Adele Celeste (Iliff) Wylie, the original owner/proprietor of the Munch Company at 1028 Mission St. in South Pasadena from the 1980s until the 2000s, has died. Born in Hayden, Colorado, on Dec. 23, 1928, Adele graduated from Alhambra High and attended Woodbury Junior College. She married Loyal Iliff at the tender age of 22, bearing two sons, Lon and Dean Iliff. They lived in Temple City and later settled in Arcadia in 1964.
She divorced and then remarried Ed Wylie who worked in the garment industry at Sea Darling, where she became a designer of children’s clothes. When she decided it was time for a change, she opened the Italian deli business with the help of her brother-in-law, Frank Pocino, and her husband, Ed. They started three Munch Companies in Pasadena, which they later downsized to the one in South Pasadena. She worked there diligently making many friends until she was struck with cancer in the 2000s. She survived stage 4 cancer, thanks to City of Hope in Pasadena. Upon recovering, she sold the Munch Company and retired at her home in Arcadia. In October 2021, she took a bad fall, never fully recovering. She passed on Dec. 7 at an assisted living facility in Glendora.
Adele Celeste is survived by her son, Lon, daughter-in-law, Janet, and two grandchildren, Amy and Anna Iliff. God bless you, Mom. Rest in peace.
