Beverly JoAnn DeWater

Obituary Bev was born March 5th, 1931 in Newton, Iowa in Jasper County to Charles and Beulah Shankland Stickney. She met and married Bruce Le Roy Cannon in Newton Iowa and they rode the rodeo circuit in the Midwest and in California. Bev rode bulls and was a wonderful trick rider. She also trained horses in cutting and cross country trail riding. After giving up the trick riding she continued training potential riders, including many early actors who made movies in and around Lone Pine and Independence, California. She met her lifelong friend, Wanda, in the mid 60s who wanted to learn trail riding and this began a 50 plus year friendship. She ended up selling her the trick riding horse, Twinkle Toes. Bev divorced Bruce in 1970 and spent 20 years in the car business as a parts person at a Dodge dealership in Lancaster, California. She met Al DeWater in 1978 and they married in 1984 in Las Vegas, Nevada. They shared a love of antique glassware and collected just about anything else they saw and enjoyed. They loved to show off their collections. Bev had a very large collection of western memorabilia and horses and kept in depth records of when each item was purchased. Bev developed a keen interest in ancestry and spent many hours working on that. Bev and Al took day trips with a truck and camper shell to Pismo Beach and Little Rock Dam in California and rode sand toys. They even got Als Mom, Nettie, into the act. In 1997, Al and Bev retired and moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico. Wanda preceded them here and after a while, Als Mom, Nettie, and sister Patty also moved here. Al and Bev joined the Good Sam Travel Club and Caveman Sams where they met and established many friendships and shared traveling in their RVs. They enjoyed caravans to North Dakota, Mount Rushmore and especially enjoyed Lincoln, Nebraska and visiting museums there. Theyd go out of their way to visit museums and the Billy the Kid museum was one of their favorites along Route 66. Bev always wore mens jeans as they fit her better and had bigger pockets to hold her billfold. Her and Al traveled with their cat CB (Cry Baby) for 17 years and acquired Teddy the year before CB passed. Teddy was one spoiled cat as she would always say Al and Bev really enjoyed playing cards and games with friends, whether camping or at home and went to the Senior Center to play frequently. Bev was always ready to drop everything to go pretty much anywhere. She loved going out to lunch with friends Wanda and Bernie and she especially loved visiting casinos. After Al died in 2014, Bev sold her large four bedroom house on Gamma and moved into Lakeview Christian Community. She really loved living here and after a year, Wanda moved into the Community. You could always find her at Number 34 by describing the full size white horse out front. Before Covid hit, Bev enjoyed swimming and exercising up to 3 times a week at Leo Sweets Center. She was really fond of the monthly and holiday potlucks they had there. Bev continued playing cards with a group of friends including Wanda and Bernie at a Senior Center here and at friends homes. Living in the Lakeview Community was good for her as she was unable to drive after 2015 because her eyesight was degraded with Macular Degeneration. She used the local transit system to get around at first and depended on Bernie and Wanda to get out. She was able to get her groceries from the Lakeview System too. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Beverly JoAnn DeWater, please visit our floral store.