ANTOINETTE PEARSON
 
Memorial Service
 
February 7, 2013
 
(To be read by Bonnie Pearson)
(Written by Noella Pearson)
 
 
Dear Pat and Robin:
 
On behalf of your Pearson cousins, Nonie, Phil, Don, and Lori, I would like to extend our deepest sympathy over the passing of your mother, our Aunt Toni.  
 
We have fond memories of our childhood days when we lived in Reseda and you lived in Panorama City.  Our fathers (Harry and George) were not only brothers, but they were best friends.  Our mothers (Toni and Mary) were young women dedicated to their husbands and their children.
 
We saw each other frequently during those days.  When our family moved to Great Falls, Montana in 1957 the geographical distance prevented us from regular visits.  Nevertheless, the early memories were etched into the landscapes of our minds.
 
I was a small child, about six or seven, when I first met my Aunt Toni.  My memory of her is that she was a beautiful, charming young woman and I was totally enamored by her persona.  Throughout my life it was my practice to stay in contact with Toni.  I never traveled to Southern California without visiting my Aunt Toni.  Our last “face to face” visit was in June, 2006.  The last time we spoke was during a telephone call on Christmas Day, 2012.
 
Your mother will be missed by those who knew and loved her.  I believe she is with God and is reunited with family and friends who predeceased her.  From this time forward it is her responsibility to be “your guardian angel” and watch over you and your family as you continue your journey on earth toward eternity.
 
God bless you, Pat and Robin.  
 
Love always,
 
Nonie

I Was a War Bride – Antoinette Pearson 
By Glenn Pearson (written around 2002 for school)

Hi my name is Antoinette Pearson, I am a native of France.  I grew up in a small town 200 miles north of Paris toward Belgium.  When I was growing up in France, we all thought of coming to America.
My family had just survived the depression.  Then the war came and the German invasion.  This was World War Two.  When the Germans got to Brussels, my family fled to the south of France where my mother was from.  My mother, sister and I went by train and my father and brother drove the family car down.  We were in Free France, the area that was not occupied by the Germans.  We didn't have much food or supplies because of the Germans.  There was more food in the areas occupied by the Germans.  Just before the war was over, we returned to the north of France because of the bad conditions in the south.  We had to be smuggled back into the occupied areas and couldn't bring anything with us.
 I met my husband in the north of France because they were looking for people who spoke English and my family did.  He was a staff sergeant and a navigator on an airplane.  When he came back from a campaign, he asked me to marry him.  We had to get permission, and I was investigated.  That took about three months.  We were together in France after we married only a few months before he returned to America.  I was 23 when we married in June of 1945.  My brother wanted to come to America as well, but my sister was married and had a family.  It took a year before I could come to America.  I came by the ship Brazil which was a boat full of war brides.  We arrived in New York near the end of June 1946.  We had to stay on the ship until we took a train to our final destination.  I feel in love with America immediately.  I took a train to where my husband was in Yuma, Arizona.  In the middle of the trip there was a train strike, and I was stranded in Tucumcari, New Mexico.  There I was interviewed and photographed by a journalist because I was a war bride.  I called my husband, and he had a friend who had a small plane who came to get me a few days later.
 When I finally arrived in Yuma, Arizona my husband's family had suffered a financial set back, and we were together only a month when he told me he couldn't afford a wife.  It was then decided that I would go and live with his grandmother in Los Angeles, and they would pay my way through beauty school.  It didn't work out living with his grandmother, so after about a month I was able to move in with an Italian family where I shared a room with their daughter.  After about six months a friend I made at beauty school invited me to come live with her.  I completed my schooling after nine months, passed my exams and got my beauty license.  During the time I was in school, my husband filed for divorce, but I wouldn't sign the papers because I was afraid I would be sent back to France.  Because I was a war bride, I could go for my citizenship in two years.  I studied the book, and while I worked as a beautician I would ask my customers to quiz me.  When I went for my citizenship they questioned me for 30 minutes and I passed. They swore my in right there.  I had two witnesses with me, my boss' wife and someone who sold supplied to the beauty shop.  On the way back to the beauty shop we stopped to celebrate.  They had a bigger ceremony later, but I wasn't able to attend.  Americans treated me very well.  They were all very nice and introduced me to everyone they knew.
 After I got my citizenship I was ready to get divorced.  My husband and his family had moved, but I was able to find them through the grandmother I had briefly lived with.  I then filed for divorce. My friend that I lived with got married, and so I got my own apartment.  My job was in Hollywood at Hollywood and Vine.  I met my second husband through this friend.  
 I never wanted to move back to France.  I did go back to visit once after my first son was born but was happy to come home to America.  I have two sons from my second marriage and one grandson.  My first son has a wife and they have a son.  My second son is single.  Both my sons live close to me.  Both my sons, and my grandson work for the City of Los Angeles.  My second husband died about 27 years ago.  I have lived in the same house for more than 50 years, which is in the San Fernando Valley.

My mother-in-law.  She was a special lady; strong, determined, a survivor.  She promised me she would not be a mother-in-law that was critical of my housekeeping, cooking or child rearing and she kept that promise.

She was a wonderful grandmother to Glenn.  She loved him so much and loved spending time with him.  She always wanted him to come over swimming and loved making him her special spaghetti which he loved.  With her friend Dick, she would take him fishing and on short drives in their motorhome.  When we had to be out of town she had him stay with her a couple times.  He loved her so.

We had a good relationship, and the last few years we drew closer.  I would take her shopping or out to eat or just visit and have long chats.  The last year I wasn't able to visit as often as I would have liked but we had a nice visit over Christmas and just a little over a week before her passing we had one last visit.

She will be missed.

Love,

OBITUARY

Antoinette Pearson

July 6, 1922 – January 28, 2013

Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park and Mortuary

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