Coleslaw and Caregiving

Crystal Plimbley is fulfilling a promise she made to a friend’s daughter.

When Plimbley was a waitress at a Tarzana deli 15 years ago, she met Trudy Klearman and her daughter, Florence Stanton, who was a pioneer Los Angeles policewoman in the 1950s. Stanton took her mother to the deli every day and the two women developed a close friendship with Plimbley.

About eight years ago, Plimbley said, Stanton asked her, “If anything should happen to me, would you take care of my mother?” Plimbley agreed.

Three years later, Stanton, then 71 and living with Alzheimer’s disease, fell out of bed, broke her neck and died.

Ever since, Plimbley has been looking after Klearman, now 95, who lives in an apartment near the deli.

For taking on the role of guardian, Plimbley was honored this week by the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division. Capt. James Cansler and Sgt. Martin Fentress presented her with a plaque and a certificate at the deli where it all began.

Plimbley, who now owns the deli, gives Klearman her medication daily and takes her on errands.

Klearman spends seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the cozy restaurant--which regulars liken to TV’s “Cheers” bar, where everyone knows your name.

“She’s everything to me,” Klearman said, gently rubbing Plimbley’s knee. “She takes very good care of me. I would be lost without her.”

Plimbley, 64, sees her role as a natural one. She swears to know 1,001 people by name and has watched babies grow up in her 25 years at the deli.

“I’m kind of a mother hen, I take care of everybody,” Plimbley said. “Everybody eventually comes to Crystal’s Deli.”

Klearman’s daughter was one of the first female officers in the LAPD, at a time when women weren’t allowed to drive patrol cars, Fentress said, adding that one of Stanton’s most memorable cases was catching a downtown rapist.

The Ventura Boulevard deli is a popular spot with West Valley officers, who are familiar with Klearman’s bright smile, lively eyes and lined face. “If you saw her, you’d never think she’s 95 years old,” Fentress said. “She still does her hair and makeup, which I think is so cute.”

Police decided to honor Plimbley to thank her for taking care of an extended member of the LAPD family, Fentress said.

The honor came as a surprise to Plimbley and especially to Klearman, whom many consider extremely shy.

“I have nothing else to say, honey,” Klearman told a reporter. “I don’t like all of this attention.”