Beverly Persons

Beverly L. Persons Born January 8, 1927 in El Monte, California.  Passed away Aug. 7, 2018 in Palmdale, Ca.  She is survived by her children, Cindi Persons and significant other, Craig, Dennis Persons and wife Erin, Nancy Anton and husband David, grandchildren, Amy Anton and fiancé, Jorge, Rose Anton, and numerous nieces and nephews.  She was preceded in death by her husband, Roger.  Beverly was raised as an only child in the Pasadena, Rosemead area of the San Gabriel Valley and attended Pasadena Community College as an Art Major.  Bev worked at Barker Bros. in downtown Los Angeles and regularly took the “Red Car” to get there.  She was at a dance one evening and met her future husband Roger who was playing drums in the band.  Turned out it was their first date.  They were married in 1948 and started a family after moving to Walnut where they lived in a large Victorian house in the middle of an orange grove that was owned by Roger’s father.  She took a job at the US Postal Service and later became a full time Mom. The orange grove was the best “backyard” we kids could have even though our mother lamented the fact that we were bringing most of the dirt from the orange grove into the house once we were done playing.  But we did it again the next day and the next so we knew it was OK.  There were many times that mom took us to the beach probably having her hands full making sure her three kids didn’t go too far out and stayed within eyesight. So instead of dirt in the house it was sand in the car.  Soon Dad was off to Mortuary College and took a job in Pomona so the family moved there for a year then on to Arlington near Riverside in 1962.  Mom and Dad both worked in the funeral business there until the family moved to Palmdale in 1965.  It was there that they purchased Chapel of the Valley Mortuary which continues to this day to operate under ownership of the Persons Family.  Mom and Dad were overjoyed and excited to welcome their daughter-in-law Erin, son-in-law David, and also Craig in to the family.     It was our father who would give us the OK to jump  in the deep end and Mom who thought it best that we first had swimming lessons so with that kind of wisdom and encouragement she gave her blessing for us to try many activities, such as Sailing, Skiing, Motorcycle riding and nearly anything else we felt like doing.  On occasion she would go with us on these treks but rarely was a participant. She especially loved her two grandchildren, Amy and Rose and found joy in their many camping trips and local outings just to get ice cream.  We enjoyed many family BBQ’s and always with Mom’s homemade Potato Salad.  Beverly was very artistic and loved to paint everything from oil to acrylic and also water color.  She painted Christmas cards by hand, china, even her children’s birth announcements, along with refinishing various pieces of furniture.  She liked to knit and shop and really liked to go out to dinner.  Her favorite guilty pleasures were sweets, any kind of dessert and she loved See’s Butterscotch Squares.  Mom and Dad loved camping in their motorhome and camped often with their granddaughters.   They took several trips with Dad’s brother and his wife, Joe and Erma, the highlight being trips to New Orleans and Alaska.  Beverly valued her friends and enjoyed getting together for the card parties every month. Mom could always be found in her sewing room making clothes for herself, her children and later on, her grandchildren.  Dad never complained about her spending too much money on clothes. Mom and Dad especially loved taking their two granddaughters to cheer on the LA Dodgers at Dodger Stadium and would have been very proud to know that both Amy and Rose worked for the Dodger organization. She was quiet, unassuming, cheerful and happy, always encouraging us to try harder in anything that we did.  In other words, she was the best Mom.