Filoli loses one-time resident, longtime leader and volunteer

Lurline Matson Roth Coonan, who lived for a time on the Filoli estate in Woodside and served for more than 40 years as a volunteer, board member or advisory council member, died Friday, April 13, in the company of her family. She was 97.

Ms. Roth Coonan did not grow up at Filoli. As a child, she divided her time between the 80-acre Why Worry horse farm in Woodside and a home in San Francisco, according to an account of her life by Filoli. Her family moved to Filoli in 1937 when she was 17, and in 1939, she and her twin sister Berenice celebrated their debutante ball there.

In 2016, she made a presentation at the estate to a sold-out crowd, the account says. The documentary film, “Filoli: Family Home, Historic Garden, Living Museum,” which is available for viewing in Filoli’s Visitor and Education center, includes an interview of Ms. Roth Coonan.

Ms. Roth Coonan enjoyed her time at Why Worry, particularly nights on the second-story sleeping porch, she told The Almanac in 2003. “We didn’t want to leave Why Worry. We had so many happy times. But I came to love Filoli,” she said.

Both daughters were equestrians and rode competitively, with Ms. Roth Coonan continuing to ride into her 90s. On the occasion of their debuts, their parents gave them pins with their names spelled out in diamonds and they spent the evening using their nearly identical appearances for amusement by switching the pins back and forth, according to the Filoli account.

Lurline married James F. Coonan in 1943 at the Episcopal Church of St. Matthew in San Mateo, with a reception at Filoli.

Ms. Roth Coonan was a lifelong member of the Woodside-Atherton Garden Club and skilled in the art of arranging flowers. She exhibited her work at Filoli and for 30 years at the annual Bouquets to Art at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

Her family operated the Matson Steamship Lines and its fleet included a luxury liner named the S.S. Lurline.

By Dave Boyce

By Dave Boyce

By Dave Boyce