Our friend of many, Cheyenne “Mama” Bear, retreated from the land of the living on December 1, 2022, slipping peacefully into her forever cave, after being hospitalized at OVH due to pneumonia complications.
Cheyenne let go of the present on her terms. The little time that she engaged with the “not her thing” lifestyle in a local rehabilitation center was short and softened by her many friends who kept Cheyenne’s mama bear spirit engaged doing the things that she loved, such as participating in Qigong and Tai Chi classes in Carpinteria with her beloved instructor, Jessica, and visiting the Ojai Farmers’ Market, Rainbow Bridge, Sarzotti Park, Soule Park, the three sisters’ ranch, and chatting on the phone daily with her sister, Catherine.
Cheyenne was always up for an adventure that invariably included good eats, good music, good libations, and many laughs with her friends. Never a downer, she dedicated herself to “lifting up the spirits” of all whose paths she crossed in her thousands of miles traveled around the country in the Bear Bus. As “Mama Bear,” she said, “If’n yous are part of my den, then ‘nough said!” Mama Bear was herself truly a light-footed spirit and a gift to all who called her friend.
Most locals knew when Cheyenne was back in town by the presence of her beloved mobile den, the Bear Bus. The Bear Bus, too, made its last road trip home and they both will be sorely missed (though happy to be together!).
A celebration of the adventurous, independent, “free-birds” life of Cheyenne will be held on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, her 80th birthday, from 4-7 p.m. at the Ojai Retreat.
Join us with a dish to share and a heart filled with loving stories.
