Cleona Ledford Cope

1934 - 2024

CLEONA LEDFORD COPE (GRANNY)

August 3, 1934 February 29, 2024

Cleona was born in Anadarko, Oklahoma to Herbert and Opal Ledford.

At the age of seven they migrated to California by way of the Borax mines outside of Las Vegas. Her dad worked the mines while the family of five shared a tent with just one bed. Eventually they moved on to a camp in Porterville where they picked oranges. Then on to the shipyards in Richmond where her mother was a riveter and her dad was a steam fitter. After saving enough money they headed south to be with extended family and settled in the Hilltop area north of Lamont where her dad went to work in the oilfields.

It was there that she fell in love with her cowboy Duane as he rode his horse back and forth in front of her house. She was sixteen when they married and started their family four years later while Duane served in the Navy. They celebrated fifty-two years of marriage before Duane passed away in 2002.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Duane, sister Jenice Fipps, and granddaughter Jennifer Cope Gosch. She is survived by sons Gary (Phyllis), John (Sandra), seven grandkids, eighteen great-grandkids, one great-great-granddaughter, and her brother Herbert (Josephine) in Arkansas.

Cleona was an active member of Wesley Methodist Church and volunteered for many church activities. Besides being active in PTA, Cub Scouts, and sports she was an active partner in Duane's meat business. She bragged about being able to cut and wrap a fryer faster than any of the guys.

In 1984 the family opened Cope's Foodfair on Norris Road in Oildale. She was a fixture behind the booth for over twenty years.

She and Duane had a vast number of lifelong friends that they traveled with, especially with the Tight Turtle Club. But her greatest joy was family. She was proud of her sons and especially her grandkids. In the early years we were all expected to be at Sunday dinners. The most joyous was always Christmas Eve. After the big dinner everyone gathered in front of the Christmas tree for the yearly photo. As the numbers grew this became quite a chore but it always got done.

After being a seventy-year resident of east Bakersfield she spent the last three at Brookdale Riverwalk where she developed a new set of friends playing weekly games of Dominoes and Bingo. These new friends and staff will never be forgotten for their kindness.

Services will be held at the Chapel of Hillcrest Cemetery on March 22, 2024 at 10:00 am.

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