Ola Valara Yarbrough, a longtime Ojai resident, trailblazing aerospace engineer and world traveler, died Aug. 14 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 95.
Born April 12, 1921 in Avant, Oklahoma, Val moved as a teen to Oak View, where her parents ran a grocery store. In her 20s, she went to work for North American Aviation, later Rockwell International, in Los Angeles, climbing the ladder from secretary to engineer to a supervisor with the engineering department. One of many highlights was working on the Apollo space program.
After retiring and returning from Lagos, Nigeria, where she helped raise three extraordinary grandchildren, Val settled in Ojai, growing avocados, Asian pears and citrus in her orchard. Fiercely devoted to her family, she was a recycler of pretty much everything -- before it was cool.
Val’s final days were spent listening to Glenn Miller, family by her side, in her adopted home of San Leandro. She is preceded in death by her son Sandy and most of her many boyfriends, and survived by grandchildren, Jenni, Amy and Trey.
Family and friends are invited to attend visiting hours from 9am to 11am Monday August 22, 2016 at 11am in the JOSEPH P. REARDON FUNERAL HOME, 757 E. Main Street Ventura, funeral services will be held in the Funeral Home at 11am. Interment will immediately follow in Ivy Lawn Memorial Park, Ventura. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made in her name to the Alzheimer's Association.