Lucy Schrader Archuleta

Lucy Schrader Archuleta, 68, passed away on Saturday morning, March 30, 2019 at her home in Santa Barbara, CA. When her 19-month battle with cancer came to an end, she was surrounded by her family full of love, a home filled with memories, and a sky as blue as her eyes.

Lucy was a southern Californian, 4th generation, born in Los Angeles in 1950 to the late Edward and Aileen Schrader of Whittier, CA. After attending La Habra High School, Lucy enrolled at the University of California, Irvine earning a BS in Marine Biology in 1972. While there is some good-natured disagreement over how Lucy Schrader and Ralph Archuleta met, their 46 years of marriage, beginning seven days after Lucy graduated, was above reproach.

While Ralph finished his PhD at the University of California, San Diego, Lucy worked as the office manager of a firm that provided temporary employment. In 1977 Lucy and Ralph moved up the coast to Mountain View, CA following Ralph’s employment opportunity; Lucy found a job in San Jose with Main Hurdman, an accounting firm that would later become part of KPMG. She took accounting courses at night at DeAnza College and then at California State University at Hayward so that she could sit for the CPA exam; she passed on her first attempt. In 1984 they moved down the coast to Santa Barbara when Ralph accepted a position as an associate professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Lucy took an accounting position with Ridgeway and Warner, and in 1987 Lucy became a partner in the firm where she would work for the next 32 years until a month before her passing.

Lucy was a quiet person who preferred to work out of the lights and downplayed her behind-the-scenes philanthropy to those in need of shelter, clothes, education, or mystery novels with a strong female protagonist. Lucy was a strong feminist who wanted to do what she could to ensure that girls and women had every opportunity to set and attain their goals. No one ever had to ask twice if she would volunteer to help children at school. That was particularly true of helping girls achieve more out of their education. There are many local organizations that have benefitted from Lucy’s commitment to education, especially those that assist women.
Lucy was self-motivated. She always gave her best effort at everything from being a wife, a mother, a friend, and a businesswoman. She was proud that her legacy would be defined by what had come from her efforts. Her accomplishments speak for themselves.

Lucy is survived by her husband, two children, and three grandchildren: Jeremy Archuleta and his wife Kimberly and daughter Samantha of Mars, PA; Christine Banderas, her husband Ben and children Amelia and Miles of Redondo Beach, CA. She has three sisters, Judy Schrader of Palm Desert, CA, Carolyn Schrader (husband William Martin) of Salem, OR and Eleanor Shapton of Moses Lake, WA.

Lucy requested that memorial donations be made to Transition House of Santa Barbara.