Obituary of Beth Rempel

Beth Cronin Rempel, beloved mother, grandma, sister, friend and cat lady, passed away surrounded by the love of her family on August 7, 2020. Beth was born on May 25, 1949 in Wheeling, West Virginia to Clifford and Agnes Cronin. She grew up in Denver following a family move when she was ten. After graduating with honors from Denver's John F. Kennedy Junior/Senior High School in 1967, she attended Pepperdine University in Los Angeles. It was at Pepperdine she met William Rempel while working at the college newspaper. They married in August of 1969 and had two intelligent and wonderful children: Jason in 1976 and Lara in 1980. Beth completed her degree and graduated Cum Laude from CS Dominguez Hills in 1979. She worked as a paralegal for three different law firms in Los Angeles before moving to the Bay Area in 2001. She continued her paralegal work in San Francisco and even liked a couple of the lawyers she worked with. Beth was the last person to brag about her skills and talents, though they were many, and she always put everyone above herself. She worked incredibly long hours in order to provide for Jason and Lara when they were growing up. She did this with a quiet determination that masked the fact she was usually exhausted and missed being with her children. She retired in 2017 to care full-time for her 96-year-old mother. While Beth did not get to be an ornery 96-year-old grandmother like her mother did, she loved spending quality time with her three granddaughters in the years she had with them. She was famous for her French bread and brownie pie. If you spent any time in her home, you could not leave without a bag of leftovers and some lemons from her tree. She was a voracious reader who loved to sew and try out any new recipe that caught her fancy. And, while she was convinced she had no green thumb, the truck-load of potted plants we have moved out of her house proves otherwise. She loved to travel in life, and her family will see to it that a little bit of her gets to all the corners of the earth in the years to come. Beth found her greatest joys in her family and friends. She was a proud mother, doting grandmother, loyal sister, and dear friend to many. She is survived by her children, Jason Rempel and Lara (Beth) Rempel Smith, her daughters-in-law Christina Babbits and Danielle Smith, her granddaughters Megan Rempel, Charlotte (Beth) Rempel, and Rowan Smith, and her sister Karen Mahalik. A celebration of her life will take place once celebrations are allowed again. In the meantime, we will hold her memory close and be thankful for our short time together. Beth never lived life with regrets, but one thing we know she wished she could have lived to do was to vote against the orange clown currently in the White House. She donated monthly to the ACLU and in lieu of flowers we hope you'll consider a gift to this important organization in her honor. We will never forget the beautiful soul that is Beth, and we will always live by her final words: "Thank you. I love you."