Beatrice Sorem; Retired Lab Technician

Beatrice “Babe” Sorem, a retired lab technician at the Ventura County Medical Center, died in an Oxnard hospital Tuesday following a lengthy illness. She was 73.

Sorem was born on Nov. 30, 1922, in Ventura and lived there all her life. She graduated from Ventura High School and joined the WAVES, the women’s branch of the U.S. Navy. During World War II she taught instrument flying, said her sister, Alice Watt of Ventura.

“Babe was a wonderful person. She loved sports. She liked to play golf and bowl and go fishing,” Watt said. “We all played badminton and softball, and we used to go hiking and picnicking together.”

Sorem was a lab technician at the county hospital in Ventura for 28 years, retiring in 1980. She had also worked as a lab technician at a hospital operated by the Sisters of the Holy Cross order in Fresno, said her sister.

In addition to Watt, Sorem is survived by sisters Mabel Olsen of Santa Barbara and Beulah Probasco of Ventura; brothers Clifford Sorem of Oregon and Bernard Sorem of Hawaii; numerous nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.

Mass will be celebrated Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Ventura. There will be no Rosary service. Interment will be in Ivy Lawn Memorial Park, Ventura.

Rites are under the direction of the Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Home, Ventura.