Arwanda Marie Quarry, age 84, Bakersfield, CA.
Arwanda Quarry would rather have knocked you out than have you mess with one of her eight children, 13 grandchildren or 26 great- grandchildren. Yes, she was feisty. Her children, who called her Ma Barker, feared, respected, but most of all, loved her.
"She had a heart like a hotel," said her daughter Dianna. "She had room for everybody."
Arwanda Marie Quarry died Friday at Kern Medical Center. She had been living with her daughter Dianna in her home in Oleander. Arwanda was 84.
Children included her late sons Mike and Jerry, who became famous boxers. But Arwanda didn't favor the famous ones over the less so, according to her children.
"As a kid, I saw her in the same dress every day," said her daughter Wilma. "She didn't buy for herself, she bought for her kids."
Arwanda was born Aug. 20, 1926, to Ernest and Banonia Tolbert in Booneville Ark. She moved to Shafter when she was 15. Arwanda married Jack Pascal Quarry at the age of 16, had seven children by the time she was 26 and then had one more 10 years later.
Her husband left her in 1969, but her family rallied around her, no one more than her son Jerry, dubbed the "Great White Hope," who was among the greatest heavyweights in the world, having fought Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
No matter how famous Quarry became, he was unfailingly kind to his mother.
"He'd give me $5,000 after a fight," Arwanda said in an interview last year. "Before he died, he told me 100 times a day, if he told me once, that he loved me."
Some people thought the only person tougher than Quarry was his mother. She once slapped the chief of police in Las Vegas because he raised his baton at her during Mike and Jerry's fights against Bob Foster and Muhammad Ali (the fight was billed the Soul Brothers vs. the Quarry Brothers). She had an ongoing feud with announcer Howard Cosell.
"The fights in the rings were only part of it," said daughter Wilma. "Sometimes, the action was better in the stands than it was in the ring."
A bristly exterior concealed a tender heart.
"My mom was courageous," Wilma said. "She took care of all of us kids when my dad left. She stayed until she met all of our needs."
Arwanda missed few of her children's sporting events, from youngest son Bobby's JBA games to Mike and Jerry's championship fights. For the tougher fights, Arwanda took tranquilizers to make it through.
Although she was proud of her family, she eventually soured on boxing. At the age of 47, Jerry Quarry was pummeled in his last fight and required 100 stitches. After quitting, he developed memory problems and was diagnosed with dementia pugilistica. He died in 1999 at 53.
Her son Mike was also afflicted with dementia and died at age 55 in 2006.
"I don't want any more boxers if we can help it," Arwanda said, after hearing that one of her grandsons, Sammy Quarry, wanted to become a fighter.
She didn't want fighters just the company of her children as she grew older. Even that wasn't easy.
By the end of her life, Arwanda had lost four children. Lost four, but left a legacy. The woman they called Mama Quarry opened her arms and fussed over her family to the end.
Pastor Dean Long was the officiate during the graveside service for Arwanda Quarry was held on Friday January 21, 2011 at 2:00pm at Shafter Memorial Park. The visitation was held prior to the service on Thursday 20, 2011 from 5pm to 8pm at Peters Funeral home.
www.goldenvalleymemorialcare.com, 1/27/2011.
Arwanda Quarry would rather have knocked you out than have you mess with one of her eight children, 13 grandchildren or 26 great- grandchildren. Yes, she was feisty. Her children, who called her Ma Barker, feared, respected, but most of all, loved her.
"She had a heart like a hotel," said her daughter Dianna. "She had room for everybody."
Arwanda Marie Quarry died Friday at Kern Medical Center. She had been living with her daughter Dianna in her home in Oleander. Arwanda was 84.
Children included her late sons Mike and Jerry, who became famous boxers. But Arwanda didn't favor the famous ones over the less so, according to her children.
"As a kid, I saw her in the same dress every day," said her daughter Wilma. "She didn't buy for herself, she bought for her kids."
Arwanda was born Aug. 20, 1926, to Ernest and Banonia Tolbert in Booneville Ark. She moved to Shafter when she was 15. Arwanda married Jack Pascal Quarry at the age of 16, had seven children by the time she was 26 and then had one more 10 years later.
Her husband left her in 1969, but her family rallied around her, no one more than her son Jerry, dubbed the "Great White Hope," who was among the greatest heavyweights in the world, having fought Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
No matter how famous Quarry became, he was unfailingly kind to his mother.
"He'd give me $5,000 after a fight," Arwanda said in an interview last year. "Before he died, he told me 100 times a day, if he told me once, that he loved me."
Some people thought the only person tougher than Quarry was his mother. She once slapped the chief of police in Las Vegas because he raised his baton at her during Mike and Jerry's fights against Bob Foster and Muhammad Ali (the fight was billed the Soul Brothers vs. the Quarry Brothers). She had an ongoing feud with announcer Howard Cosell.
"The fights in the rings were only part of it," said daughter Wilma. "Sometimes, the action was better in the stands than it was in the ring."
A bristly exterior concealed a tender heart.
"My mom was courageous," Wilma said. "She took care of all of us kids when my dad left. She stayed until she met all of our needs."
Arwanda missed few of her children's sporting events, from youngest son Bobby's JBA games to Mike and Jerry's championship fights. For the tougher fights, Arwanda took tranquilizers to make it through.
Although she was proud of her family, she eventually soured on boxing. At the age of 47, Jerry Quarry was pummeled in his last fight and required 100 stitches. After quitting, he developed memory problems and was diagnosed with dementia pugilistica. He died in 1999 at 53.
Her son Mike was also afflicted with dementia and died at age 55 in 2006.
"I don't want any more boxers if we can help it," Arwanda said, after hearing that one of her grandsons, Sammy Quarry, wanted to become a fighter.
She didn't want fighters just the company of her children as she grew older. Even that wasn't easy.
By the end of her life, Arwanda had lost four children. Lost four, but left a legacy. The woman they called Mama Quarry opened her arms and fussed over her family to the end.
Pastor Dean Long was the officiate during the graveside service for Arwanda Quarry was held on Friday January 21, 2011 at 2:00pm at Shafter Memorial Park. The visitation was held prior to the service on Thursday 20, 2011 from 5pm to 8pm at Peters Funeral home.
www.goldenvalleymemorialcare.com, 1/27/2011.
Arwanda Marie Quarry, age 84, Bakersfield, CA.
Arwanda Quarry would rather have knocked you out than have you mess with one of her eight children, 13 grandchildren or 26 great- grandchildren. Yes, she was feisty. Her children, who called her Ma Barker, feared, respected, but most of all, loved her.
"She had a heart like a hotel," said her daughter Dianna. "She had room for everybody."
Arwanda Marie Quarry died Friday at Kern Medical Center. She had been living with her daughter Dianna in her home in Oleander. Arwanda was 84.
Children included her late sons Mike and Jerry, who became famous boxers. But Arwanda didn't favor the famous ones over the less so, according to her children.
"As a kid, I saw her in the same dress every day," said her daughter Wilma. "She didn't buy for herself, she bought for her kids."
Arwanda was born Aug. 20, 1926, to Ernest and Banonia Tolbert in Booneville Ark. She moved to Shafter when she was 15. Arwanda married Jack Pascal Quarry at the age of 16, had seven children by the time she was 26 and then had one more 10 years later.
Her husband left her in 1969, but her family rallied around her, no one more than her son Jerry, dubbed the "Great White Hope," who was among the greatest heavyweights in the world, having fought Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
No matter how famous Quarry became, he was unfailingly kind to his mother.
"He'd give me $5,000 after a fight," Arwanda said in an interview last year. "Before he died, he told me 100 times a day, if he told me once, that he loved me."
Some people thought the only person tougher than Quarry was his mother. She once slapped the chief of police in Las Vegas because he raised his baton at her during Mike and Jerry's fights against Bob Foster and Muhammad Ali (the fight was billed the Soul Brothers vs. the Quarry Brothers). She had an ongoing feud with announcer Howard Cosell.
"The fights in the rings were only part of it," said daughter Wilma. "Sometimes, the action was better in the stands than it was in the ring."
A bristly exterior concealed a tender heart.
"My mom was courageous," Wilma said. "She took care of all of us kids when my dad left. She stayed until she met all of our needs."
Arwanda missed few of her children's sporting events, from youngest son Bobby's JBA games to Mike and Jerry's championship fights. For the tougher fights, Arwanda took tranquilizers to make it through.
Although she was proud of her family, she eventually soured on boxing. At the age of 47, Jerry Quarry was pummeled in his last fight and required 100 stitches. After quitting, he developed memory problems and was diagnosed with dementia pugilistica. He died in 1999 at 53.
Her son Mike was also afflicted with dementia and died at age 55 in 2006.
"I don't want any more boxers if we can help it," Arwanda said, after hearing that one of her grandsons, Sammy Quarry, wanted to become a fighter.
She didn't want fighters just the company of her children as she grew older. Even that wasn't easy.
By the end of her life, Arwanda had lost four children. Lost four, but left a legacy. The woman they called Mama Quarry opened her arms and fussed over her family to the end.
Pastor Dean Long was the officiate during the graveside service for Arwanda Quarry was held on Friday January 21, 2011 at 2:00pm at Shafter Memorial Park. The visitation was held prior to the service on Thursday 20, 2011 from 5pm to 8pm at Peters Funeral home.
www.goldenvalleymemorialcare.com, 1/27/2011.
Arwanda Quarry would rather have knocked you out than have you mess with one of her eight children, 13 grandchildren or 26 great- grandchildren. Yes, she was feisty. Her children, who called her Ma Barker, feared, respected, but most of all, loved her.
"She had a heart like a hotel," said her daughter Dianna. "She had room for everybody."
Arwanda Marie Quarry died Friday at Kern Medical Center. She had been living with her daughter Dianna in her home in Oleander. Arwanda was 84.
Children included her late sons Mike and Jerry, who became famous boxers. But Arwanda didn't favor the famous ones over the less so, according to her children.
"As a kid, I saw her in the same dress every day," said her daughter Wilma. "She didn't buy for herself, she bought for her kids."
Arwanda was born Aug. 20, 1926, to Ernest and Banonia Tolbert in Booneville Ark. She moved to Shafter when she was 15. Arwanda married Jack Pascal Quarry at the age of 16, had seven children by the time she was 26 and then had one more 10 years later.
Her husband left her in 1969, but her family rallied around her, no one more than her son Jerry, dubbed the "Great White Hope," who was among the greatest heavyweights in the world, having fought Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
No matter how famous Quarry became, he was unfailingly kind to his mother.
"He'd give me $5,000 after a fight," Arwanda said in an interview last year. "Before he died, he told me 100 times a day, if he told me once, that he loved me."
Some people thought the only person tougher than Quarry was his mother. She once slapped the chief of police in Las Vegas because he raised his baton at her during Mike and Jerry's fights against Bob Foster and Muhammad Ali (the fight was billed the Soul Brothers vs. the Quarry Brothers). She had an ongoing feud with announcer Howard Cosell.
"The fights in the rings were only part of it," said daughter Wilma. "Sometimes, the action was better in the stands than it was in the ring."
A bristly exterior concealed a tender heart.
"My mom was courageous," Wilma said. "She took care of all of us kids when my dad left. She stayed until she met all of our needs."
Arwanda missed few of her children's sporting events, from youngest son Bobby's JBA games to Mike and Jerry's championship fights. For the tougher fights, Arwanda took tranquilizers to make it through.
Although she was proud of her family, she eventually soured on boxing. At the age of 47, Jerry Quarry was pummeled in his last fight and required 100 stitches. After quitting, he developed memory problems and was diagnosed with dementia pugilistica. He died in 1999 at 53.
Her son Mike was also afflicted with dementia and died at age 55 in 2006.
"I don't want any more boxers if we can help it," Arwanda said, after hearing that one of her grandsons, Sammy Quarry, wanted to become a fighter.
She didn't want fighters just the company of her children as she grew older. Even that wasn't easy.
By the end of her life, Arwanda had lost four children. Lost four, but left a legacy. The woman they called Mama Quarry opened her arms and fussed over her family to the end.
Pastor Dean Long was the officiate during the graveside service for Arwanda Quarry was held on Friday January 21, 2011 at 2:00pm at Shafter Memorial Park. The visitation was held prior to the service on Thursday 20, 2011 from 5pm to 8pm at Peters Funeral home.
www.goldenvalleymemorialcare.com, 1/27/2011.
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