Marian Louise Ossola

She was born December 28, 1935, to Wilburn and Louise Webb in Piedmont, Mo. Marian graduated from East St. Louis High School, where she was involved in many school activities, her proudest was being a cheerleader. She attended the University of Illinois in Champaign as an undergraduate.

On June 23, 1956, in Belleville, Ill., Marian married the love of her life, Jim Ossola, who was a basketball star (albeit from another university.) She taught grade school before the young couple moved to Los Angeles where they lived with two sons in West Covina and Chatsworth until retirement in 1995 to Arkansas, then back to California in 2002.

She earned a Masters of Public Administration degree from Pepperdine University in 1981, and served on the 1984 Olympic Organizational Committee in Public Relations. For decades, Marian was a volunteer, including being Cub Scout Den Mother, Team Mother for her sons' hockey and baseball teams. She was relied on regularly by her community, and in 1975 was recognized as the Woman of the Year by the Chatsworth Community Coordinating Council.

Her sons fondly remember their teenage years when the Ossola house was the place their friends loved to gather, and Marian had many 'adopted' neighborhood kids. Lovingly dubbed "The Energizer Bunny" by family and friends, Marian had a way of surviving against all odds as she faced many serious health issues for 30 years.

Her faith in God was deep and real, and she somehow just kept on going. She was a patriotic soul, enjoyed the Radio City Music Hall, and watched TV preachers. She loved her home state of Missouri, and to this day has high school friends still there. Marian is preceded in death by husband James Albert Ossola.

She is survived by son James Kevin Ossola and daughter-in-law Nancy Beth Zurbuchen of Kansas City, Mo.; son Mark Whitney Ossola of Calabasas; and granddaughter Whitney Cheyenne Ossola of St. John, Kan.

Arrangements: Pierce Brothers / Valley Oaks-Griffin Mortuary, 5600 Lindero Canyon Road, Westlake Village, Ca 91362, 818-889-0902. Funeral service is 2 p.m. Saturday, September 22, 2012.