In the early evening of May 25, surrounded by her husband and children, our graceful, beautiful, funny Laurel Ann Wiley passed, having lived a life filled with laughter, service to others and her fair share of See’s chocolate Bordeaux.

Laurel was born to Dr. Laurence Underwood and Ella Underwood on July 21, 1944 – far too soon after her older brother Dick and understandably long before her younger brother Ron.

Laurel spent her early years in Minnesota before the family moved back to Los Angeles, eventually settling in Glendale where Laurence established his medical practice and Laurel established a practice of driving boys crazy. The student body of Glendale’s Hoover High was made up of kids from Glendale proper, as well as riffraff and hillbillies from the nearby “town” La Crescenta. One such bumpkin, 15-year-old Webster Wiley, found himself both a new student at Hoover and a new admirer of the girl he would often refer to as “the cutest girl in the whole school.”

At Hoover High Laurel was a drill team member, a song leader and class president as well as alumni vice president, but royal blood also ran in her veins. She reigned benevolently over her subjects as Scroll Day Queen and Prom Queen, among others. A true ruler of the people.

Laurel moved through life with tremendous grace, helping others and leading by example while never boasting or bragging. Few people, for example, are aware of her windfall on TV’s “Let’s Make A Deal:” a lifetime supply of Dixie paper products that ensured her family never went without. She rarely spoke of it, but always offered to provide paper plates for each family get-together.

Laurel truly loved to serve others and especially loved the camaraderie she found in service organizations. Boy, did she love a good guild, league or association! Laurel served for 32 years in the Assistance League of Flintridge, as La Cañada PTA president, as a member of the Charity League, the Flintridge Guild of Children’s Hospital, the Trojan League of Los Angeles and with AFS-USA.

Laurel was known for her quick wit, a trait she inherited from her mother and passed down in triplicate to her children. Even in her final days, while battling a cruel one-two punch of dementia and cancer, she loved to banter, always quick with a joke.

Music played a big part in Laurel’s life, as a listener but also as a beautiful pianist and as an alto in groups like the ALFie Singers. Even in her last days, with dementia eroding her memory, she would sit at the piano and conjure up some song she’d learned decades before.

What else did Laurel love? A good meal, though it seems like all we can remember as her favorite foods are frosting, chocolates, ice cream and Boston Baked Beans. Any beach was her favorite. Water-skiing, snow-skiing, walking and horseback riding all brought her joy. She loved driving, much to the delight of Bistagne Bros. Body Shop. One look at her Instagram account (@lwiley721) and you’d see she loved ping pong, traveling and a good sunset. (You’d also learn that she didn’t totally understand technology.)

She loved her family so much. She was a fantastic, loving wife and mother and an equally fanatic and adoring grandmother, attentive to whatever her grandchildren wanted – down on the carpet playing with them, reading books, laughing with them, playing a game called Waterfall (in which she dragged kids around the house on a towel, including a bumpy trip down three wooden stairs), bantering back and forth with sarcastic teenagers. Whatever made them tick made her tick, too.

Laurel temporarily leaves behind that family: her loving husband Webb, daughter Stephanie with fiancé Steve Gascoigne and grandson Peter Saliamonas, her son Scott and his wife Sarah and grandchildren Brenden, Oliver, June, Huck and Truman, her son Brett and his wife Lindsay, brothers Dick and Ron Underwood and their wives Norma and Sandy and many nieces and nephews. We know she is currently enjoying the wonderful company of her parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles and her ever-loving grandson Tommy, who will undoubtedly greet her with his megawatt smile, one of his trademark hugs and her nickname “GROMLIN!”

Mom, we know if you’d written your own obituary it would’ve been funnier. We miss you.

A service was held on July 21 at La Cañada Presbyterian church.

More information can be found on www.laurelannwiley.com.