Ventura
Shirley E. Cozzens
“Grandma Peekaboo is going to Heaven, but it’s OK because she’s going to be with her daddy and Jesus
and she’s going to be an angel.”
- Mckenna Hibdon, 6
Shirley Cozzens, aka Grandma Shirley, Buddy and Grandma Peekaboo, is now surrounded by her heavenly family including “The One and Only One for me,” her husband Ken who died in 1977.
Shirley passed away peacefully Monday, March 3, at the Ventura home of her son, of complications of COPD and pancreatic cancer. She was 86 years young at heart and remained quick and sassy until recent weeks when she just got tired. That didn’t stop Mom from continuing to say the
Rosary and praying “for all those who have no one” as she said during a recent hospital stay.
Shirley was born June 25, 1927, daughter of William Prout and Martha Leinweber of Webster, Mass., a bouncing 13-pound baby girl. The youngest of six children, in her words “was quite spoiled, a pesky little kid and by no means the perfect angel.”Those who know her would differ. Her childhood days were filled with family, helping Pop with his garden and fur traps, swimming at the lake, excelling at school, idolizing the gum-chewing cowboy Buck Jones, spending quiet times on the porch or at the kitchen table with her Ma while her father was fishing, trapping or walking the beat.
She talked often of going to Polish (Catholic) Church services, making novenas and developing a lifelong
loving relationship with Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Shirley graduated in 1944 from Bartlett High School with high honors. Following school she worked at Desco Shoes in Webster for five years and then her life changed – she met Ken Cozzens June 5, 1946, on a blind date. Ken proposed on their second date June 8 and they were wed on Nov. 23, 1946, honeymooning in New York City. From there the story goes on – they had three children: Karen in 1949, Ken in 1953
and Maryanne in 1956.
The family lived in Webster until 1957 and then moved to West Palm Beach, Fla. A scant 18 months later they drove back to Webster, packed a trailer load of belongings and headed to California.
After short stints in Pacoima and Van Nuys, the Cozzens clan settled in Ventura, CA, where Ken was hired on the Ventura Police Department.
Shirley worked at Coast Electric for two years and then as a building clerk for the City of San Buenaventura for 14 years. While she enjoyed her work, faith and family were always the center of her being.
Family trips to Carson City, Nev., or back to Webster, Sunday afternoons spent on the sand dunes near Hobo Jungle and picnicking with cheese curls and Kool-Aid, watching horror movies, paying us pennies for each dandelion we dug out of the lawn, putting up with the menageries of pets, get-
togethers with relatives, Mass with the family, May novenas to Mary, laughter, tears and warmth are all wrapped up in memories of Mom.
When Shirley and Ken found themselves empty nesters they enjoyed their travel trailer and camping with friends. When the grandkids started coming a whole new world opened.
Ken died in 1977 leaving Shirley a widow at the young age of 49. Before his death, he moved his bride into a mobile home in Saticoy, where she has lived ever since and where she has made wonderful friends like Val, Dorothy and John, Jackie, Laura and so many others.
Following Dad’s death Mom began attending daily Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Saticoy, leading the Rosary and joining the Legion of Mary, eventually becoming president. She was a Eucharistic minister and until she voluntarily gave up driving at 81, took Holy Communion to the elderly and ill who could no longer attend Mass. She was honored by the Sacred Heart chapter of the World Apostolate of Fatima for her devotion to the Blessed Mother these many years.
Mom joked about pole dancing, but was quite the square dancer. She enjoyed traveling to Europe, Egypt, Ireland and Hawaii with her friends Cora, Ann and Elizabeth, buying lottery scratchers, treks to Wendy’s, the 99-Cent only store, reading and crossword puzzles.Shirley has always been there for family and friends both in person and in her prayer life. She was most proud of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandson. She never tired of sharing news and photos of her flock whether it was at church, at the mobile home pool exercise group or at the donut shop where she had a special group of friends.
While those of us here are saddened by her death, we know we have a most happy angel in heaven watching over us. Shirley is survived by: children Karen Hibdon (Stan), Ken Cozzens (Trisha), Maryanne DeCoste (Vern); grandchildren Michelle, Jennifer, Shaun, Michael, Scott and Amanda; 11
great-grandchildren with one more on the way; and a great-great grandson.
She was preceded in death by husband Ken and grandchildren Laura and Matthew Hibdon.
Visitation is 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Home, 757 East Main St., Ventura, followed by Rosary at 7 p.m. A funeral Mass is set 10 a.m. Wednesday at Sacred Heart Church, 10800 Henderson Road, Ventura. Interment will be at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura, followed by a reception in Bierdermann Hall at the church.
The family would like to thank Dr. James Hornstein and mom’s other physicians and nurses, her many friends who visited and prayed for her and the compassionate care received from the Hospice team at Livingston Visiting Nurses, 1996 Eastman Ave., Ventura.