Memorial service set for Georgia Rose Peat West, mother of Sacramento’s first Black mayor
Former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and his brother, Ronald West, have scheduled a Jan. 23 memorial service for their mother, Georgia Rose Peat West, who died Dec. 23, at 75. She had lived with cancer for more than 10 years.
West was the driving force behind Oak Park’s Underground Books, not only selling books that largely explored and celebrated the African diaspora but also giving many away to children and their parents, said St. Hope CEO Cassandra Jennings.
Many young neighborhood residents affectionately called her Mother Rose, just as her family did, Johnson and Ronald West said. They said their mother showed determination and grit as she confronted the challenge of lung and adrenal cancers.
“She knew that the Lord would be by her side when she was first diagnosed with small cell lung cancer in August 2014,” the two men said in a news release. “At the time, doctors told her that the five-year survival rate for the type and stage of cancer she had was 3% (less than 1% for 10 years). Mother Rose beat the odds.”
Before Johnson, a former NBA All-Star player, served as mayor of Sacramento, he established Underground Books in 2003 through his St. Hope nonprofit. West ran it, hiring students from Sacramento High School to work there and welcoming young children to reading events, Jennings said.
West believed that “readers are leaders,” Jennings added.
Her sons said they will celebrate their mother’s life from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 23 at St. Paul Baptist Church, 3996 14th Ave., in Sacramento. The family welcomed the public but ask, if you’re planning to attend, to RSVP.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the “Mother Rose Fund” at St. Hope to maintain West’s legacy. Cards and donations can be mailed to Underground Books, P.O. Box 5447, Sacramento, CA 95817.
This story was originally published December 30, 2024 at 11:19 AM.
