Beatrice Perren; Mother of Ventura Judge

Beatrice Perren, a longtime Ventura County resident, died Tuesday after a battle with liver cancer. She was 82.

Born Beatrice Deborah Barbakow in New York City on Jan. 20, 1917, she was raised in southern West Virginia with her brothers, Maurice and Yankee.

She returned to New York in 1936 to work as a secretary. The next year she was asked out for New Year’s Eve by Sam Perren, a cousin’s former boyfriend.

Six months later, they married. They drove across the country in 1938, making their home in Los Angeles. A son, Steven, was born in 1942. In 1947, son David was born. Steven Z. Perren is now a Superior Court judge who oversees the Ventura County Juvenile Court. David Perren is a certified public accountant in Northridge.

In 1951 the young family moved from Fairfax Boulevard in Los Angeles to North Hollywood. Perren’s Delicatessen opened in Burbank in 1953. Sam worked the sandwich board; Beatrice was considered the heart and soul of the business. The deli was a Burbank fixture for more than 20 years.

Beatrice and Sam Perren moved to Leisure Village in Camarillo in 1978.

“The couple was more than the store, their homes or the dates that marked the milestones of their lives,” said son Steven. “It is hard to speak of Bea without speaking of Sam. They were inseparable; theirs was a life together.

“Sam always thought he was in charge. Bea let him think so. She was strong for him and devoted to her family,” he added. “Indeed, strong was always the word to describe her. And strong she remained for her beloved husband during the illness that took his life and despite the onset of her own.”

Among Steven Perren’s fondest recollections are of his mother cooking during the Jewish holidays, especially Passover.

“How appropriate now, and how painful,” Steve Perren said. “There were certain foods that were always on the table and they were wonderful. The aroma and taste of my mother was always there.”

Perren said his mother never complained and was always loving. He described her as “the family’s spiritual and moral center.”

She is survived by her sons, Steven and David; seven grandchildren and a grandchild.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the USC Norris Cancer Center. Funeral arrangements were handled by Mt. Sinai Mortuary in Burbank.