Rose Estelle Huff, who with her husband ran Pacific Palisades Drug Store in the heart of the Village from the late 1940s into the early 1970s, died on April 19 at Santa Monica-UCLA Hospital. She was 89. Born on December 19, 1914, in Buffalo, New York, Rose moved to California with her family in 1925. They came ‘overland’ in a touring car and settled in what is now West Hollywood. Growing up in Hollywood’s ‘Golden Years,’ Rose remembered working at Bell & Howell when Lucy and Desi would come in ranting and dramatically carrying on. Or the time Ronald Reagan gently educated her on the logistics of the switchboard when she was an operator and had disconnected a few of his calls. As a student at Belmont High, Rose knew she would live in the Palisades someday. She said she had a premonition in the 1920s when she had a photo taken at the beach with her boyfriend, showing the upper Bel-Air Bay Club in the background. Twenty years later, she and her husband Bob Huff (whom she married in 1936), built a home above the club on Arno Way, where she lived for 60 years. At their popular drug store (where Starbucks and Littlebits are now located), the Huffs maintained a family-oriented business that drew merchants and residents alike for gifts, cosmetic or pharmacy items, or merely to have lunch at the counter. Rose instigated the store’s ‘Fondue Day,’ when customers shopping on Friday were offered free fondue and wine. Active in the Assistance League of Southern California for 40 years, Rose was also a member of the Riviera Country Club since the 1950s. Known for her ‘joie de vivre,’ Rose wore a charm around her neck that read, ‘Live, Love and Laugh.’ She was always available for those who needed her, and her funny stories and antics will be remembered by the many who entered her large circle of friends and acquaintances, either to stay at her home when they needed a place to stay or to simply ‘hang out’ and party with her. Rose’s focus was her family and friends, many of whom called her ‘Gramma Rose’ or just ‘G-Rose.’ The grandaughter of her best friend, Ernie McKimson, used to refer to Rose and Ernie as Ethel and Lucy, the crazy, laughing pair. She had recently told her daughter, Georgeann, ‘Please don’t be sad or carry on when I’m gone. I’ve had a wonderful life, dear. I wouldn’t have changed a thing!’ Rose was predeceased by her husband in 1991. She is survived by her daughter, Georgeann Erskine of Topanga; granddaughter Nami Gabbard (husband Josh) of Topanga; great-grandson Ozzie Maddox Gabbard; sister Betty Abendschein (husband Irving) of Palm Desert; and nieces Janice Boe Perry and Ann Edwards. Services will be held today at 10:30 a.m. at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine on Sunset, followed by an informal gathering at Mrs. Huff’s home in the Palisades.
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