Alice Elizabeth Munson 1922 - 2011 Alice Elizabeth Munson, born May 6, 1922, left us on Tuesday, October 4, 2011, due to complications related to a fall. Alice was the first registered birth in Alicia, Arkansas, a tiny farming community of about 150 people; she was the youngest of three children born to Thomas Henry and Willie Mae Thompson. Her mother passed away when she was only two years old and her father then moved the family to Texas. Her older brother, Dow Ray, helped his father work and her sister, Florence Olive, did the best she knew how in raising her siblings. Alice had many stories of growing up in Texas including waking up with snow on her bed, watching the cowboys ride their horses to the store for candy and soda pop, eating biscuits with sugar for breakfast and lunch, sleeping on the porch of a boarding house when her father was away at work, and hitchhiking to Torrance, California partially with William Bendix. Alice was taught at an early age to be independent and strong; independent and strong she was. Alice made several trips between Matador, Texas and Los Angeles in her late teens and early twenties, and on one of the trips, on a train she met Michael Edward Simon. Mike was in the Air Force and headed to Los Angeles to visit his parents before being shipped overseas. They fell instantly in love. While he was overseas, Alice worked at Knott's Berry Farm for several years, and when Mike returned, they started a family and moved to Avenal, California where Mike accepted work with Standard Oil. Shortly after, Alice and Mike divorced and Mike moved to Manhattan Beach, California. Alice and her two daughters, Sharon and Susan, moved to Bakersfield where she worked at The Rancho Bakersfield as a waitress. Alice was a self-sufficient woman who strove to provide for her daughters and constantly improve their lives. After forty years in the restaurant business, she retired but went on to follow her bliss which she found in helping others. Alice worked at A.A. Central Office and Capistrano Women's Retreat as a House Mother. For four decades, Alice was a pillar of the A.A. community where she helped countless people attain, and keep their sobriety. Her immeasurable generosity, sense of humor, dynamic personality, charm and compassion made her an absolute joy to be around. Alice was a gracious and loving woman who approached the world with an infectious and contagious enthusiasm. She kept coming back. Alice Munson was a one-of-a-kind whose absence leaves a hole in the universe. She is survived by her two children: Sharon (Richard) Manning, Susan (Ralph) Heinlein of Bakersfield; and her grandchildren: Keith (Roxanne) Youngblood, Kristine (Chad) Mullen, Cliff Parks, Nick Heinlein and Megan (Mike) Heinlein Garcia; and her great-grandchildren: Sydney Youngblood, Hunter Mullen and Carter Heinlein Garcia; and her great-great grandchildren: Lilly Youngblood Marr and Diesel Youngblood Marr. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews that hold a special place in their heart for her. The family would like to thank her extended family, and her A.A. family, for the love and dedication they showed her on a daily basis. To her friends that picked her up and took her home from a meeting when she could no longer drive, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. To her neighbors that read to her when she could no longer read, many thanks. To her caregiver and friend, Marilyn Hooton, you are our angel, thanks for keeping her independent for so long. A reflection of her life will be held at Greenlawn Memorial Cemetery on Monday, October 10, 2011 at 10am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alano Club of Bakersfield in her honor: 1001 34th Street, Bakersfield, CA 93301. GreenlawnMortuaryandcemetery.com Greenlawn Mortuary www.bakersfield.com/obits
Published in Bakersfield Californian on October 7, 2011