Yvonne Simmons

Yvonne "Bonnie" Doris Simmons passed away Nov. 7, 2009, at her Klipsan Beach residence. The daughter of Domingo Pilaria of Los Angeles, Calif., and Pilar Bedegain Pilaria, of Urepel, France, she was born in Los Angeles on March 21, 1926. Graduating a year early from high school, she began a fast-rising career at the Culver City Bank of America. Shortly after the end of WWII, she married Louis E. Simmons of Woodland, Calif. In 1954 they moved to Hawthorne, Calif., where she enjoyed the role of housewife, mother and neighbor. She took on all aspects of this work with a flair and touch of fun peppered with a bit of devilment. Friendships created during these years have continued to the present. In the late 1960s, Mrs. Simmons once again joined the workforces, this time at the aerospace firm of McDonnell Douglas as an administrative secretary. She flourished in her job using very keen organization skills and planning abilities. She was known for her sense of fun, her elaborate holiday decorations, her loyalty to friends and family and her home-decorating skills. Everything she turned her hand to was done well and with creativity. She shared that talent happily. She was a devoted daughter and mother and cherished her role as older sister to the late Doe Pilaria of Whittier, Calif. In 2006, a few years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, she moved to Ocean Park, to live with her daughter and son-in-law. In 2007, she moved into an apartment at Golden Sands Assisted Living where her individuality, humor and devilishness still rang through. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Bonnie Lou and Charlie Lee Cozby of Ocean Park; her grandson, Sgt. Cosmo Lee Cozby of Fort Campbell, Ky.; her granddaughter, Heather Lou Cozby and a great-grandson, Cosmo Jack Cozby Galvin, both of Plymouth, Mass. She also leaves several nieces and nephews and the very close friends and neighbors including, Emogene Kaufman, Bud and Vi Spencer, Jan Spencer and Dave Sadler, all longtime residents of her treasured Holly Glenn neighborhood in Hawthorne, Calif. Mrs. Simmons will be laid to rest with her beloved parents at the Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.