Obituary

CAROL BECK STONEY was born in 1923 to Bryan Robertson Beck and Anne Eliza Money in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Her sister, Joliene, was born 2 years earlier.  Her Dad was finishing up his Engineering Degree at the University of Utah.  When Mom was 1 year old, they moved to So Cal.  Mom used to like to say she was from Hollywood, but it was actually Los Angeles, just a short distance from where our daughter Kelsey lives now.  We took Mom to see her childhood home last year, a highlight for her.  Her Dad purchased the home in 1933 for $7,000 and today it is worth 1.9 million.

Mom attended LA High School and, being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Wilshire Ward with the beautiful stained glass windows.  That building is now on the Historical Property Registry.  She went to school and church with a handful of movie stars and she loved that.  She had amazing parents—her Dad had five baby boys named after him, including our son.  And she had a wonderful childhood, with the exception of the time when she and her 2 friends burned down the family car, garage and destroyed all of her Mother’s canned fruit.

WWII was a terrible time for her.  She lost her sister’s finance, whom she said was like a brother to her, and 5 young men that she dated.  She was with one of those young men on December 7, 1941, and she said that neither of them knew where Pearl Harbor was.  That young man that she was with that day was her high school Student Body President, his father was the Bishop of the ward, and he had a scholarship to USC to play basketball.  The Harold Jones Memorial Scholarship still exists today at USC.

For some reason Mom had a burning desire to join the Navy. Her Dad had to give his permission because she was only 18, saying later that it was the hardest decision he had ever made.  She rode the troop train back to New York City.  She loved her time in the Navy, getting some college credits and serving as a secretary to a commander.  When she was released from the Navy, she went back to Los Angeles and the wonderful woman that she worked with at Owens-Illinois Glass Company introduced her to her son, Rex White Stoney, a Navy pilot. She loved Vera and Ross, her in-laws and had a very special relationship with them.

Mom and Dad were married 3 weeks after they met.  We talked many times about maybe that’s not enough time to get to know someone!!  Dad shipped out 3 weeks later and was gone for 9 months.  When he returned, they moved to Lynwood, CA where my brother, Craig and I were born.

We had wonderful friends and neighbors and it was a great time to be a kid.  Mom worked part time for most of my childhood but she was always home when we got home from school.  That was something I loved and she was very proud of it.  Dad was transferred to San Francisco and we moved to Walnut Creek.  I went off to BYU and Craig joined the Navy. Craig had a very low draft number so she insisted that he join the Navy and drove him down to the recruiting station.

I met Clay and we have 5 children: Paul, Bryan, Stacey, Cameron and Kelsey.  Craig met Pam and they have 2 daughters, Krista and Kellee.  Craig also has a son with Brenda and his name is Konnor and he lives in Utah.  Craig was married to Brenda when he passed away in 2003.  I would have loved to have been there for her reunion with my brother.  She missed Craig so much.

Dad was transferred back to So Cal and they eventually moved to Mission Viejo.  Mom loved her job and friends at the Mission Viejo Company.  She was an executive secretary to one of the Vice Presidents.  She met so many friends and loved her time there.  Mom had a zest for life and she loved caring for her friends and family.  Her compassion knew no bounds.  Her love language was homemade minestrone soup, chicken soup, jam, pickles, chili sauce and applesauce.

We talked many times about her many friends and she claimed she had so many because she was funny.  I assured her that was part of it but it was mainly because she was so caring, loving, loyal and compassionate.

After she left Mission Viejo Company, she worked part-time so she could spend time with the grandkids—their favorite day was a day at Lake Mission Viejo—riding the party boat, having lunch and swimming out to the raft.  She loved that time with her grandkids   She was so proud of each one of them and talked about them constantly.

Besides her grandchildren, she was also very proud of her Pioneer Heritage.  Her ancestors walked to the Salk Lake Vally in the mid 1800’s.  In fact, her grandmother, Grace Darling, was born in a cave in Salt Lake in the middle of winter.  And her grandfather helped bring granite down from the canyon in SLC to help build the LDS Salt Lake Temple.

Mom’s zest for life, her fierce loyalty, compassion and sense of humor made her the wonderful Mom, Grandma, Great-Grandma and Great-Great Grandma and friend that she was.  Mom was loved by all she met.  Until we meet again.