Lorraine "Lori" Christine Bernal

Lorraine Christine Bernal, age 62, was born, on June 1, 1961, in Hailey, Idaho to James Lee Burgener and Hilda Joan Werner. She passed away in the morning, in Glendora, California, on Saturday, September 23, 2023. She is survived by her husband, Arthur Bernal, her daughter, Jessica Curbishley, son James Bernal, her grandson, Milo, and sister, Alisa Burgener. She was predeceased by her father, mother, and brother, James Lee Burgener, Jr., and son Joseph A. Bernal, Jr.

After landing in California from Idaho, when she was three months old, she grew up in Temple City, and remained a resident of the San Gabriel Valley, her whole life. She is a graduate of Bishop Amat High School. In 1983, she married Arthur Bernal. Together, they had three beautiful children, Joseph, Jessica and James.

Lori had many talents and hobbies and enjoyed watching others display their natural abilities. She played guitar, liked all kinds of crafts, but her real passions were reading and cross stitching. She cross stitched almost every day for the last three years and made beautiful gifts for family and friends. All of her immediate family has their own cross stitched Christmas stocking, which will be displayed every Christmas, in her memory.

Lori was a member of the Immaculate Conception community. After working many years in the restaurant and graphic arts industries, she quit work so she could be a full time mom to be involved with her children’s activities—of which there were a lot. Over the years, she was co-president of the Immaculate Conception PTO, a fiesta helper and worker, a room mom, a soccer mom, a boy scout den leader, and her greatest joy, a girl scout leader.

Lori was a phenomenal party planner. She planned the most memorable birthday parties for her children, and family, anniversaries for parents, and other special occasions, all using her crafty and creative talents. She was incredibly generous, free with her time and a thoughtful gift giver—she knew exactly what you wanted because she was a great listener and always made notes.

With children in their late teens, Lori went back to school to prepare for nursing school. One of her proudest moments was graduating from nursing school, at Pasadena City College, in 2008. She went to work as an emergency room nurse at Methodist Hospital, in Arcadia. She would always come home and share way too much information about what happened in the ER that night: blood, gore and all! She was so fascinated, intrigued and addicted to the work. She soon enrolled at Azusa Pacific University to earn her Bachelors of Science in Nursing. She truly adored this work, all her co-workers, and the people she was able to help.

Lori was amazing at bringing the family together for every kind of event, so home was always full of people and great food. She was remarkable at recognizing everyone, and always made people feel special. Her intelligence, beauty, wit, humor, infectious laugh and vivacious personality drew people toward her, and she loved being surrounded by family and friends.

She will be deeply missed and the impact she made on our lives will forever be a piece of us.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.liveoakmonrovia.com for the Bernal family.