The Orange County arts community mourns the loss of two outstanding patrons who contributed generously of their time and money to many of its organizations.

Donna Crean died July 20 at the age of 82.  Together with her late husband John, founder of Fleetwood Enterprises (manufacturer of mobile homes and travel trailers), Donna was a ubiquitous presence at arts events and opened their spacious home on a frequent basis to charitable organizations of all types to conduct fund raising events.  Read the obituary in the Orange County Register.

On August 5, William Roberts died at the age of 80.  Bill was a founder and Chairman of Emulex Corporation (computer technology).  He and his wife Barbara have been major contributors to the arts.  He served as the second Board president of Arts Orange County and he personally volunteered his time to build the very first websites of several of Orange County's largest arts organizations.  He also served on the boards of Philharmonic Society of Orange County, Segerstrom Center for the Arts and Opera Pacific.  Among their significant gifts, Bill and Barbara Roberts donated $1 million to the campaign to build the new concert hall at Segerstrom Center for the Arts and $1 million to South Coast Repertory's expansion campaign.  Read the obituary in the Orange County Register.

Now celebrating its 25th year as one of the premier arts schools in the nation, the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) has shed the word "High" from its name, recognizing that this tuition-free, donation-dependent, public charter school located in Santa Ana serves grades 7-12 with its dual arts and academic programs.  It has re-branded with a new logo, new website and a downloadable mobile app.

Incidentally, OCSA was mentioned in the New York Times and other national media this week in obituaries for the composer Marvin Hamlisch, quoting remarks he made there about the importance of arts education.