MARY ELIZABETH REED was born Mary Elizabeth Richardson on December 13, 1959, in Bakersfield, California. She passed away on November 15, 2020. Mary lived in Ventura with her husband, Clifton Reed, from 1981 until her passing.
Mary grew up in Bakersfield with her mother and spent a lot of time with her favorite cousin, Rebecca Caetano. She didn’t like going to school, and she was among the first students in California to take the California High School Proficiency Exam in order to exit high school early. Her junior year of high school turned out to be her freshman year of college.
In 1976 Mary started dating her best friend, Clifton, and they married in 1978. He enlisted in the Coast Guard, and they moved to New Jersey and lived there for several years before returning to California. Mary enjoyed the experience of a different climate and culture, and she often said that she believed those first few years of being so far from the rest of the family helped to make the marriage strong, because they had only each other. She continued her education at Camden County College where she aspired to become a Veterinary Assistant. However, Clifton got transferred to of all places, Oxnard, California. Mary had many friends and family in Bakersfield, but she couldn’t stand living there, and she always wanted to live “on the coast”. She got her wish.
Mary and Clifton moved to Ventura in November, 1981. Mary’s sister, Susan was already living here and helped to make the transition easier for them. Mary worked for the County of Ventura beginning in 1986 as an Account Clerk in the Information Systems Department. Her job was pretty basic; she kept track of incoming packages and was responsible for inventory of the equipment. She took her job seriously and earned the respect of her co-workers. She also enjoyed her work life and often volunteered for morale events and fundraisers. She made a lot of friends at work.
While she was working for the County, Mary graduated from California Lutheran University, class of 1993. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree with honors, and earned a promotion within the department to a Computer Programmer. She worked for the County of Ventura for 30 years and retired as a System’s Analyst in the Information Systems Department. She was very proud of her accomplishments working for the County, including maintaining an aging and obsolete computer system for billing Medi-Cal and Medicare, as well as saving the County bunches of money by dealing with cell phone accounts.
Mary was also proud of her lifelong marriage to Clifton, they were married for over 42 years. Mary and Clifton enjoyed many happy times together and weathered many difficult times as well. Mary is very much missed by Clifton. Although they did not have children, Mary enjoyed her dogs, most notably she loved Poodles and perhaps her favorites were two Standard Poodles, Bianca and Danica, one white and one black. They were her pride and joy for sure.
Mary is survived by her sister, Susan Richardson, of Ventura.
Mary’s mother, Lillian Sandrini and her father, Jack Richardson both predeceased her. She loved them very much and missed them after they were gone.
Mary had many friends in the Ventura area, too numerous to mention, suffice to say she loved them all.
Mary passed away following several months of difficulty with her health. She passed away peacefully at Ventura County Medical Center on the evening of November 15th.
Funeral services will be held at the JOSEPH P. REARDON FUNERAL HOME, 757 East Main Street, Ventura on November 28, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. The service is informal and non-denominational. Her husband, Clifton will host the memorial.