Edith Ilene Zerba

1947 - 2008

Edith Ilene Zerba was born om May 12, 1947, in Los Angeles, to James and Florence Holliday.

She was the younger of two daughters, her only sibling is her sister, Elizabeth. Edie grew up in the same home in Los Angeles all of her childhood and teen years. She enjoyed the time spent with her friends and going out driving with her dad.

Edie attended George Washington High School and was a member of Job's Daughters. She later attended classes in art history at Long Beach State and University of California Los Angeles. One of the most important events in her life was when Edie became a Roman Catholic. Her love for her faith meant everything to her. She married at the age of 20 and eventually moved to Newbury Park to raise her four oldest children. After divorce, she moved with her children to Thousand Oaks, which became her home for 29 years.

For 11 of those years, she worked ceaselessly to raise her four kids as a single mother, giving all of her time and effort to support them. In 1989, Edie met the love of her life Mark Zerba and they got married a year later. After her four children grew into adulthood, Edie and Mark were blessed with the birth of their beautiful son Marky in 1995.

Edie loved spending time with her family. She was beloved by so many people, making friends wherever she went. She loved celebrating her faith as a Catholic, attending St. Julie Billiart, St. Paschal Baylon, St. Maximilian Kolbe and finally St. Mary Magdalen Churches.

She enjoyed reading, having more books to read than time to read them. Edie was also an incredible artist, her works of art spanning from museum quality pieces to the simple Dr. Seuss and Sandra Boynton characters she drew on her youngest son's lunch bags.

She loved putting her artistic skills to use decorating her home, making it an inviting place to all. Although the later years of her life were spent battling cancer twice, she devoted those years to raising her youngest son Marky, who was diagnosed with autism. Even in her most difficult moments of illness, Edie made certain Marky was safe and happy.

Edie's devotion to motherhood for her five children and her six grandchildren was extraordinary. A week before her death, her husband Mark was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Even in her own suffering, she wanted to make certain of Mark and her son Marky's care.

Edie was preceded in death by her parents and her beloved pets.

She is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Elizabeth and Harlyn Lampert; nephew, James; children and their respective spouses, Mary McElvogue, Jeanie (McElvouge) and Kevin Bell, Connan and Denise McElvogue, Lara (McElvouge) and Ed Cossentine and Marky Zerba; and grandchildren, Johnny, Joseph, Benjamin, Sarah, Jesse and Isaac.

Edie's battle with cancer ended with the defeat of her body, but it never defeated her spirit. Her love for Jesus Christ, for her husband Mark and for her family and friends sustained her through her illness, especially in the last five weeks of her life.

Edie will be missed greatly. Edie was born into eternal life on Saturday evening, May 17, 2008.

The rosary vigil will be recited at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, and the funeral will be 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 21, both will be at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Chapel in Camarillo. Interment will follow at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park in Camarillo.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made at any Santa Barbara Bank & Trust to assist the family, attention Marky Zerba.

Assisting the family with funeral arrangements is the family-owned and -operated Rose Family Funeral Home & Cremation of Simi Valley, 805-58800; our family helping your helping yours.