Obituaries : * Hazel Mildred Roman; Longtime Resident

Hazel Mildred Roman, a blind woman who lived with her mother and then by herself in Newbury Park, has died. She was 82.

Roman moved to Ventura Estates, a Seventh-day Adventist retirement community, with her mother 26 years ago and was one of its senior residents, officials said.

Roman was blind from birth and her mother used a wheelchair, said Forrest Davis, accountant for Ventura Estates.

“They just got along real well,” said Davis, remembering Roman pushing the wheelchair guided by her mother’s directions. “She was legs for her mother and her mother was eyes for her.”

After her mother died, Roman lived alone. A trust fund provided by her father provided her with round-the-clock nursing care, neighbors said.

And Davis said that until illness kept her homebound, her lack of sight did not stop her from navigating the grounds of Ventura Estates.

“She pretty well had the campus memorized. She could come and go as she pleased,” Davis said.

She has no living relatives, funeral home officials said.

A funeral service is scheduled for Thursday. Pierce Brothers Griffin Mortuary in Thousand Oaks is handling the arrangements.