Rowena Vivian Bledsoe

Rowena Vivian Bledsoe, 93 years of age, of Folsom California, passed away Sunday, December 30, 2018 at approximately 9:40pm. She was born in Stilwell, Adair County, Oklahoma, which is known as the Strawberry Capital of the World…no wonder she loved a good bowl of strawberry shortcake!

She was the fourth born to Lee Roy Turman & Caudie (Sullivan) Turman on April 9th, 1925. She had a total of 10 siblings: Rosetta Marsh, Arlie (Son) Turman, Allen Turman, Jackie Turman, Billy Turman, Jimmy Turman, Ruth Wade, Charles Floyd Turman, Ruby Alves and Lois Survera. All were born in Oklahoma except for the youngest, Lois, who was born in California.

The Turman family came to Dos Palos, California in May of 1936 to the Thomas Ranch where they worked in the cotton fields. At the end of the cotton season they moved to another ranch, the C.A. Ridgeway Ranch and lived there for several years. While living there Rowena and her girlfriends would attend dances in Chowchilla. One night she met the love of her life for 76 years, Harold C. Bledsoe.

They were married on April 18, 1942 by the District Judge in Reno, Nevada. They resided in Modesto until Harold was drafted into the Army, May 6, 1943. During the time Harold served in WWII, Rowena and their first born daughter, Vivian Carol, (born January 5, 1943) moved back to Dos Palos to live with her family. Once back from the war Rowena and Harold moved to San Jose, CA where their second daughter, Patricia Gay, was born on September 27, 1952.

During their time in the Santa Clara Valley they lived in Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Cupertino. Harold opened his own auto upholstery shop & Rowena began working for Sylvania as a cashier in the cafeteria. She enjoyed her job and made several close friendships with her co-workers, Dolly, Marion & Bob. She worked for Sylvania for 10 years until June 1969. They were members of the Sunnyvale Missionary Baptist Church where Rowena was a Sunday school teacher and participated in the Ladies Auxiliary.

In June 1969 Harold, Rowena and Gay moved to Modesto, CA to live on the almond/peach farm they had purchased a few years before. By that time, their oldest daughter, Carol, was married and living in San Jose, California. When Rowena wasn’t taking care of their home, she was working in the orchards alongside of Harold. They were members of the Tully Road Missionary Baptist Church. In 1980 they sold their first farm and bought another 80 acres of almonds in Ceres, CA. After farming for approximately 20 years they retired and moved to Oroville for five years before moving to Fair Oaks, CA to be closer to their two daughters and families: Carol Matej (Al) and Gay Schimeck (William); grandchildren: Karri Lefkove (Eric), Jeff Matej, Ryan Matej (Rachael), Corey Schimeck (Tracy), Chrissy McCord (Sam), and Jill Larner (Greg); and great grandchildren: Ross Boyer, Jarrid Boyer, Ian Enterline, Grace Matej, Hailee Carstens, Justin Henry, Jocelyn Bolding, Alex Lopez, Andrew Larner, Thomas Larner, Mackenzie McCord, Cavin McCord and Averie McCord.

To everyone’s benefit (and waistlines) we now got to frequently enjoy Mom’s/Grandma’s great cooking, such as her fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, pinto beans, fried potatoes, fried okra, cornbread, homemade ice cream, banana cream and pumpkin pies. We also enjoyed road trips to Thunder Valley or Red Hawk Casinos to play the penny slot machines, which she usually did quite well on.

Rowena enjoyed getting up early, going for a morning walk, having her breakfast of coffee, honey almond cereal and a couple pieces of bacon. Most years she had a garden of tomatoes, jalapeno peppers and cucumbers. She loved watching her soap operas (As the World Turns, Young and The Restless, One Life to Live and General Hospital). She enjoyed reading Danielle Steele books and listening to her country and gospel music, especially before going to sleep at night. We also can’t forget how she loved her Kentucky Fried Chicken wings and corn dogs, especially the giant ones at the California State Fair. She also enjoyed crocheting doilies for tables and throw blankets for her grandchildren. For the last three and a half years, Rowena lived in an assisted living home, Elim Oaks in Folsom. She was well taken care of and very spoiled by her main two caretakers Mike and Ron.

Our family has been so blessed to have our Mother, Mom, Mama, Grandma, Granny, Sister and Aunt for almost 94 years. She was a sweet, gentle, quiet soul and was the rock of our family. We will all miss her more than can be expressed but are comforted in knowing and trusting she is at peace with her Heavenly Father and is with all of our family members who have preceded her in death: Carol Matej (daughter), Al Matej (son-in-law), Harold Bledsoe (husband), Lee Roy Turman (Father), Caudie Turman (Mother), Rosetta Marsh (Sister), Ruth Wade (Sister), Allen Turman (Brother), Charles Floyd (Brother), Arlie Turman (Brother), Jackie Turman (Sister), Billy Turman (Sister).

You’ll be in our hearts forever…until we see you again!

Funeral arrangements will be held at 11:00am, on Wednesday, January 9, 2019 at Lakewood Memorial Park and Funeral Home located at 900 Santa Fe Avenue, Hughson, CA 95326.

If you would rather make a donation in lieu of flowers, please donate to the Alzheimer’s Foundation at https://www.alz.org/.

To leave an online condolence to the family, please visit our website at www.lakewoodhughson.com.