Letha Bean

Letha Delane Bean was born on Nov. 15, 1945, in Maywood, Calif., to Dred Bean and Eva Tryon. She attended Western High School, which was a new high school at the time in Tulare. After she left school, she worked with other family members in the fields of Hollister, Eureka, Turlock, Tulare, Tipton, and Pixley harvesting all kinds of California crops.

Letha met the first father of her children, Manual Johnny Berumen, through her sister's

boyfriend at the time, Bobby Berumen; Manual's brother. With Manual, Letha had Johnny Berumen, and then Brenda Berumen.

Her next relationship with Billy Lloyd Gentry, produced three more children; Sandra Gentry, Timmy Gentry and Kenny Gentry. The seven of them would live in several locations, as Billy was hired as a farm hand in various locales. Letha kept close ties with Billy for the remainder of his life until early 2019, when he passed away.

Letha was a big fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, sporting her Dodgers jacket as she watched games avidly and never ceased to shout out during home runs as well as bad umpire calls. And in her younger days, she attended her brother, Johnny Bean's, karaoke parties, dancing through the night with family and friends.

She enjoyed going to second-hand stores with her daughter, Brenda, and her mother, Eva. The three of them would scour through several second-hand stores in a given day, looking for all of the hidden gems that they could.

Letha always enjoyed spending time with her sons and daughters, and she revelled at seeing her grandchildren during holidays and family get-togethers. She was always amazed at how fast they had grown and how smart they had gotten each time she saw them. They would gather around her during Christmas mornings, tearing open their presents with wrapping flying everywhere.

And at family gatherings at her home, Letha and her sisters told nonstop stories of their

youthful antics. Having shared a hard childhood together, the siblings all relied on each other's company and closeness as children to keep themselves safe and accounted for. And they also got into quite a bit of mischief.

Letha spent the remainder of her life in Wasco and passed away peacefully in Bakersfield, California, on Saturday, July 20, 2019.

Letha is survived by her siblings and their spouses, Jeanette Garrison and Darrell Smith, Mavis Knox and Angel Sandoval, John and Julie Bean, Richard and Gidget Bean, Cheryl Welch and D.J., and Chris Wells and Rose Levine; her children and spouses, Johnnie Berumen and Misty Graves, Brenda Berumen and Fred Herrman, Sandra Gentry and Mike Swanson, Timmy Gentry, and Kenny and Kelly

Gentry; her nieces and nephews, Laura Wenn, Michael Williams, Raymond Williams, Sheldon Williams, Michelle Rush, Robert Berumen, Sherry Underwood, James Cobb, Melissa Knox, Stacy Welch, Tony Welch, Bruce Bean, Shirley Hinslea and Jennifer Bean, Alex Bean, her grandchildren, Brittany Berumen, Johnny Lee Berumen, Austin Brakebill, Carson Gentry, Freddie Posey and Nellie Posey; and great-grandchildren, Alexis Berumen, Sydney Berumen, Addison Berumen, Brody Berumen, Brae Berumen, Bailey Berumen, Bree Brown and Rachel Rae Berumen, and her dog, Molly.

Services will be held Thursday, July 25, at Peters Funeral Home, 844 E. Lerdo Hwy., Shafter, at 1 p.m., followed by a graveside service at the Shafter Cemetery, 18662 Santa Fe Way.