Bedeania Zurek, 47 year old resident of El Cajon, CA passed away at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Medical Center from a brave and intense battle against cancer on July 9th, 2024 at 5:55 AM. There will be a Celebration of Life service at Bonita Seventh-day Adventist Church located at 3737 Sweetwater Rd, National City, CA 91950 on Saturday July 13, 2024 @ 4 PM. The service will also be streamed online for those that cannot make it in person at https://vimeo.com/bonitaadventist . In lieu of flowers we are asking for people to donate to a charity of their choice in memory of Bedeania.
Bedeania is survived by her parents Terry & Chris Richards (New Market, VA), her brother Austin Richards (Portland, OR), Grandmother Betty Richards (New Market, VA) and her 3 children Ethan, Emma, and James Zurek (San Diego, CA).
Bedeania was born on December 14, 1976 in Bristol, VA. She moved to New Market, VA when she was 7 years old when her mother, Chris Richards married her now Father Terry Richards. She attended Shenandoah Valley Adventist Elementary school (SVAE) and Shenandoah Valley Academy (SVA) in New Market, VA. She loved her time in New Market and thought very highly of the area and the Seventh-day Adventist church community there. At SVA she sang in the choirs and played violin in the school strings and always loved music until her last breath! After graduating SVA she attended Southern Adventist University in Chattanooga, TN and graduated with an undergraduate degree in Social Work, she then went on to get her master’s in Social Work at Walla Walla University in Walla Walla, WA. After graduation she moved to San Diego, CA where she lived for the next 25 years and worked with helping people from all walks of life as a Social Worker and Therapist and became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). She was a Behavioral Health Therapist at Imperial Beach Community Clinic in San Diego, CA for the last 7 years. Bedeania had 3 beautiful children: Ethan, Emma, and James Zurek. She loved her children very much and were the focus of her life.
Bedeania is at peace now and knows that everyone around her surrounded her with love and light! Her spirit, her laughs, her smiles will be greatly missed but she will continue to be with us all! She loved people and helping people personally and through her work. She has touched many lives, and her memory will continue to do so as well. Bedeania was one of the brightest lights anyone has ever met! She had an innate skill of talking to anyone and kept a smile on her face no matter what she was talking about or what she was going through. Her memory will live on for a very long time with the number of people she has made a lasting impression on. She was very loved by many!
