Celia Elchert

On the evening of December 31, 2015, Celia (Berumen) Elchert passed away peacefully at Citrus Valley Hospice in West Covina after a year-long struggle with cancer. Celia was comforted by family members at the time of her passing. She was 67 years old.

Celia was born in Arcadia, California, at 7:00 am on July 6, 1948. She was the second child, and the first daughter, of Maria and Abram Berumen. She was baptized on August 15, 1948, at the Church of the Holy Angels in Arcadia, California, and received first Holy Communion on May 11, 1958, in Immaculate Conception Church in Monrovia, California.

Celia attended Huntington Elementary School, Clifton Junior High School, and Monrovia High School in Monrovia. She graduated from high school in 1966. Following high school graduation, she worked in the Dietary and Personnel departments at Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte, California, from 1966 to 1983.

She was married to Ken Elchert, son of Frank and Marie Elchert of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, on October 27, 1979, at Immaculate Conception Church in Monrovia. She was a loving wife and mother who turned a house into a home. She liked to cook and sew and scheme up new home improvements, yellow houses with white picket fences, burgundy-colored cars, Roy Rogers and Trigger, Charlton Heston and John Wayne, cats and dogs, lemon pie and raspberry tea, lobster tails and crab legs, Chinese food and Chai tea at Starbucks, watermelon and root beer, going to antique stores and the beach, and watching black and white movies from the 1940’s and ‘50’s and Wheel of Fortune on TV. Her pride and joy was her family who sorely misses her smiling face. She battled cancer with dignity and valiant optimism which has set a great example to all who knew her and made her family proud.

Celia was preceded in death by her sister, Lupe Berumen, in August 2011. She is survived by her husband, Ken Elchert, who resides in Glendora, California, and her three children: John Elchert in Washington, D.C., Marissa Elchert in Glendora, and Amanda Elchert who lives in Hacienda Heights. She is also survived by her sister, Rachel Hughes in Chino Hills, California, and four brothers: Paul Berumen in Riverside, California, Lee Berumen in Issaquah, Washington, Ed Berumen in Los Angeles, and Tony Berumen in Monrovia, California.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Citrus Valley Hospice, 820 N. Phillips Avenue, West Covina, CA 91791-1121 and to Project Glendora Yellow Ribbon, in care of Kathleen Gonzales, 400 S. Minnesota Avenue, Glendora, CA 91741.

Viewing will be held at the Oakdale Memorial Park Mortuary chapel in Glendora from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Sunday, January 10. The funeral Mass will be held at Immaculate Conception Church in Monrovia at 10:30 am on Monday, January 11. Celia will be inurned in niche #703 at Oakdale Memorial Park Mortuary in Glendora at 10:00 am on January 15, 2015.

Special thanks go to Alan Schlaerth, MD, of the GYN Oncology Institute in Arcadia and Myron Mariano, MD, FACS, of Premiere Surgical Specialists who performed the life-saving surgeries that extended Celia’s life, Rahul Naik, MD, of Hematology/Oncology Specialists in Glendora along with his staff who administered her chemotherapy, the doctors and nurses of Foothill Presbyterian hospital, and the entire staff of Citrus Valley Hospice who did an outstanding job providing her with the excellent care she needed during her final days of life here on Earth.