* Margaret Foxen Umbro; Wife of Accordionist

Margaret Foxen Umbro, wife of accordionist Frank Umbro, died at her home in Ojai on Monday. She was 85.

Born in Los Alamos, N.M., on Dec. 12, 1913, she was the great-granddaughter of Santa Barbara pioneer Benjamin William Foxen.

Throughout her life, she enjoyed telling family stories about how Benjamin Foxen guided Lt. Col. John Fremont over the San Marcos pass to take Santa Barbara for the United States without bloodshed.

She married Frank Milton Umbro at St. Joseph’s Church in San Jose on Christmas Day in 1936. They moved to Ventura and he worked as a performer. During World War II, Frank Umbro entertained troops at USO camp shows. He would later perform for U.S. presidents and other dignitaries.

Margaret Umbro began working for Cole of California as a seamstress making parachutes for the Army Air Corps.

The family moved to Ojai in 1961 and has lived there for the past 38 years.

In addition to her husband, Umbro is survived by a son, Capt. Frank J. Umbro of Las Vegas; a sister, Josephine Neville of Boseman, Mont.; two brothers, Friar Bertin Foxen of Santa Barbara and Phil Risso of Encinitas; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by daughter Jerry Jean Umbro, who died in 1943.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Franciscan Friars Retirement Home in Santa Barbara.

Visitation will be from noon to 5 p.m. Friday at the Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Home in Ventura.

A funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Ojai, with Father Patrick Keane officiating. A reception will follow in the parish hall. Burial services will be at 2 p.m. at the Ivy Lawn Memorial Park.