Lucie McMurtie, secretary-treasurer of the California Historical Route 66 Association, died of cancer on Monday, reported to California Route 66 enthusiast Scott Piotrowski on his Historic Roads of Los Angeles County blog.
She also was a close friend and a Mother Road travel companion to Kevin Hansel, president of the California association.
Piotrowski wrote:
Lucie was known and loved up and down the Mother Road for her positive spirits and wonderful smile. She was also a regional director for the Scoliosis Association.
Our deepest sympathies go out to Kevin and all of their family. We know that her spirit is smiling down on us from heaven tonight, watching over us all, and especially on those traveling the road less traveled.
I met her during a pool party at the Wigwam Motel in Rialto, Calif., in 2005 during the Route 66 Festival in San Bernardino, Calif. Here’s a photo that Emily Priddy shot of her and a little friend at the time. McMurtie was Miss Route 66, which accounts for the tiara.
