Facebook Ratchet Site Removed Because of Bullying

Some are calling Los Angeles Councilman Joe Buscaino a hero for helping to take down a bully site

Los Angeles Councilman Joe Buscaino Works To Crush Sexual, Bullying Facebook Site Targeting Girls at San Pedro High School; Some Say He Was Wrong

By Diana L. Chapman

   The minute the Facebook site -- called San Pedro Ratchets -- launched last week, some San Pedro High School girls found themselves posted there only in their bras and underwear and targets of alleged sexual exploits.

   Comments swarmed in about their bodies and sexuality, officials said, that were "offensive," "raunchy" and "abusive." At least one student refused to return to school after the site went up Dec. 2 as Los Angeles Councilman Joe Buscaino, school and law enforcement officials scrambled to take it down.

   Within hours of its launch, Buscaino's office was alerted by social media pings -- in particular by a group called San Pedro California --  that called out alarm bells and began filing complaints to no avail on a faceless Facebook requesting the site and two others, San Pedro Hotties and Wilmington Ratchets, be removed, said Branimir Kvartuc, Buscaino's media spokesman.

   Around the same time that evening, the councilman received a phone call from his upset sister, Michelle Crow, a teacher at Dana Middle School, who complained one of her former students was on it.

   What he saw, Buscaino said, was so offensive that he was immediately moved to action. He later dismissed criticism he was out of his realm of council work and interfering with free speech saying he didn't want to wait for something terrible to happen. It takes a community, he said, including its leaders, to stop such behavior. San Pedro High School principal Jeanette Stevens said without him the site might still be thriving.

   "I am not going to wait for a teenager to commit suicide," Buscaino said. "There are a lot of critical issues facing the city. But the last thing I want to do is bury a child because of slander. It was really disgusting.

   The site "was slanderous, cyberbullying and some girls were being identified as a "ho" (whore) or comments written were: "I want to do her," said Buscaino, a former Los Angeles police officer known for his work with teens. "It's something no child should ever go through."

   As cyberbullying has riveted the nation with some victims committing suicide, the ratchet site was loaded with such slanderous comments, Buscaino's staff said, that they contacted Facebook, law enforcement and Crimes Against Children on the Internet.

   Comments from the site -- due to profanity and sexual content -- could not be written here, but it encouraged others to post photos and comments. "Bringin' all the ratchet ...bitches of San Pedro on one page," and "upload all the...ratchet bitches you know from the Dro!" (Dro is a term for San Pedro.)

    All three sites were taken down but immediately another site bloomed called South Bay Ratchets. According to the Urban dictionary, ratchets are "a diva, mostly from urban cities and ghettos, that has reason to believe she is every man's eye candy. Unfortunately, she's wrong."

   All the sites were removed by Dec. 5, Kvartuc said.

   High School principal Stevens said she and her staff got warnings about the site via dozens of text messages, phone calls and emails. A former high school student who was off to college was so perturbed she contacted a school administrator. At least fifty complaints were filed with Facebook, Stevens said, but dealing with "Facebook is like a computer program without a face. It doesn't have contacts where you can call and explain you are a principal or a school administrator trying to protect children."

   Some of the photographs, Stevens said, were sexual and said things like: "This person puts out." One photo had a girl laying down on her stomach, her pants pulled back while other girls wrote on her buttocks. It appeared the girl was tied up, she said.

   "These are images we don't need to promote," Stevens said. "There was nothing good that was coming out of this. It was demeaning. We had young students who are under age and made poor choices, but it doesn't mean we exploit these poor choices."

   Having the help from the councilman, she added, was the big reason the sites were removed because he and his staff knew who to contact and worked with all the agencies involved. In addition, the principal and Kvartuc said it was ironic that the community, using its own social media tools, alerted others to the site and began filing complaints.

   "Maybe this is a little bit of norming of a social media tool," Stevens said. "It was whether we took a stand. We stood up. We threw them off the island as a community and I don't know if that's so bad."

   The new village watching over youth, said Kvartuc, is the social media pointing out that San Pedro California's "thread" was what brought this to officials' attention. One member Sandra Zuvich wrote: "I can't believe this is even a page on Facebook. I have reported it and so should you! This is bullying at its lowest."

   While the school is investigating who was responsible, a few leads have not panned out, Stevens said, adding that she believes it will be handled by the Los Angeles police since it did not happen on campus or during school time.

   Facebook officials did not immediately react to the complaint and initially refused to take the site down because its policies had not been abused, Kvartuc said. But as intensely personal comments criticizing the girls bodies piled on, Facebook officials agreed it had become cyberbullying.

   In a statement, the company says it takes such abuse seriously.

   "We're concerned about any abusive behavior, and have made efforts to promote an environment where everyone of Facebook can connect and share comfortably," said Alison Schumer, who handles child safety and programs for Facebook. "Our policies prohibit the posting of content that bullies or harasses...

    "This team treats reports of harassing and bullying content as a priority."

    On his Facebook page, some hailed Buscaino as a hero while others contended he interfered with free speech and had no business being involved in the matter. Some said the girls were to blame because they  had allowed such photographs to be taken.

    Parents, many argued, need to educate themselves and their children about internet usage.

   "I guess I'm the bad guy because I think Joe and the LAPD should be addressing other issues in our community," wrote Raul Martinez. "He might have shut down that page...But those pics are still out there cause those girls posted them on their page.

   "This all goes down to parenting and upbringing. Maybe Joe should tell every parent in San Pedro to check your kids face book, take your kids to church, spend time with your kids...(sic)."

   Doug Epperhart, a father of two teenage girls, said he too has concerns that a council member can work to remove internet postings and claims it could become "a slippery slope" leaving politicians with the idea that this could be done elsewhere -- such as against their competitors.

   "This is more of the problem of the parents and the school," Epperhart said. "Parents seriously have no clue what their kids are putting out there. Removing the site does not eliminate the problem. It just treats the symptoms of the disease. The district should be able to find out who these kids (who put up the site) are and punish them."

   The councilman's actions, however, were largely applauded -- especially by women who say the damage to the girls would remain with them for the rest of their lives and could cause suicidal tendencies. 

   "Thank goodness!" wrote Layla Cicconi of the site's removal. "That site had my blood boiling all day. I was beginning to wonder if this town actually went to hell in a hand basket. It's really amazing how many idiots think that site was funny. Makes me sad that that Could even be a form of entertainment."

    Wrote another woman, Tina Aguilar, "There was also a page on "Wilmington Ratchets. take that off too!!! What amazes me is how so many ppl (sic) think it's funny and just laugh about it. But I bet if it was personal...if your daughter, sister, niece or loved one was on there you wouldn't think it was funny!!! Bullying is not ok!"

Still Searching for Killer of Eva Tice

"We haven't solved it. He's still out there and could do it again."--LAPD Detective David Alvarez 

         

Christmas Eve Murder of a 60-year-old Woman with the Mind of a Child Still Haunts San Pedro Churchgoers and the Police

By Diana L. Chapman

Los Angeles Police Detective David Alvarez calls it the kind of crime that keeps him up at night: A tiny woman with the mind of a child was viciously stabbed multiple times early Christmas Eve as she walked home from an evening church service in San Pedro.

Eva Tice, 60, who walked with a limp after a hip replacement and captured many hearts at her church with her sheer simplicity, was left to die alone on a stone cold sidewalk on Pacific Avenue.  Her broken, bleeding body was discovered between 11th and 12th streets, near the old Ramona's bakery and across from June's Bar, which was crowded that night. All she had with her was her Bible.

Eva died a short time later at the hospital. No one has come forward as a witness.

She was attacked at about 7:15 p.m. as she was walking home, just three blocks from her apartment. Few leads have panned out. With the one-year anniversary approaching, the case remains "disturbing," Alvarez says. Not to mention unsolved. In essence, say those who knew Eva, it was like murdering a child.

"We need closure," says Alvarez, who has been working the case with his partner, Patty Batts. "There are lots of people who loved her. Nobody expects this on Christmas Eve.  People tend to be home with their families, even gang members.

"It's just bizarre and very weird being attacked like that."

Detective David Alvarez asks the public for help once again.

 The church's congregants remain dismayed, disheartened and haunted that someone would kill a woman who could get excited by childlike things. Her favorite possessions were a duck ornament and a Bible she couldn't read.

She turned down several offers of a ride home after the service, says Becky Aldape, an assistant administrator at the church. Eva was too anxious to race home to draw in some new coloring books and to see her Christmas tree with the  duck ornament, which a sponsor had donated to her and her disabled roommate.

"She was such a sweetheart," says Aldape, who wears a pin that says "Justice for Eva." "She was so harmless. Why would  someone do something like that to her? She was so innocent, so naive. I was angry, real angry."

Aldape turned her anger into making Justice for Eva buttons and worked with other congregants to blanket the neighborhood with posters seeking answers.

But the answers didn't come.

Becky Adalpe holds the reward signs and wears her Justice for Eva pin.

Detectives are frustrated, too, and disturbed over the death of "an innocent." It's a case that continues to mystify them. No one has been caught, despite the hundreds of hours Alvarez and his partner have poured into their investigation.

Investigators have gone door to door, conducted more than 100 interviews, received 30 tips. The city of Los Angeles put up a $50,000 reward. All to no avail. At first, detectives believed it was possibly a robbery, but all Eva owned of any value was costume jewelry. 

The intensity of the attack also is puzzling. If it were a robbery, there was no reason for the excessive brutality. She was stabbed "multiple, multiple times," the detective said, in particular in the upper right chest.

Investigators are asking the public to come forward with anything they might have seen or heard--even the barest thread of a rumor. Something small might lead to a break in the case.  

But for now, the question remains: Who would want to kill a 4-foot-11 woman with a mind that varied in maturity from the age of 6 to a young teen? Eva already had lived a tough life and didn't deserve this, her friends say. Her parents died in a car crash when she was a child and she was raised by social workers and foster care. She later married a similarly disabled man, who also died.

After that, Eva was given the chance to live in her own apartment with a roommate instead of in a group home or other institutional setting. A social worker looked in on the women at their apartment on 12th Street, police say.

But it was at the church where Eva really seemed to live. People there didn't mind sharing her youthful jubilance despite her age.  In fact, they liked it. Today, these friends remain stunned, angry and haunted.

Eva was known for being helpful, says one of them, Joseph Baroni. She came each Saturday to help him with the church's yard sales -- something she loved to do. He recalls that, on that Christmas Eve, he was pulling out of the parking lot when he waved goodbye to her as she left. 

"She was my friend," he said, the pain still in his voice. "She loved God. She loved everybody." She was physically incapable of warding off any attack, Baroni says, and he can't stand to think of Eva's shock that "someone was stabbing her to death."

Because blood would have been splashed on the killer, Baroni believes "someone knows something" and has yet to come forward. Investigators say a man was spotted running away after the attack, but it's unclear whether he was the killer or was running out of fear.

"It is so crazy she got  killed," says a dejected Baroni. "She had no money. If she had any cash, it was a dollar or two. She had no enemies. It's just ridiculous."

Because Eva was so innocent, she didn't understand relationships--sexual or otherwise--or have any idea that anyone would want to hurt her. That kind of trust may have led her to have a pool of street friends.

Hope Chapel allowed Eva's homeless friends to attend the packed memorial service, because she respected them as humans beings--a lesson she taught others who knew her giving, caring soul. Once when a man fell and hit his head at the church's yard sale, people milling about ignored him. Eva came racing back to church officials to ask them to help the bleeding man.

They did and were impressed by how much she cared.

The night Eva was killed, congregant Susie Mendez planned to give Eva a ride but had to leave the service early when she was notified that her grandson had been hit by a car. She was devastated when she heard the news and says she continues to think of Eva every day.

"It just makes me sick, sick, sick," says Mendez, who received a text message about the murder in the middle of the night. "It breaks my heart. That night, she was so full of life and so peppy, like a little kid in a grown woman's body."

Eva couldn't wait to get home that Christmas Eve. She had several gifts under the tree--gifts she would never have the chance to open. 

Anyone with information should contact investigators Alvarez or Batts from 7:30 to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at (310) 726-7881. On weekends or holidays, contact the Detective Information Desk at a 24-hour, toll free number: 877-LAPD-24-7. Anonymous web-tips can also be left at www.lapdonline.org (click on anonymous web tips).

Why Some Are doing College at Home

O'Kane Children Not Likely to Bury Father

Johnny O'Kane and son, Jonathan Andrew "Drew" O'Kane

O'Kane Children Reeling From Father's Double Shooting Of Himself And Girlfriend Now Face Another Front When "Estranged" Wife Resurfaces

By Diana L. Chapman

Johnny O'Kane's children who wanted to bury their father next to their mother who died of cancer in 2005 might not get the chance after his second wife resurfaced recently, claimed his body and had their father's account frozen, according to her face book page.

The O'Kane children, dealing with a deep grief after their 55-year-old father shot his girlfriend, Michelle "Shellie" Stamper, 45, twice on Nov. 2 and then turned the gun on himself dying in a hospital two days later, were stunned when Jennifer O'Kane reappeared -- a marriage, they said, they thought had completely crumbled and one they believed was annulled.

"We have the annulment papers," said the son, Jonathan Andrew "Drew" O'Kane, 23. "But they were incomplete. She's been gone for two years. She contacted me right after (the shootings) and showed up at the hospital. I just want her to go away. She's taking the body away and I've come to the conclusion that that's what's going to happen.

"She can take the body. But Honor (his sister) is not o.k. with it."

As far as Jonathan and Honor, 19, are concerned, their father told them he wanted to be buried next to their mother, Maggie. He had the tombstone and plot ready and visited her grave frequently. The account was frozen, he said, when the children and Jennifer O'Kane disputed ownership. The house is not in dispute, however, as their mother put it in a trust for the children, the son added. They will received it when Honor turns 25.

Jennifer O'Kane with O'Kane at festival.

But because Jennifer O'Kane  is still officially married to their father, the law is apparently on her side. Jennifer O'Kane, who says she owns and operates a legal brothel in Battle Mountain, Nevada, called the Calico Club, contends she and O'Kane still visited each other via flights and kept their love alive, she explained during a phone interview. She adds that she is keeping the account frozen to pay off O'Kane's bills and doesn't understand why the community is so angry with her. She is grieving his loss along with everyone else. No one a the Calico Club could be reached for comment.

O'Kane, she argues, never wanted to be buried at Green Hills Memorial Park and wanted to have his ashes scattered at sea and not have his body "in a metal box." His body, she said, is currently at Green Hills and will be released to her Nov. 27.

She will scatter his ashes at sea.

"I am not putting my husband in a metal box," she said from the hotel room she is staying in in Torrance. "I'm not disgracing my husband in any way, shape or form.

 I didn't come here to start a problem. I didn't come here to be shunned."

But Jennifer O'Kane's reappearance has mystified many in the community who haven't seen her for at least two years and others have written not-so-friendly comments on her face book page. She said during the interview that she and O'Kane married in May 2010 and she moved away the following November.

O'Kane, a popular iron worker union leader, stunned the San Pedro community when he shot and killed himself and his girlfriend. The killings devastated both families and became more cruel, O'Kane's children said, when the "estranged" wife showed up and took over O'Kane's body.

Feeling ridiculed, Jennifer O'Kane defended herself saying O'Kane would have divorced her if it was officially over and wrote this on her face book page:

"Dear brothers and sisters of local 433 and all whose lives Johnny touched- I want everyone to know that I have not taken Johnny's body out of San Pedro. I have not taken any money from any bank accounts, I have frozen all bank accounts because at this point i felt it best for anyone not to take the money until everything settles down. I also need everyone to know that I have not taken any of mine or Johnny's personal stuff out of the house. (Sic)
 

"I have been told that the brothers and sisters of Ironworkers local 433, were told that I have done those things and you are very angry. I honor and respect you as Johnny did and on his memory I swear-First thing is, I have not done these things. Secondly, if I was an "estranged wife" I would have let anyone do with Johnny as they pleased. The last words my husband said to me were " I can't deal with my personal life anymore Jennifer please help, I only want to be a Ironworker; that is who I am.) (Sic)

Still struggling with what happened with their father, Jonathan O'Kane believes his father -- who befriended all classes from tough blue collar workers to upper middle class folks to his daughter's teachers and Girl Scout leaders-- must have snapped that evening he killed Stamper. His father periodically got angry "from time to time" but not enough to kill someone.

"He loved everyone," Jonathan O'Kane said."He cared for everyone. He just didn't think anyone cared about him."

Honor and Jonathan both went to Michelle Stamper's service because they liked her and also her children, Jonathan said, adding that he believes the children are not blaming them for what happened.

O'Kane also had a third son, named Alex, 21, who took a week off from his mechanic job in Oregon.

"It was pretty shocking," Alex said sitting with his half-brother Jonathan at Walker's Cafe. "It was unbelievable. He was nice for the most part and was not a violent man. Even my mom said that about him."

A wake was held for O'Kane Saturday and was packed with hundreds of iron workers, friends and relatives. Jennifer O'Kane was not welcomed to attend.

Johnny O'Kane and Michelle "Shellie" Stamper

 Johnny O'Kane Killing Girlfriend Makes No Sense And Just Leaves Tattered Hearts Scattered To The Winds

By Diana L. Chapman

I drove by the house where it happened, just around the corner from where I live in San Pedro, not knowing what I was looking for. I don't know if I just wanted to be drenched in more sadness. Or if I just was looking for his kids, who are really adults now, but to me they are still kids. Nice kids.

 I know both of them.

Maybe I was looking for a sense of solace. Maybe a way to make sense out of something that makes no sense and never will. Maybe I was looking for a way to get rid of my anger that Johnny O'Kane had just shattered so many people's lives, especially his kids, and shredded the hearts of another family, turning them into a pulp that will never completely heal.

What I did get oddly from the visit was a soothing sense of peace -- a symbol I can only paint for you through words as I had no camera to capture this image and one that perhaps some readers might just laugh at. But it worked for me. I can't say why.

 First, I spotted the shrine to Michelle Stamper -- a group of burning candles with "we'll miss you" signs and a colorful butterfly at the spot where the 45-year-old woman also known by the nickname "Shellie" --was shot to death across from O'Kane's house on Almeria Street directly behind my home.

 I heard two shots ring out one right after another at 10:35 p.m. the dreadful night of Nov. 2. It was just the beginning of the shredding hearts in the stillness of the black night that soon burst into the sounds of loud sirens and a roaring helicopter. That's when it became all too clear this wasn't a movie shoot or someone fooling around with a gun.

 Something bad had gone down in the seaside Palisades area of San Pedro, where crime is less, not more.

The next day, the community learned that Johnny O'Kane, 55, a well-regarded leader in the iron worker's union, also popular with many town residents he befriended -- including me -- chased down and shot Stamper, his girlfriend, outside his home that night apparently over a dispute that turned deadly for both. He shot her in the head twice.

 Within minutes, he then called police and reported what happened before shooting himself. He died three days later at County Harbor UCLA Medical Center surrounded by colleagues and family, who were trying to come to grips with this tragic turn of events, according to news accounts.

O'Kane, a tall and lanky bearded man who sported tattoos, apparently had many faces. He was kind and thoughtful to some. Tough to others. The kind face was what he showed me on our many chats on life when I bumped into him at our local Corner Store or walking along Paseo del Mar, a roadway along the ocean.

 I'm sure he was not that kind man with the tough blue collar crowd he worked with or he wouldn't have survived as one of their leaders or earned the respect he received.

 I'm sure he was not that man when he gunned down Stamper, who left behind three grown children, Evelyn, the oldest, Robert, and Anthony Jordan, all in their 20s. They now are left with a horrendous mess of pain and cruel hurt that will never fully mend and with a raging beast called grief.

While I did not know Stamper, who was born and raised here, those who did say she was one of the kindest woman they'd ever known.  She also left behind her father, brother and many cousins, aunts, uncles and scores of friends.

"She was absolutely the sweetest, most gentle person," said Mona Sutton, who co-owns the Omelette and Waffle Shop with Leslie Jones, adding Stamper worked a short stint at their restaurant becoming close friends with many of their waitresses and for many years at the San Pedro Brewing Company. "She was a fixture here (in the community). I can't even get over it."

On her face book page, Sutton wrote: "So sad that such a sweet, gentle woman's life had to end in such a violent heinous way. Murdered in the town she grew up, worked and raised her children in. Her children need our support."

A heavily packed memorial service was held for Stamper on Saturday.

The Stamper family is not blaming O'Kane's children, Honor and Andrew, for what happened, a family friend said. But both families will go through a swath of emotions that are often unreasonable as they grieve. Grief too has many faces; family members will have to pilot through a storm of sentiments that could include anything from a hazy fog of disbelief to ugly waves of torment.

I thank God that Stamper's family is willing to try not to blame O'Kane's children, because this community can be divisive and cruel when it wants to be. Blaming two innocent kids is not what we need to do. O'Kane's children already know what nature's cruelty means and now they must live here facing residents knowing fully what their father has done.

Honor, who is in her late teens, and Andrew, an iron worker in his early 20s, already learned what heartbreak meant when they lost their mother, Maggie, to cancer in 2004. It seared the family deeply, riddling them with scars that only other families who've faced this crises can understand.

Now, Honor and Andrew are facing a new sea of sorrow they have to reckon with. They apparently had come home to celebrate their father's 55th birthday that night and found instead a bevy of police cars and blaring lights, according to news accounts.

I kept asking myself how could O'Kane do this to his kids, leave them in this mess, a muck so disturbing that it will take them years, perhaps their lifetimes, to crawl out of? Perhaps, and very likely, this will be the same for the Stampers too.

I also know how union workers might elevate O'Kane's reputation, forgetting that he killed a woman who grew up here and left behind a slew of loved ones. And how others will call O'Kane a murderer when his kids might be standing there. Or the kids might read it as one Daily Breeze reader posted it on a comment section in the newspaper. Let's not even mention what can go on face book where people can say anything anonymously and recklessly and not care who gets hurt.

I can ask for people to refrain and be sensitive to those around them in this tragic and horrific incident. Having traveled down this road before, I have my doubts that they will. When asked to do so, it just seems to drive some into a furious  shark frenzy to post even nastier words and do it with great pleasure.

We can all agree on one thing I suppose. This shooting didn't have to happen and these two people should be here now, alive and with their families today, getting up to brush their teeth in the morning, witness another sunrise, see the powder blue skies buffeted with clouds, celebrate more birthdays and watch their grand kids arrive one by one.

They should be here. But they are not. It just took a few dreary minutes, a horrible decision and a gun to erase their lives and leave dozens of shredded hearts scattered to the winds.

As I turned the corner in my car,  I became more incensed even though I knew it made no sense. The emotion was clinging to me like an unwanted shadow, not doing anyone any good, especially me. Perhaps it was because the last time I saw Honor she was so excited about life. She was mapping out her future.  She was gleaming with happiness that even her cute freckles glowed.

After I spotted Stamper's shrine, I looked over at the O'Kane household perched on a hilly street draped with lacy fichus trees. An old, black jalopy, obviously not working, sat in the driveway. And then I saw a set of peacocks, doing something I've never seen the fowls do before, even though I have them roosting in my yard on a daily basis.

A male and female sat on the jalopy's shady roof top, kissing, crooning, nurturing each other -- just two giant lovebirds oblivious to anything else going on in the world like a young couple kissing passionately, romantically on a public street, each moment sweet and dripping with love as though two beings folded into one.

I could barely move and just sat there watching. A gentle peacefulness descended on me. I no longer felt angry. It left me with this: we have not one family that has been devastated in this town, but two. Both families are victims.

All the rest of us can do is try to reach out and grab few pieces of their tattered hearts and pull them back in from the winds.

Barbie's Former Attorney Drawn To Guide Kids

Judy Willis, a retired corporate attorney for Mattel, now volunteers to guide kids with careers, college and in this case she is helping Karla Sanchez, 18, with deferred action immigration paper work.

A Bit of Snazziness and a Lot of Pep Drives One Woman, a Retired Mattel Executive and Corporate Attorney, To Power Up Kids To Take Charge of Their Lives and Oh, Yeah: Have Fun While Doing It

By Diana L. Chapman

Meeting Judy Willis sometimes seems like watching the road runner fly by. She's quick. She's witty. She's driven in race cars at 180 mph. Became close friends with Barbie, one of the most popular dolls in the entire world, and Ken, not so much. And  she knows negotiating tactics that might make other attorneys blanch.

Willis, 63, a slender woman with one word describing her best -- peppy --once traveled the world on a mission to negotiate licensing agreements for Mattel, Inc. as its Senior Vice President, Business Affairs. She even flew to Germany to meet with BMW, VW, Porsche, Audi and Mercedes, and to Italy to meet with Ferrari and Lamborghini for the rights to be in the Hot Wheel line.

Even though she's hopped over to New Zealand, popped over to Russia and landed in Turkey where she was surrounded by armed guards and dogs at the airport to cut million dollar deals, Willis decided even though the "job was really fun" it was time to retire early from her sensational career life at the age of 60.

Why? She wanted to help kids.

She was never able to get pregnant when she was married, now single. Sad? Are you kidding? Ms. Bubbly makes things work. At first, she thought of becoming a foster  mother, but a friend believed that would limit her ability to help many children. Instead, she volunteers at a shelter for abused mothers and their children, aids  students at San Pedro High to guide them with their career choices and volunteers at Toberman Neighborhood Center working with clients on job skills and serving on its Development Committee. The Center provides gang prevention, family services and educational programs for youth.

"She's just awesome," said Toberman Board Member Mitch Harmatz. "She's high energy, she gives back to the community. She's compassionate and caring. And she's  fearless. She will call donors who have not mailed in their checks" and remind them.

The truth is, having missed out on having her own kids, Willis has discovered just how much she loves and enjoys being around children of all ages.

"I definitely get way more than I give," said Willis, who sports a highlighted bob and seems to grip life with smiles and exuberance. "I love being around the kids. I always wanted a lot of kids of my own, which never happened. At the shelter, they call me 'the fun lady'. Sometimes the kids scream when I get there. It doesn't get much better than that. I know that I'm very good with kids and I'm lucky to have these great volunteer

 opportunities."

I first heard of Judy Willis from San Pedro High student Nancy Hinjos, now studying at George Town University, who raved about the attorney's ability to get students  enthusiastic about studying and life.

Willis volunteers at the high school each Friday.

"It's difficult for me to keep it brief when talking about Judy," Hinjos emailed me from  Washington, D.C. "I not only completely respected her because she was a professional  but also because she was donating her time to help San Pedro High students. She was very altruistic. Her contributions have personally affected me as I continue my education. Her story has stayed with me and is an inspiration. I still consider her to be a strong mentor and a friend."

I didn't hear about Willis again until my son, Ryan, came home from school and said he'd been having thought-provoking discussions with the attorney."I'm thinking about getting a law degree," Ryan said.

Coming from East Hartford Connecticut, a blue collar town, Willis grew up without a lot of money with three sisters and two brothers. It was a given that despite having little money, they were expected to go college and they all did.

Willis started out at Central Connecticut State University and became a social worker for six years, but with so much drive (and really enthusiastic overdrive) she decided to get a law degree and went nights to the University of Connecticut's law school. She transferred second year and graduated with a law degree from Boston College.

"Law school isn't hard," Willis said of her survival dueling a job and law school at the same time. "It's just a tremendous amount of work, a lot of reading and the bar is very stressful."

As soon as she graduated, work flew into her lap. H.P. Hood, the largest dairy in New England, hired her immediately in 1979. She was there for four years before Parker Brothers, a Massachusetts game company and maker of Monopoly,Risk, Sorry, etc., swept her up for five. Then, she landed the job as a corporate attorney for Mattel in El Segundo and loved every minute of it. So did her family with whom she shared her bonuses every year.

Working for Mattel for 20 years, left her with a nice collection of Barbie dolls that she is surrounded with at her Palos Verdes Peninsula home many designed by famous creator Bob Mackie.

Her life with the largest toy company in the world led to many glamorous moments with stardom -- meeting with the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Tom Hanks, Jamie Lee Curtis, Cindy Crawford -- but even more exciting adventures driving with NASCAR's Kyle Petty at 180 mph at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.

Mattel was Petty's sponsor. Willis also was allowed to go solo, but was so scared she could only hit the gas pedal up to 110 mph and who could blame her?  She also got a test drive in the Enzo Ferrari at Ferrari's test track in Italy, but she wasn't the driver.
 
Today her life is mostly channeled into what she can do for children.

Valerie Armstrong, who runs the school's College and Career Counseling Center, said she can't thank Willis enough for all her efforts.

"Judy Willis is so wonderful!" Armstrong emailed. "She truly enjoys working with our students. She assists with SAT registration, resume writing, scholarship searches, and mock job interviews. She also is a wonderful advisor to the students in Work Experience class. These students receive credit for working and they meet with me and Judy once a week. She researches articles on job trends and shares valuable career information with them."

Willis seals her lips when it comes to her work at a domestic violence shelter, which she can't identify because of confidentiality and the law. She won't tell the children's stories except for the nebulous ones, such as this.

When a 6-year-old realized she had once worked with toys, he asked her to bring him something collectible. She promised to bring him a Hot Wheels car which she had gotten at a fundraiser. The family later discovered that this particular little car was selling for over $600 on eBay.

The shelter's children, have become her teachers.

"I love the kids," she said. "Being at the shelter, I see how unique they are. I learned so much from them. They are so resilient."

She also likes to teach older students not to hang onto old mistakes, to move forward in life and have no regrets. That's how she lives because "you never know how long you are going to be here." Enjoy it, she added.

On a Friday afternoon, Willis was once again at San Pedro High helping student senior Karla Sanchez, 18, with deferred action paper work for immigrants"and she's been telling me about her job as lawyer," Sanchez said.

"That's getting me excited," said an enthused Sanchez, who added that she was so confused by the paperwork she couldn't have completed it without Willis. "She's been  a role model. It makes me see that there is opportunity out there.  It actually makes me feel like there are people who do care."