Raylene Marie Sausedo

This memorial was created in honor of Raylene Marie Sausedo of La Verne, California. Raylene, or Ray as many were fond of calling her, was born on March 23, 1954 in Ontario, CA to Shelby and Arlene Gaul. She was the youngest of 4 children and sister to Shelby Joe, Randy, and Craig. Raylene grew up in Pomona CA where she enjoyed a very happy childhood. She attended Pomona High School and completed her required classes in only 3 and a half years She graduated from Pomona in 1972 and was always proud to call herself a PHS Red Devil! In June of this year she attended her 50th class reunion and thoroughy enjoyed getting reacquainted with several of her past classmates. 

After High School Raylene attended NorthWest College where she received her certification as a Registered Dental Assistant. After working for nearly two years at a private office, Ray was hired in 1975 by the State of CA. where she worked as a Registered Dental Assistant at the Heman G. Stark Youth Training School in Chino, CA. until 2005, when she was forced to retire because of her battle with breast cancer. She had been doing well, and had been cancer free for 17 years until her untimely death. 

In November of 1973 Raylene married John Sausedo of Azusa. By 1975 they purchased their first home in Glendora and a few months later had their first child, Janene. They lived in Glendora for just over two years then purchased a brand new home in San Dimas CA where they lived for the next 40 years. Their second child John Michael was born just four months after they moved in. Ten years later in 1988 their third child was born. No he wasn't a surprise, He was planned! All three children have been very successful in their endeavors and are comfortably raising families of their own.

Thanks to the kids Raylene was grandma to ten grandchildren, four girls and six boys. She loved her grandkids very much and was very involved with them. She was often out cheering on her grandkids at games, recitals, and graduations, or at home giving baking lessons. She loved making them happy. In fact on the evening before her accident she had the grandkids over for a sleepover. They had a fun filled night and were left with a loving memory of grandma, a night they will never forget. 

Raylene was a truly, incredible woman, a warrior, she battled stage 4 breast cancer and met it head on. When Chemo failed, she entered a clinical trial and received a stem cell transplant. She was hospitalized for over three weeks at the City of Hope as we all waited to see if the procedure was going to work. In time her numbers began to improve and she was on the road to recovery. in October 2005, after a six week program of daily radiation therapy, she was told that she was cancer free! But she wasn't through yet six months later she was back in COH for her reconstructive surgery. Two months later John and Ray were off to Maui for a twelve days celebration of life! Yes, Ray was a worthy fighter with a strong will to live, but more importantly she was a survivor.  

Raylene was a warm, loving, individual, a true lover of life, and a caregiver of life as well. In 1997 she cared for her mother from June until her death from Pancreatic cancer in December of that year. She also cared for her father, who suffered from Dementia, from 1997 until his death in 2004. In 2011 she began caring for her father-in-law who, because of his health, could no longer live on on his own and came to live with her and John. She cared for him for 4 years, until his death in November 2015.

Ray was an incredible caregiver, she treated people lovingly and efficiently. She always did whatever it took to make them comfortable. This treatment was not only for family members. She often volunteered to take the elderly to medical appointments, shopping, or simply stopping in to chat with them. She was also very fond of cooking, particularly barbecuing. She was affectionately known in the family as the "Weber Woman," and even had "WEBRWMN" personalized plates on her car. She wore the title not only because she grilled on a Weber Barbecue but because in 1995 she  appeared in a Weber Barbecue commercial! She is the first and only woman to ever appear in a Weber commercial, and the first woman to compete in and win the Weber Barbecue Cook-off at the Los Angeles County Fair. Until Raylene, the contest had been a men only competition. She got the rules changed and competed in the contest for several years. Her specialty was lamb. 

Always the giver, Ray believed in sharing the wealth. She was always cooking or barbecuing at her mobile home, then she would  drop off plates of food to several of her elderly neighbors. She was also a caregiver for animals, loving her dogs Mercedes and Charlie greatly. She would often cart them around on her daily adventures. She would stop for strays and help try to locate owners via Facebook or tags. She also groomed her own dogs and others from time to time. She loved animals!

Ray had an amazingly big heart There is nothing she wouldnt do for others.  She was truly a "Ray of sunshine" in many people's lives, and a Ray of hope as well.

Raylene was loved by many and will be dearly missed by all her friends and family.