7/2/1929 - 12-19-2019
Born in La Honda, CA to Elsie and Oliver Gomes. Georgie was the oldest child of 4 followed by sisters Theresa & Beverly and younger brother Oliver Jr. At a young age her family moved to Daly City, CA where she attended Jefferson Union High School.
As a young woman she married Jackson Bryan White and started her own family, her children include Sandra Marie, Johnny Bryan, Sherry Lee and Robert Randall. As her children grew her marriage to Jack dissolved and after a period of life on her own, she met the love of her life, John Beale (her honey).
Life with John was full of fun and adventure. He took her fishing, they explored new places, she helped him in his Farmers Insurance business handling secretarial and receptionist positions. They enjoyed their trips to Reno, where Georgie loved to play Keno as well as the slots and was most often a winner. In 1975 they were married in Carson City where they were treated as special guests at a local inn. John and Georgie became friends with a huge motorhome group, starting off small and ending up with a very large motorhome where they traveled comfortably following a parade of similar rigs to different locations exploring small historical towns and scenic coastal regions. Their motorhome days were filled with potluck dinners, spaghetti feeds, bingo nights beach party's and very close friends. With John she became a part of the local Moose Lodge, and they enjoyed many events and friendships there.
Over the years Georgie was blessed with 6 beautiful grandchildren; Tiffany Weber, Taitten Cowan,
Krystal Figueroa, Kiana and Cameron White. She adored her grandchildren and spending time with them. Her and John would step in and help with those living nearby as well as take trips to visit the ones who did not.
One of Georgie's favorite hobbies was taking photos and videoing. She started with a large video camera that used VHS tapes and could easily be shown in her VCR and shared with family but as time and technology grew she graduated to smaller and smaller recorders and could be found at every occasion with the camera on one eye. she has captured hours of family and friends on tape over the years.
Georgie was always loyal to her family and when her younger sister fell ill to cancer she stayed by her bedside. When her parents began to age and suffer health issues she made the long drive from her home in Pacifica to Cottonwood regularly to support them and when her sister Terry needed to move out of the city and down the peninsula, she drove a truck.
She loved gardening and surrounding herself with beautiful flowers, one of her favorite places was the Filoli House in Woodside CA and together with sister Terry and daughter Sherry they enjoyed annual events there. Another favorite outing included visiting local nurseries and enjoying lunch out together. She was part of the Native Daughters of Half Moon Bay where she attended luncheons and meetings to preserve the relationships of the indigenous women of Pescadero, La Honda, and Half Moon Bay many of whom were her relatives.
In 1994 while packing their motorhome for a long journey to see her son in Texas, Georgie collapsed from an aneurysm in her right temple. She was rushed to the hospital where after serious brain surgery she survived. It was a tough journey for her and John, but they persevered and with time tried to carry on as before, but things were never quite the same for Georgie. They still traveled with motorhome friends and visited family in various states and Georgie did her best to keep up socially.
In 2000 John Retired from over 40 years with Farmers Insurance and they sold their property in Pacifica to move to Anderson CA where they had a custom house built in a new development. They were very happy and would spend part of the year at their home in Anderson and as" Snowbirds" would spend the winter months in Ajo, AZ where they purchased property with full hook ups for their motorhome. Georgie enjoyed living in her motorhome and traveling the countryside videoing the landscapes along the way.
Over the years Georgie's mind began to slip showing signs of dementia and eventually they were forced to give up the motorhome travels and she was forced to suffer at home with the progressive confusion and anger that comes with the disease. Georgie, while battling the confusion of her dementia was then diagnosed with breast cancer which again she survived. Although her quality of life continued to diminish Georgie proved herself to be a true survivor.
In 2011 Georgette's illness had progressed to the level that keeping her at home was no longer an option and with the help of some amazing professional women she was moved to Willow Springs Alzheimer Facility in Redding CA. where she spent 8 years as a resident, While living at Willow Springs Georgette's hip failed and she struggled through hip replacement surgery. Again Georgie proves to be a strong survivor and soon after her surgery she could be found speed walking with her walker throughout the facility.
Being a very long term resident at Willow Springs she saw other residents, caregivers and administration come and go. As she lived in her own state of confusion, Georgie proved perseverance and strength. Living to be 90 plus years our mom/grandmother has shown us that no matter what life has in store for us we must do our best to be a survivor.
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