Eleanor Garat

ELEANOR ROSE GARAT January 3, 1917-August 12, 2010 Eleanor Rose Garat went to be with her heavenly Father on August 12, 2010. Eleanor Rose Smith was born January 3, 1917 in North Dakota. Eleanor grew up in Riverside, graduating from Poly High School in 1935. It was during high school that she met her life-long love, George Garat. They married in 1941 and moved to the Perris Valley where she and her husband raised their family and lived for more than 40 years. Eleanor worked many years as a clerk for the Perris Courthouse, while her husband farmed in the Perris and Imperial Valleys. Eleanor also served as the secretary and president of the Val Verde PTA. She then retired to Sun City and later moved to the OliveGrove Retirement Resort in Riverside. She was a member of Temple Baptist Church in Perris. Eleanor was a very even keeled and persistent person, blessed with a keen wit and a wonderful sense of humor who had a love for gardening and growing African Violets. Eleanor also loved her daily crossword puzzles and was a master at assembling jig-saw puzzles of all sizes, many of which were framed and hang in the homes of friends and family. Most of all, Eleanor had a very deep love for God and for her family. She was a very loving and caring wife, mother, sister, grandmother and great grandmother. Through her life, Eleanor left her family a strong legacy of faithfully walking with the Lord and of loving and being true to your family and friends. Eleanor is preceded in death by her husband of almost 50 years, George Garat and her youngest daughter, Annette (Garat) Anderson. She is survived by her son, Gene Garat (wife, Paulette) of Redmond, Washington, her daughter Kathy (Garat) Schelling (husband, Rob) of Riverside, California; two brothers, Stan Smith of Hagerstown, Maryland and Leroy Smith of Douglas, Arizona; eight grandchildren, Scott Garat, Greg Garat, Jason Garat, Kristen Anderson Vela, Ryan Anderson, Eric Schelling, Joel Schelling and Leah Schelling Thomson; and twelve great grandchildren. A memorial and celebration of her life will be held at 2:30 p.m. on October 8, 2010, at Temple Baptist Church in Perris. A private burial will be held at Perris Valley Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family is suggesting donations be made to the Haven Ministries, P.O. Box 79997, Riverside, California 92513-1997, www.haventoday.org whose "Haven of Rest" radio program was of great encouragement and comfort to Eleanor.