Charlene Victoria Hovey
Charlene Victoria Hovey (Cota) passed away on December 22nd, 2023, at the age of 78 at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California after a brief illness. Charlene was a sixth generation Santa Barbaran, born on July 1st, 1945, at Saint Francis Hospital to the late John and Rena Cota. She was the fifth of seven children. Charlene attended Santa Barbara High School and it was during this time that she met the love of her life, Todd Hovey. They lived a few houses apart, but were both too shy to talk. It was finally due to the efforts of Charlene’s older brother, Norman that they met, and the rest was history. They were married on December 29th, 1961, and stayed close to their families, living on the Santa Barbara east side. They soon had two small boys, only 11 months apart, Timothy Eugene and Steven Hall.
Todd and Charlene worked hard, and in 1969 they were able to buy a house on the Mesa. They kept working, Todd at Burroughs, and Charlene at The Biltmore where they made life-long friends and built for the future. In 1975 they decided to pull up stakes and move the family north to Atascadero. It was from there that they embarked on the trip of a lifetime. Both Todd and Charlene were private pilots, and they owned a 1948 Stinson Station Wagon airplane. In 1976, they decided that they would fly from Paso Robles, California to Massachusetts in this tiny plane to visit their east coast family, and celebrate the US bicentennial. The trip took six weeks, and will never be forgotten by Tim and Steve.
The move to Atascadero didn’t work out as they hoped, and by 1977 the family moved back to the Santa Barbara area, settling in Goleta. This is where the boys grew into men, and eventually had families of their own. The resulting grandchildren Aidan Hall, Lauren Marie, Alyssa Nicole, Jessica Leigh and Shannon Rose, were absolutely precious to Todd and Charlene, and many priceless memories were made during this time. Sadly, Todd passed too early at the age of 65 in 2007. Charlene survived this tragedy with the help of her family and her many close friends.
After a few years Charlene relocated to the San Vicente Mobile Home Park, and made it her mission to become part of the community there. She participated in many park activities, and helped with the newsletter and periodic art shows. With her dog Lilly, Charlene would bike around the park, stopping to chat and say hello to those she met along the way. She made many new close friends there and will be sorely missed.
Charlene’s ability to meet new people and immediately make them feel at ease was her superpower. Throughout her life, as she moved from job to job, she would make new friends, many of whom stayed in contact with her for the rest of her life. Many times over the last years, Charlene would express to her sons that her goal in life was to be kind to others, and that was the way she lived. A celebration of her life is planned for April 28th at the club house in the San Vicente Mobile Home Park, from 1pm to 5pm.
Charlene is preceded in death by her parents, John D and Rena J Cota, her brothers, John D Cota Jr. (Gayle) and Thomas R Cota (Mary Ellen). She is survived by her sister Nyletta Robinson (Donald), her brother Norman Cota (Mary), her sister Dianne Moore (Terry), and her brother Anthony Cota (Debra). Along with her two sons, and five grandchildren, Charlene will also be remembered with great fondness by her many nieces and nephews, cousins and friends.