Lila M. Stephens; Descendant of County Pioneers

Homemaker Lila Mahan Stephens, a descendant of a pioneering Ventura County family, died on Monday at a Ventura nursing home. She was 93.

She was born Sept. 15, 1907, on a ranch near Somis and was the daughter of Ralph and Amelia Mahan. She was the great-granddaughter of John and Rebecca Mahan, who had settled in Camarillo in 1867.

She grew up on her family’s ranch and graduated from Moorpark High School in 1926. Until her death at the Victoria Care Center, Stephens was the school’s oldest living graduate.

Her daughter, Sheila Brady of Ventura, said that her mother was talented. She was a good cook and also knitted baby blankets for friends and family members, crocheted afghans for her grandchildren and made Christmas decorations. Stephens also wrote about what life was like growing up in the early years of Ventura County.

Stephens was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Ventura.

In addition to Brady, Stephens is survived by daughter Nadine Sutherland of Chipley, Fla.; eight grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years, Thomas “Bert” Stephens.

A memorial service is scheduled at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Charles Carroll Funeral Home in Ventura, which is handling the arrangements. Memorial donations may be made in her memory to the American Cancer Society.