Alan Gordon Webberley

Alan was born August 1st, 1930 to Gordon and Margery Webberley. Both Gordon and Margery were born England. Before Gordon and Margery married, Gordon felt the Lord calling him to do missionary work in Mexico. He moved to Mexico City to make preparations and start his ministry and then sent for Margery to join him. As Margery stepped off the boat in Mexico, they were married on the dock. Alan was their firstborn. He had two younger sisters,Doreen and Sylvia. He attended the American school in Mexico City but spoke fluent Spanish. He accepted Christ into his life as a young boy.

When Alan was 17, his family moved to Glendale, California. It was there that he met his future wife Joanne Hill who was then 14. The two families were friends through their church. At 20, about the time Alan decided to join the army, another sister was born, Elaine. Alan was sent overseas during the Korean War and served his country as a non-combatant, skillfully drawing maps of the outlying terrain for the troops. He and Joanne exchanged love letters back and forth for 2 years before he was shipped back to the states. They married 3 weeks after his return to the mainland. They started out their married life at the Presidio in San Francisco where Alan was stationed.

During the course of their marriage, Alan and Joanne had five children, Carolyn, Valerie, Laurel, Alan Jr and Geoffrey. They settled in La Crescenta, CA and Alan found a career at the So. California Gas Company where he worked for 43 years. He began as a meter reader, but quickly took some night courses to become an accountant. He served the Lord in two small non-denominational bible based churches, Glendale Gospel Chapel and Shadow Hills Bible Chapel for almost 28 years, teaching Sunday school, being treasurer, bus driver, song leader, and caretaker. His greatest passion besides family was in serving Christ.

Alan and Joanne eventually moved to the Santa Clarita Valley and for the last 33 years, have attended Grace Community Church. Alan enjoyed serving there as a shuttle parking lot driver, a parking lot attendant, a handicapped bus driver and since his retirement, serving as a volunteer for the Shepard’s Conference. Most notably, for the last 26 years, he and Joanne have been on senior staff in the college ministry. They hosted a Bible study in their Canyon Country home for 5 years until it took them to the Master’s College and eventually to the campus of COC where they have faithfully been attending each Wednesday night. He has touched the lives of countless college students for so many years with his faithfulness, service and kindness.

Since Alan’s retirement in 1996 he has enjoyed spending his days with Joanne. He would often be found working on crossword puzzles in the morning, gardening in his yard in the afternoon, and watching his beloved sports teams in the evening. He also worked for the county of Los Angeles during the elections as an inspector at the polling place in his district.

Nothing delighted Alan more than his family. He is survived by his wife Joanne, his three sisters and their husbands, his five children, his two daughter-in-laws and three son-in-laws, sixteen grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Alan loved to take vacations with family to places like Mount Herman Christian Camps and Mammoth Lakes. After he retired, he and Joanne were very busy with their grandchildren attending as many events as possible. They often took overnight trips to the beach where they would ride their bikes along the paths by the shore.

Alan had many loves in his life. He loved his wife, he loved his family, he loved the church, he loved his Dodgers, Lakers, and Bruins. Above all these, Alan’s greatest love was his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Alan passed away unexpectedly December 1st in the very early morning and was swept up into the arms of His Lord in the most merciful way.