Obituary needed - Bertha Ella Carlisle, Long Beach, California

[Erato]

I need an obituary for Bertha Ella Carlisle who died on 6 January 1983 in Los Angeles County, California.  According to the SSDI, her last residence was in Long Beach.

Very special thanks and 1000 RC bonus points to dbree who found the death record which is the first sighting of this person since 1901 and the second since her birth in 1885.  Somehow, she lived her entire life in the shadows.  Maybe an obituary will shed some light.

[shellyesq]

I don't see anything in the Los Angeles Times.

I checked the 1969 Long Beach city directory - http://encore.lbpl.org/iii/cpro/CollectionViewPage.external?lang=eng&sp=1000005&sp=2&sp=1&suite=def - and there is an entry for Bertha Carlisle that lists her as retired, so may be her. 

[knort33]

Do you have any other information about her family so that alternate sources could be checked to see what information might be available?  I have found it somewhat difficult to get obituaries from people who died in Los Angeles.

knort33
Genealogical Researcher
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[Erato]

No, the problem is that I have found absolutely no information on her.  She is a total cipher. She was born in 1885, she got married in 1901 and she died in 1983.  That's it.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01ifa/
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24SG-XPT
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VG13-WQQ

[shellyesq]

Any info on her husband(s) or their families that might lead to her?  It looks like George Penrose may be in San Francisco for his WWI draft registration and mentions a nearest relative that isn't Bertha, so maybe they split by then?

[Erato]

Thanks, shellyesq.  I've seen the WWI draft registration and have presumed that George and Bertha had split up.  It's just a hunch, but I think 'Mrs. Jas. Ray' is George's mother remarried.  Her name was Susan and the people living at that address in 1920 were James and Susan Ray.

I have absolutely no other information on Bertha - just the birth, the marriage and the death.  I can't identify her on ANY census.  Other than the 1880 census, when he was in San Francisco with his parents, I can't find George Penrose, either.  I have no idea who Mr. Carlisle was.

I've written to Long Beach Public Library to see if they can turn up an obituary.

[Erato]

Also, George's WWI draft registration mentions an employer and an address in Norfolk, Virginia.  I have been unable to turn up any trace of George or Bertha in Virginia.

[Erato]

I did get a reply from the Long Beach Public Library.  They did the best they could but, unfortunately, Bertha remains a mystery.  This is the only published information:

[Lisa in California]

George Roberts Penrose - born January 20, 1879

Could this be George R.'s parents?
1900 Manhattan, NY Census   
George Penrose, Servant, born 1850 - England, immigrated 1880, Coachman
Susan Penrose, Servant, born 1855 - New York.  Married 20 years, one child.
  Address: 25 82nd (Street?)
----------------
Family in 1880
1880 San Francisco Census
George S Penrose, age 33, Coachman, born England
Susan Penrose, age 26, wife, Keeping House, born England
George R, age 1, son, born California

Long shot, but could this be George R. Penrose?
1900 Manhattan, NY Census
Robert Penrose, Servant (one of many servants), born January 1876, single, born California.  Father born England, mother born Michigan(?)   Occupation: Butler?
  Address: 923(?) Fifth Avenue.  Using today's map: this is one mile away from 25 82 Street (could he have been living near his parents?).

Note:  There was a Robert G. Penrose in the U.S. Army in 1898, NY City, but he had "brick red" hair and was 5'8", blue eyes, born c1877.  Robert G.  was born in San Francisco.
Your George R., in 1918, had sandy coloured hair, gray eyes and was tall and slender.