Joanne "Bunnie" Warner

Joanne “Bunnie” Warner – a wife, mother, grandmother, volunteer, counselor, mentor and more, who steeped all her relationships in love – passed away peacefully at 8:40 a.m. on Thursday, May 11 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Bunnie, who would have been 80 years old on Mother’s Day, lived her life immersed in faith, fiercely devoted to her family and powered by inexhaustible positivity.

She gravitated toward good, and she enriched the lives of everyone she encountered. A skilled listener with an incandescent smile, she let everyone know that their lives matter.

Bunnie and her husband, Bob, were married for a truly remarkable 60 years.

Devoted? That's an understatement. She and Bob strode in blissful sync through the decades. They were inseparable – and in love every day they were wed.

Bunnie's outsized energy ebbed in recent years, as she battled significant health problems. Even as her light began to flicker, Bob was at her side.

Every. Single. Day.

And when Bunnie departed this Earth, Bob was, of course, at hand. Aptly, his voice was the last sound Bunnie heard.

Joanne Carolyn Sanders was born May 14, 1943, in Culver City, Calif., to parents Harry Sanders and Joanne Delzceg, both from the West Los Angeles area.

Bunnie attended St. Eugene’s elementary, then St. Michael’s for high school. In her mid-life, she attended Long Beach City College where she obtained a certificate to become a home health care nurse.

Joanne met Robert J. Warner, in February of 1962 to begin their short- 10 month courtship, largely via mail, and wed on Dec. 1, 1962 at St. Eugene’s in West LA.

The Warners set out to construct a large, loving family, including children Nancy Warner Head (who married Mike), David Warner (Kathy), Joe Warner (Kerry) and Kim Rochon. (David passed away in 2022)

In turn, their children blessed them with seven grandchildren -- Aimee, Heather, Cristina, Bryan, Rebecca, Nicholas, and Samantha – and nine great-grandchildren.

To extended family, she was “Aunt Bunnie,” and always a favorite among all her nieces/nephews for her ability to listen and her unconditional love.

For Bunnie, her family was Job One. Nonetheless, homemaker wasn’t her sole role. Outside the home, she was a whale of a Tupperware salesperson – topping district sales rankings for years – as well as a payroll clerk at Pacific Sun, and an in-home hospice caretaker for St. Mary’s Hospital Long Beach.

The Warners moved to Lakewood from Inglewood, in 1971. That’s when they began their five-decade commitment to St. Pancratius Catholic Church, where Bunnie engaged in such volunteer efforts as teaching Pre-Cana relationship courses, helming Marriage Encounter groups, supporting Boys and Girls Scout troops, logging countless hours at the annual parish festival, leading Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) classes and serving as a Eucharistic minister.

Bunnie also counseled youth at the Los Padrinos Youth Detention Center and worked with unwed pregnant women at the Living Help Center.
Bob and Bunnie lived in recent years in their home on a quiet row in a manufactured home park in Paramount, Their chipper dwelling is jam-packed with kick-knacks -- keepsakes clustered here and there, most of them recalling Bunnie's family, her hobbies and her special moments. And, of course, among the tchotchkes are bunnies. "It's always Easter here," says Bob.

Though she has moved on from this Earth, her essence lives on in her beloved Bob, in her bountiful brood and in the hearts of the countless lives touched by a Bunnie.

Bunnie Warner will be honored at a Memorial Mass at 12 p.m. on Friday, May 26 at St. Pancratius Catholic Church, 3519 St. Pancratius Place, Lakewood.

Following the service, loved ones will re-tell Bunnie's tale at a Celebration of Life at 1 p.m. at Monsignor Kielty Hall, just behind the church. Lunch will be included.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Alzheimer’s Association at htts://act.alz.org/site/TR/Events/TributesAlzheimersChampions?pg=fund&fr_id=1060&
amp;pxfid=810265

Luyben Dilday Mortuary (562) 425-6401