Edith Barbara Persons

Edith Barbara was born in Good Samaritan Hospital, Brooklyn, NY March 27, 1939 to Margaret Brilli (Crodele) and Henry Brilli. Her given name is Edith Barbara, which her father caller her all his life. Her mother always caller her Barbara, which she has always gone by.

In around 1946 they moved to California and lived with an aunt. Later they moved to Monterey Park and lived in a motel. From the motel they moved to a house on Ramona Ave., where Barbara went to Saint Stevens Catholic School. In her eighth grade a boy from a school a block away, from Ynez School took an interest in her. They both ran around with the same group of kids. This group of kids went to the movies each Saturday at the Garfield Theater. Afterword stopping at the drugstore soda fountain for French Fries.

Later Barbara went on to Ramona Covent High School and James went to Mark Keppel High School. They still went on seeing each other. Then they started to get more serious about each other during the rest of high school. After high school Barbara went on to Pasadena City College and James went on to a JR College. He also worked and in 1957 was not sure what he wanted to be. A friend was going into the Air Force and a cousin was going into the Navy and they both wanted James to join them. So he decided to join the Air Force hoping to get a job he would like.

James went to his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. Afterword was shipped to Hamilton Air Force Base north of San Francois, CA. There he stayed until the end of December 1957. At this time he had orders to ship out to Iwo Jima for a year. This was a long year but James managed it. He was able to get to Japan twice during the year.

After he was shipped back to Hamilton Air Force Base to a Civil Engineering Squadron. Where he spent the remaining tour of duty. While at the base he worked at night at a movie theater from seven in the evening to around midnight five nights a week. This was so he would have pocket money to once a month drive down Friday night to Los Angeles. Take Barbara out to a movie Saturday night and then drive back to the base Sunday night on old highway 99.

Barbara and James got engaged December 1960 and then in February 1963 they married at the Holy Family Catholic Church, South Pasadena, CA.

They had a new one bedroom apartment until they found out miss Deborah was coming. So they moved to a new two bedroom apartment. Well James decided living in apartments was not for the family. So he wanted to buy a house, but looking at used houses wasn not for the family. So Barbara and James decided to move in with their parents to save rent money. They lived with Barbara's parent's while a house was built in Whittier.

It was a nice new house with four bedrooms, but without landscaping. What was nice all people on the block were first time owners. After seven years, they decided they wanted to move to a cooler location.

So they looked around and found a track of homes in Newport Beach. But the house they wanted was not built yet, it was only a vacant lot. Each Saturday they would drive down to Newport Beach to see how the house was coming along. It's a three bedroom house with a nice lot. The family grew up living in this house and it was a nice place to raise a family.

Barbara during the years would pick up her grandkids after school and take them to baseball games. Some of these games would last late into the evening. Barbara always had her wagon with her chair, blankets, and always stayed until the games were over.

How we have been blessed.