Bessie "Ricky" Shishim

Bessie ‘Ricky’ Shishim, born December 28, 1921 in Emporia, Kansas, passed away on March 11, 2014. Ricky moved to Santa Monica, California after graduating from high school in 1939, to join her mother. She enjoyed the single life with her friend Sally for several years, then was married to her husband of 61 years, Walter Lee Shishim, in 1947. In 1962, they relocated to Long Beach California, where they raised their family and lived their remaining years. Walter predeceased Ricky in June, 2008. Mrs. Shishim was a military housewife and mother of two, and enjoyed traveling, monthly gatherings with the ‘Come-Alongs’, playing cards, and being a devoted wife and mother to her ‘sailor’ and their children. Ricky was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2075 in Hawthorne, Ca, and was an active member of the Ladies Auxiliary for many years.

She is survived by her son Walter L Shishim Jr. and his wife Susan, of Lakewood, Ca and their son Mark Shishim, his wife Mira and their daughter Hana; and her daughter, Debby Silva, of Long Beach, Ca and her son, Anthony Silva, and her daughter Samantha Diaz, her husband Wilfred and their daughter Isabella.

Memorial Services will be held on Monday, March 17, 2014 at 1:00 PM, at Luyben Family Dilday-Mottell Mortuary, located at 5161 E Arbor Rd., in Long Beach, Ca. (reception to follow). Private burial services will be held at a later date at the Riverside National Cemetary, where she will be laid to rest with her husband.