Arlene Adele (Warwick) Peters passed away in Santa Barbara on July 30, 2025.

She lived a life with stories, and songs, and social worker clients, and nieces, and nephews, and friends, and friends’ kids, and her kid, and her granddaughter, and books, and travels, and cats, and her beloved husband Ben.

Adele’s ending was rough. Lewy body dementia is a brutal way to go.  
But Adele’s years before then: they were glorious, and full of love.

Adele was surrounded in life by family: blood family, on lots of sides; married family; and found family. She was the matriarch to all.

Need advice? Come to Adele. Need a birthday card when no one else remembers? Adele had it. Need support in a time of crisis? Adele can help.

She threw sing-along parties to maintain family connections. She gave birth control lectures. She stepped in as a mom to so many kids who needed it.

Adele was a role model of a working mom when that wasn’t so common. She served as a social worker in Santa Barbara, and then as a high school counselor and therapist in Pennsylvania.

She was especially proud of her work with teen parents. She would call her clients “darling girls,” and she made sure those DGs got their high school diploma.

Adele was an over-the-top wonderful mother to her daughter Sarah: supportive, caring, funny, structured. She was an indulgent Bestemor to her granddaughter Amelia. Adele loved reading with Amelia and cheering Amelia on stage.

Adele was a beloved sister and sister-in-law to so many family branches. She was a giving aunt. And she maintained 50-year friendships with friends that were family, too.

Adele and Ben loved each other fiercely for 58 years, from day one at Berkeley. Adele passed away eight months after Ben’s passage from Alzheimer’s. Their ending was sad; their lives together were joyful.

If you knew beautiful, kind, loving Adele, count yourself lucky. We miss her.

There will be a celebration of Adele’s life at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8 at 30 Acres Cafe in Goleta. Please bring your songs and stories.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Adele’s name to Communify’s Adolescent Family Life Planning Program, which supports Santa Barbara County teenage parents, at https://www.communifysb.org/donate.