Gilbert P. Best

1931 - 2025

Gilbert P. Best
July 27, 1931 - March 23, 2025
Gilbert P. Best was born to Howard Gilbert and Mildred Acton Best in San Diego, California, on July 27, 1931. He died on March 23, 2025, in Santa Clarita, California. Gilbert graduated from Hoover High School in San Diego, and after attending Grossmont College, he joined the Army, which deployed him to Korea and Japan.
Gilbert's earliest memory was of going door-to-door with his father, selling oranges, to help his family survive the Great Depression. When President Franklin Roosevelt instituted the Works Project Administration (WPA), Howard Best found employment as a steam pipe fitter. His father's long work hours left young Gilbert at home to pester his grandmother, mother, and two older sisters. They often sent him to the grocery store to buy peace and quiet, and a few other necessities. He always returned with ice cream.
When not teasing his elder sisters and their boyfriends, Gilbert spent weekends and summers at the beach with friends. They would ride the city trolley down to La Jolla Cove to swim in the surf. Gilbert loved to spot his grandfather's name etched in the sidewalk, a monument to Perl Acton, one of San Diego's pioneering builders. After graduating from high school, Gilbert worked at a local gas station and enjoyed doing seasonal work at Yosemite National Park. During the Korean War years, Gilbert voluntarily joined the Army and served as a Military Police Officer.
Gilbert's military service shaped who he would later become. In 1951, Gilbert was deployed to Korea as part of the 289th Military Police Company. His unit was assigned to a base 5 kilometers from the front lines and tasked with guarding the main road that led to the fighting zone. So cold were the night watches that he and the other MPs would warm themselves by burning worn tires, oil, gas, refuse, and any other combustible substance that could be used as fuel. After attending leadership school and being promoted to Corporal, Gilbert was dispatched to Japan, where he led one of the Army's first racially integrated units. Gilbert concluded his last tour of duty at the US Army Deseret Chemical Depot in Tooele County, Utah.
In February 1954, Gilbert was honorably discharged and returned to California as an eligible bachelor. He spent his bachelorhood in Manhattan Beach, where he shared a house with friends on the strand. Although his expanded horizons made him a firm believer in DEI-especially when dating women-, he ultimately chose an Oklahoma farm girl and school teacher with whom to settle down. Gilbert and Nelva were married in 1965. Gil passed one month before their 60th wedding anniversary.
The newlyweds bought their first house in Garden Grove, where their daughter, Julie, was born. Shortly thereafter, Gil, a Sales Manager for the Pacific Bell Telephone Company, was transferred to the San Francisco headquarters, where his early childhood experience of being the only boy among his grandmother, mother, and two sisters prepared him for his new charge of supervising an all-woman workforce. Nelva recalls that Gil would often stop to buy her flowers on his way home -whether a spontaneous expression of love, or reassurances of fidelity amidst his throng of women subordinates, or sympathies for a street vendor eking out a living near the public transit, we can only wonder. They resided in Walnut Creek, where their son, Brian, was born, and where they shared their early parenthood experiences with several young couples.
In 1970, Gilbert was transferred to Los Angeles, and despite Nelva's protests of moving to that "God forsaken place," they bought a home near Newhall in a newly developed Valencia neighborhood, just months ahead of the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. Although Gilbert and Nelva survived two major geological earthquakes in their home-the Sylmar earthquake and the 1995 Northridge earthquake-it was an earthquake of another kind that rattled their lives. In 1976, Gilbert was forced to retire on medical disability, complications of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, attributed to toxic exposure and ingrained hypervigilance he developed as a military guardsman.
Not all took kindly to Gilbert's penchant for order and his presumed authority for enforcing protocol. During the height of the 1970s OPEC energy crisis, Gilbert came home with a black eye after he got into an altercation at a gas station with a man who had tried to cut the line of cars waiting to refuel. He held the line and his sense of humor, despite the shiner, remarking, "You should have seen the other guy!" Gilbert's most challenging job, however, was keeping his family in line, as Nelva worked by day as a Jr. High School teacher and counselor for the William S. Hart School District and by night as a counselor at the Golden Oak Adult School, and particularly, as Julie and Brian developed their independence when they were less appreciative of his unsolicited advice.
A proud Californian and family man, Gilbert was entertainment director for his children and tour guide to out-of-state family and friends. However, his primary role was managing the household while Nelva was at work. Gil cheered for Brian at his basketball and soccer games, and supported Julie's band competitions, even serving as the Fruitcake Chairman for the Hart High Regiment fundraiser, which she relished reminding him when upset with him. Yet these more memorable roles were extracurricular to his regular household duties as designated grocery shopper, diligent dishwasher, and dedicated family chauffeur.
Gil was known for his intellectual curiosity and for being an avid reader. He was a skilled conversationalist on many topics and a fierce debater on certain subjects, particularly politics. A regular on the dog-walking circuit, Gilbert was also recognized as a loyal and committed dog owner to Sadie and Sheba, Nelva's only real competition for his affections.
Gilbert's early experience of selling oranges to get by and later struggles of finding purpose after an early retirement made him particularly empathetic to struggling humans just trying to make it in this world. He befriended drifters and offered handyman jobs to those working side hustles to make ends meet, like he had experienced with his father. One Christmas, when Nelva was visiting her family in Texas, an international Cal Arts student came to the door hawking his paintings to earn enough money to find lodging during winter break. Gil was so worried about the struggling artist having a place to stay for the night that, despite his frugality, he bought two! That year, Nelva and Julie received paintings for Christmas from Dad.
Gilbert's enduring anniversary present to Nelva is a rose garden he planted for her so he'd never have to buy flowers again. To his children, he left paintings, memories, and the values of one who held his ground on principle and extended a hand to those in need. Gil was a true beach boy, a proud Californian, a firm guardsman, a faithful husband, a protective father, and a compassionate human. Gilbert will be missed by those who knew him and those who loved him.
Gilbert is survived by his wife, Nelva Hebard Best, and two adult children, Julie Best and Brian Best, along with nieces and nephews, neighbors, and friends. Instead of flowers, donations can be made to any of the following charities in his honor: To Headstrong, an organization that serves veterans and their families dealing with PTSD; to Best Friends Animal Society, a no-kill rescue organization; and to the Los Angeles Mission, which is dedicated to providing food and shelter to the destitute and homeless.