Fona Jean Eliason passed away at her San Juan Bautista residence on Sunday, March 10 at the age of 91.
There will be a big, noisy, loving celebration of her life and her kind spirit. We will have music, dancing, me crying during my tribute to her, and kind words from people close to her.
The event is on Saturday, March 30. We will start seating family at 2:30pm with the doors open to our guests at 2:45. The event will begin promptly at 3pm with a blessing and dance performance by Aztec dancers Calpulli Itzpapalotl. There will be performances by some darned talented folks including Naya Ramsey-Clake, Zach Freitas, and poet Jonathan Rome. (We will have more performers to announce soon.)
Water and soft drinks will be available and we will have food at the end of the celebration. There will also be a no host bar with beer, tequila, and Satori wines with the proceeds going to benefit the youth theater projects carried out by El Teatro Campesino, a cast, crew, and place Mom dearly loved.
More details to follow but I’d appreciate people letting me know if they plan to attend and how many people they are bringing so I can get a head count and start on the preparations. It would also help me to know if you would like time to offer some words about Mom at the event.
In lieu of flowers we will be accepting donations for some of the charities Mom particularly loved. They include Emmaus House in Hollister which provides a safe harbor for women and their children from domestic violence, Chamberlain’s Children Center n Hollister which provides a home-like environment for at-risk children, and the San Juan Bautista State Park. I hope you would consider helping us honor her memory in this way.
We are going to have a great time celebrating the life of a loving and generous woman, one of the strongest and bravest people I have ever met. I look forward to seeing you there.
