San Bernardino County CA Archives Obituaries.....Gubrud, Esther December 15, 2005
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Peggy Hooper peggyhooper@charter.net December 27, 2007, 1:03 pm

"Big Bear Grizzly" January 9, 2006
Esther "Holly" Gubrud 85, passed peacefully Dec. 15, 2005, at her home in 
McKinleyville, Calif.

She is survived by her daughter Joyce Cusick of Bear River City, Utah; daughter 
and son-in-law, Judy and Robert Hodgson of Fieldbrook, Calif; and daughter 
Jayne Hamm of Steamboat Springs, Colo. She is also survived by 11 grandchildren 
and 27 great-grandchildren with more on the way.

She is preceded in death by her two sons, John Sheppard and Michael Sheppard, 
and her husband, Richard Gubrud.

Holly was born in 1920 in Los Angeles, the daughter of Russian immigrants, one 
of 12 children. The family often lived on farms in the Central Valley and 
eventually ran a grocery store in downtown Los Angeles. She attended Teddy 
Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles where she excelled in all sports. She 
became a professional softball player after graduation. Highlights of her 
career included playing for Columbia Pictures of Hollywood and traveling on a 
United States Goodwill Tour in 1938 to Japan, China and the Philippines. Many 
of her teammates went on to play professional baseball during World War II, a 
wartime effort that was the portrayed in the movie "League of Their Own." Holly 
was recruited for the team but was working in an airline parts manufacturing 
plant when she met John Sheppard. They were married in 1942 and had four 
children.

Holly was widowed the first time at age 32 and returned to work as a cocktail 
waitress at night at Dante's in San Marino where Pearl Bailey often sang and 
played. Later Holly began a long career in the meatcutting business, working 
for grocery stores in Southern California. She remarried and a third daughter 
was born in 1955.
 
She continued to play recreational softball most of her life. She learned to 
snow ski at age 55 and she became an avid golfer.

In 1973 she moved to Big Bear and began another career in real estate. She 
loved Big Bear and worked until she was forced to retire in 2000 at age 78. Due 
to health reasons, she moved to her daughter's home in Humboldt County.

There was a celebration of her life at the Church of the Joyful Healer in 
McKinleyville Dec. 18 attended by many family members and friends. Her three 
daughters then drove her home to Big Bear for burial at Gold Mountain Cemetery.

File at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ca/sanbernardino/obits/g/gubrud3332gob.txt

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