Person:Velma Stephens (1)

Name	Velma Louise STEPHENS
Gender	Female
Birth^[1]	2 Jun 1909	Prairie Grove, Washington County, Arkansas
Marriage	2 Nov 1927	Roswell, New Mexicoto Robert Hiniard Townsend
Other^[2]	1969	Fresno, Fresno, California, United StatesMother of the Year
Death^[6]	26 Sep 1971	Fresno, Fresno, California, USA
Burial^[6]	30 Sep 1971	Belmont Memorial Park, Fresno, Fresno, California, USA

She was abandoned by her widowed father for 3 years and raised her younger sisters. They ate frogs and tadpoles from the stream. She was the mother of 4 children. Unfortunate circumstance forced them to move to California. They arrived at their a rental home after the dark. My mother remembers the weeds scratching their legs on the way in. The next morning they discovered that the scratchy weeds were actually fleas! After her children left home, she raised several grandchildren. Later she fostered children. She raised 57 foster children in 25 years, most of them downs syndrome. She was mother of the year 1969. At 62, the State of California said she was to old to care for any more foster children. She died in a car accident and heart attach the shortly before the State was scheduled to remove the children. She was always kind and generous and one of my favorite people.

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