Aileen Lee Rodnick

Aileen Rodnick, age 93 of Newport Beach, California passed away on Tuesday, August 25, 2020. A Celebration of Life Graveside Service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, September 4, 2020 at Pacific View Memorial Park, 3500 Pacific View Drive, Corona del Mar, CA 92625.

“She was one of a kind.” On Tuesday, August 25, 2020, Aileen “Lee” Mary Wallace Rodnick left this world after 93 years of adventure and laughter.

Lee was born on April 8, 1927 to Anna and Michael Wallace in Limerick, Ireland. When she was one year old, the family moved to New York where her three younger brothers were born: Daniel (1929), John (1931) and Robert “Robin” (1934). When her father became ill during the Great Depression, the family moved back home to Limerick. During those years, Lee reveled in the simple joys of life—playing in the fire hydrant on hot days, eating pork and beans over mashed potatoes for dinner, visiting her father at the Savoy Theatre where he worked, having long chats under the bed with little John, and trying unsuccessfully to ride a bicycle. The family was of modest means and she faced many challenges in her childhood as her father died when she was 13 and her brother John died three years later after falling off a horse in the yard behind theirs.

Perhaps it was breathing the sea air on those childhood trans-Atlantic journeys to and from New York that sparked a wanderlust in Lee, inspiring her to travel the world. When she was just 18 years old, she enlisted in the English Army with a friend, Violet, and they were shipped out to Cairo, Egypt. Lee spent three years there, selling perfume to British officers at the post exchange by day, and out dancing by night.

Lee was discharged from the army and returned briefly to Limerick to celebrate her 21st birthday before setting off for New York again. She found work as a telephone operator, and since her brother Danny was in the American Army stationed at Arlington, Virginia at that time, Lee invited her mother and teenaged brother Robin to live with her in the US. However, young Robin enjoyed the bright lights of New York too much which compelled their mother to bring him back to Limerick within six months. Lee also returned to Ireland after a few years. She became engaged to a young horse trainer, Sean Quinn, but decided she wasn’t ready to be married and left in the middle of the night to London. There she found work in a fashion house. By this time, Danny was working at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Versailles, France, and Robin was stationed with the US Air Force at Orly Field outside Paris. Lee would visit her brothers often, and the entire family would spend Christmas holidays in Limerick.

In London, Lee was engaged again, this time to Monty Greek. But that marriage was not to occur either since, in 1959, her friend Binnie persuaded Lee to move to Madrid. On the way, she stopped by Paris to see Robin, who had left the USAF and was now working as an actor. He had married a young French girl and they had a wonderful daughter, Patricia. This was the last time she saw her brother Robin before he died following a car crash in 1968.

Lee worked in a dress shop in Madrid, but it was not very long before she and Binnie decamped south to Morocco. On the journey from Seville to Casablanca, they met a couple selling American Standard Encyclopedias, which Lee and Binnie turned into a thriving business of their own, selling out their inventory every few weeks. The pursuit allowed them to meet the commander of the nearby US naval base, who got them jobs at the post exchange. Binnie was hired as a decorator and Lee to set up a perfume and cosmetics counter. Although she ran a great business, after three years in Morocco, Lee again felt the urge to travel, signing on as the only passenger on a Norwegian freighter. During her month-long voyage, Lee had dinners at the captain’s table, taught the crew how to “cha-cha”, and had the opportunity to visit the Canary Islands.

Arriving in Hoboken, Lee briefly visited friends in New York before setting off for San Francisco where Danny, who was now married with a son, was working at the Presidio. Lee started with the Pacific and Orient cruise lines and then switched to work for I. Magnin department store where she met another lifelong friend Helen who also shared Lee’s love for adventure. Lee was engaged once again, this time to a German cotton broker, Horst Zimmerman, who was based in Mexico. They were together for a year and a half, but in 1963 Lee met the true love of her life, Richard Monie Rodnick.

Richard swept Lee off her feet and within a month they were married. He was a driven, successful businessman whose career took them all over. They moved from San Francisco to Brentwood, back up to Tiburon in the Bay Area, and then to London. In 1967, Lee and Dick returned to the US, settling in his hometown of Chicago before California drew them back, this time to Newport Beach.

In addition to starting, building, and selling several companies, Dick was quite involved with the Young Presidents Organization, a global leadership community of chief executives. Lee and Dick traveled around the world for YPO events, including Kenya, Indonesia, the Seychelles, Egypt, and several trips to Africa. They remained best friends until his death ten years ago. This friendship brought Laurie into Lee’s life and they developed a deep and lasting friendship, even calling each other sister.

Lee was fortunate to find true love a second time with Clayton Kass. An MIT-trained engineer, he and Lee were together for 20 years. Living in a penthouse at the Balboa Bay Club, they were a fixture for many years at the Ritz, and especially loved meeting friends to dance and listen to their favorite local musician Paco when he performed at the BBC.

No matter where she was in the world, Lee always treated everyone with kindness and love. She spent time getting to know all those around her, from corporate chieftains to blue collar workers. She made them all feel that she cared about them. Lee was often the life of the party—telling stories and jokes or laughing at those told by someone else. If there was music playing, Lee wanted to dance; and if there was no music, Lee wanted to go in search of it. She was always up for an adventure—whether it was riding a camel in Egypt or a hot air balloon over the Masai Mara, a dinner party at Villa Oleandra on Lake Como or late-night dancing at Mama Gina’s in Newport Beach.

Although Lee had no children herself, she is survived by two stepchildren, Russ and Shaun Rodnick, two grandchildren (Jason and Jessica Kutcher), five nieces and nephews (Patricia Caretta, Sean Wallace, Regina Wallace Thyberg, Nancy Wallace, and David Wallace), and 13 great-nieces and great-nephews (Julie Caretta, Robin Caretta, Matthew Wallace, Aileen Wallace, Brendan Wallace, Daniel Thyberg, Leah Thyberg, Robert Thyberg, Noah Thyberg, Jennifer Wallace, Colleen Wallace, Kathleen Wallace, Mary Grace Wallace). Lee was predeceased by her parents, her three brothers, Richard Rodnick, and nephew Kevin Wallace.

Shakespeare said “I am wealthy in friends” and, by that standard, Lee is richer than Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos. And everyone who met her, is better for having done so.