Obituary: Antoinette Egan was a descendant of California's Spanish settlers

Antoinette Egan, a retired teacher and history scholar who was a descendant of early Spanish settlers in California, died June 17 at age 101, her family said.

An eighth-generation Californian, Mrs. Egan proudly claimed ties to Spanish and Anglo pioneers. Her ancestors arrived in Alta California with a 1775-76 expedition led by Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza, said her daughter Mary Parker. She grew up in Livermore on Las Positas Rancho, a land grant that was given in 1839 to her great-great-grandfather, rancher Robert Livermore.

She explored her roots as a historian and genealogist who traced 260 years of her family's history. She translated 18th century Spanish and Latin documents from the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley and memoirs dictated by the wife of Indian Chief Solano. She was active in historical groups, including Los Californianos, Los Pobladores and the Sacramento Historical Society.

The daughter of an Italian immigrant, Antoinette Schenone was born Aug. 22, 1910, in Livermore and graduated from Holy Names College in Oakland. She earned a teaching credential from San Francisco State College and taught in Livermore before marrying Thomas L. Egan in 1937. They moved to Sacramento and had four children.

She taught fifth grade and Spanish for 17 years at Starr King Middle School in Carmichael. She was a past president of Circulo Hispano and member of the American Association of University Women.

A widow since 1958, Mrs. Egan lived in east Sacramento for many years and volunteered at Sacred Heart Parish. She retired during the early 1970s and kept busy sewing, knitting, gardening and researching history.

She was a learned woman who enjoyed watching "Judge Judy" and baseball on TV and attributed her good health and long life to candy.

"A lot of See's Candy," Parker said. "She ate more sweets than anybody, but she was never diabetic. She never smoked or drank."

Survivors include two daughters, Mary Parker of Fair Oaks and Antoinette O'Brien of Sacramento; two sons, Thomas Egan and Stephen Egan, both of Sacramento; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Services were held June 22.

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