Edvish Zefferi; Longtime Resident, Retired Teacher

Port Hueneme resident and retired teacher Edvish S. Zefferi died at her home Tuesday after a brief illness. She was 85.

Zefferi was born Sept. 16, 1912, in Fidelity, Ark. In 1921, she moved with her parents to Long Beach, where her father worked as a welder in the oil fields.

Zefferi attended the former Santa Barbara Teachers College, and in 1934 she earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a lifetime teaching certificate, said Zefferi’s son, William Zefferi.

She married Armand Zefferi on Dec. 15, 1943, in Huntington Beach.

She taught elementary school in Santa Barbara County before moving to Ventura County in 1944. From 1945 to 1954, Zefferi taught elementary school in the Oxnard School District.

She and her husband moved to Ojai in 1954, where she taught for 20 years in the Ojai Unified School District, mostly at Mira Monte Elementary School, her son said. In 1986, Zefferi and her husband moved to Port Hueneme.

Zefferi enjoyed fishing, coin collecting and gardening and had recently begun playing bridge. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Ojai.

She was preceded in death by her husband, who died in June, and by a twin sister.

In addition to her son, William Zefferi of Lexington, Mo., Zefferi is survived by two more sons, James Zefferi of Gallup, N.M., and Gregory Zefferi of Higginsonville, Mo.; a sister, Agnus Tunnel of San Bernardino; seven grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

There will be a visitation from 1 to 5 p.m. today at James A. Reardon Mortuary in Oxnard. A service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the mortuary with burial to follow at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Helping Hands of Ojai hospice.

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Ventura County obituaries are published free of charge as a public service to readers. Obituaries are based on information provided by mortuaries.