricia; daughters-in-law Sylvia and Joanne; sons-in-law Jim and Tom; and his grandchildren, Cara, Caitlin, Jenna, Joey, Kelly, Annette, Joe, and Mike.

A funeral mass will be held at St. Marks University Parish on Saturday January 18, 2020 at 10:00am. (6550 Picasso Road, Goleta, CA 93117) A luncheon will be held after the funeral mass at Pepe’s Mexican restaurant in Goleta.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking donations to be made to the Isabel Hayden Bartoleme Scholarship Fund at the Santa Barbara Foundation, 1111 Chapala Street, Suite 200, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.