Alice T. Merenbach

It is with profound sadness that the family of Alice T. Merenbach announces her passing August 31, 2020 in her Bakersfield home, after a long illness. Alice was born on February 21, 1936 in Puerto Rico, were her father was working as a teacher. Alice grew up in Santa Monica, California and graduated in 1953 from Venice High School. She spent a year at Mexico City College in Mexico City where she became fluent in the Spanish language. Returning to California, she attended U.C.L.A graduating in 1960 with a minor in Sociology and a Bachelors in Spanish. She worked as a Social Worker in Los Angeles County for three years then decided on a career change and entered Loyola Law School of Los Angeles in 1963. It was in law school that she met her husband Dennis Merenbach and they were married on December 20, 1964. She was awarded scholastic scholarships for her three years at school and graduated with a JD degree in 1966. In the fall of 1966, on a trip to Santa Barbara, she saw the famous Court House and walked into the District Attorney’s Office on Figueroa Street. The then District Attorney, Vern B. Thomas, talked to her and hired her as the first women Deputy District Attorney in the history of Santa Barbara County. In 1966 there were only 10,000 women attorneys in the entire United States. Alice was proud of the fact that today there are 400,000 woman attorneys who make up 1 out of every 3 attorneys in the United States. In 1972 Alice was admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington D.C. as a personal appearance was mandatory. It was a great event in her life being introduced to the Supreme Court sitting “en banc” with 15 men and introduced by the Solicitor General as “gentlemen and Mrs. Merenbach I introduce you to the Supreme Court of the United States.” She was only one of 400 women then admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States. After her divorce to Dennis Merenbach she entered the private practice of law specializing in family law, probate, wills and Trusts and general legal matters. In 2000, she moved to Bakersfield to retire after deciding life is much more than work. Retired from the bar, bored with retirement, she worked for H&R Block as an enrolled agent for 20 plus years. Alice had a passion for Bridge and became a Life Master, while playing at the Bridge Center in Santa Barbara. Alice also enjoyed travel. She visited all fifty states, and all seven continents. Alice was preceded in death by her father William J. Thacker, her mother Alice L. Thacker, and her sister Dorothy Thacker Borland, and is survived by her children, son Michael, his wife Vickie, daughter Ogden, and brother William J. Thacker Jr.. At her request, there will be no celebration of her life, but she will be remembered by the many who knew her.