Peter Navarette Talamantez

Deceased: October 10, 2014

Daughter, Sharon Heath and grandchildren Heather and Ryan Heath were with him at the time of his passing.

Place of Death: Kaiser Hospital, Panorama City, CA

Cause of Death: Cancer and Kidney failure

Born: November 11, 1943 in West Los Angeles, CA

Parents:

Siblings: Annie Talamantez, Mary Talamantez, Louie Talamantez and Max Talamantez

Married: August 10, 1963 to Frances Irene Aguirre

Education: Santa Monica High School, West Coast Technical Institute, Pacific Coast College

Residences: Grew up in Santa Monica, California, then lived in the San Fernando Valley since 1972 when he and Frances moved the family to Northridge, California.

Personal Interests and Experiences:

• Pete loved doing things with his children. He volunteered for many years to coach little league baseball, girls’ softball and as a scout leader for the Cub Scouts. He also volunteered to be a track coach at Cantara Elementary school, part of L.A.U.S.D. to support a fitness initiative at the school.

• All of his interests were centered on his family and did not invest a lot of time in personal hobbies, though he did like to go fishing off of the Santa Monica pier and also liked to go shooting.

• My dad enjoyed cooking and took a lot of pleasure in trying to master the perfect BBQ chicken and ribs. He was good at it.

• He enjoyed sports activities including swimming, water volleyball and going to the batting cages.

• He was also an avid sports fan closely following the Dodgers, Angels, Lakers, Clippers, Kings, USC Football and UCLA basketball. If the team was from L.A., he rooted for them.

• Our dad emphasized going to church when we were younger and as we got older, we would speak about Jesus, faith and church more candidly.

• Supported the Democratic party most of his life, but in his latter years was a volunteer at the Reagan Library and a member of the Ronald Reagan Foundation. The family will continue to support the Foundation.

• A few years back, Pete started writing a book, documenting his life experiences, unusual encounters and life in Southern California.

• My dad was funny. He had a knack for making you laugh, finding humor in most situations. He had a keen sense of observation expressed in off-color remarks that would highlight absurdity in views, policies, laws and culture. This attribute has been passed on to his son Tom and appears to be present in his grandson Ryan Heath. In general, he could always make you laugh and we laughed a lot.

• My dad was not shy about expressing his feelings. He wore his heart on his sleeve most of the time and wasn’t shy to tell you he loved you or was proud of you. He was openly affectionate with our mom and never held back telling her he loved her in front of the kids.

• Pete had a tattoo on his right forearm of our mom’s name. It said “Mi Frances” wrapped in vines and flowers. It was his design and he was proud of it. He would tell me things like “there will never be anyone like your mom” or “your mom is the greatest person I’ve ever known.”

FAMILY

Survived by:

Fran Talamantez, wife of 34 years

Florence Talamantez, oldest daughter

Tom Talamantez, middle child and only son

Sharon Heath Talamantez, youngest daughter

Heather Heath, oldest grandchild

Ryan Heath, youngest grandchild

Annie Talamantez, sister