Brone Milunas

September 1, 1929 - December 31, 2014

Brone Milunas passed away peacefully in Santa Barbara on December 31, 2014 at the age of 85. Brone was born on September 1, 1929, in Kaunas, Lithuania. The youngest of three sisters, Brone grew up in Kaunas, Lithuania. Brone spent much of her childhood dancing ballet and thus never learned to swim or ride a bicycle. Displaced from her home in Lithuania at the age of thirteen by the Russian occupation of Lithuania, Brone and her family moved to live in a displaced persons camp in Germany. After ten years in Germany she immigrated with her family to New York, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1956, and soon thereafter moved to Chicago. After living and working as a runway model and meat factory worker in Chicago she moved with her husband, Zen, to Southern California where Zen worked as an electrical engineer following his service in the U.S. Army. No matter where she lived she always had fond memories of her years in Lithuania and a love for longtime Lithuanian friends, food and culture. For the past ten years Brone lived in Santa Barbara near her daughter, Gaile, and her family. She enjoyed being a member of San Roque Church, spending time with her friends at Rancho Franciscan Apartments and, most of all, spending time with her granddaughters, Julie and Hailey. She was preceded in death by her husband of thirty three years, Zenonas Milunas, her sister Aldona Nakutis, and her son Vygintas Slutas. She is survived by her sister, Danute Barkauskas; her daughters: Gaile (Dale) Haslem, Lydia (Gino) Dentino, and Loretta Slutas; and her grandchildren, Jonathon Hurtig, Dena Holt, Julianne Haslem and Hailey Haslem. A funeral mass will be celebrated at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 10, 2015 at San Roque Church, 3200 Calle Cedro in Santa Barbara.