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A memorial casting of flowers on the water was held Saturday evening at 22nd Street in Hermosa Beach for artist and prominent legal assistant Barbara Schaefer. She passed away Friday, November 7 at age 69 from breast cancer. The Redondo Beach resident was 69.
Over two dozen of her grandson Kristopher’s friends formed a paddleout circle, despite large waves and a strong onshore wind.
“My friends all respected her because they saw how well she treated me,” Kristopher said.
For over three decades, Schaefer served as a legal assistant to criminal defense attorney Bob Courtney.
Schaefer was renowned for putting anxious clients at ease in Courtney’s office over Tony’s restaurant on the Redondo Beach pier. At the memorial Courtney recalled that Schaefer became so proficient in the law that she would occasionally offer legal advice to clients when he was in court.
One day he suggested that if she wanted to continue dispensing legal advice, the law firm should be renamed Courtney and Schaefer.
“She said said she liked the sound of Schaefer and Courtney better,” Courtney said.
Schaefer’s self assured manner was reflected in My Kick Ass Glass, the name she gave her art studio. Schaefer decorated goblets, wine glasses, pitchers and other glassware with dramatic colors, beads and jewels.
Her glass work was frequently featured in luxury lifestyle magazines, including Creative Homes, Islands, Mary Engelbrecht’s Home Companion, Romantic Homes, Victoria and Rosie. Schaefer is survived by her daughter Kelly Kovac-Reedy, grandchildren Kristopher and Sara, sisters Libby and Juli, brother Samuel. sons-in-laws DeWayne and Patrick and Brothers-in-laws Danny and Justin. Donations may be made in her name to Habitat.org or DeathWith Dignity.org.
