NAACP Branch 1034, which serves southwest Riverside County, recently honored Mary Venerable with a board member emerita award for her years of service with the branch.
Myles Ross, branch president, and Rosie Brady, secretary, presented the award at the branch’s May 25 meeting at Grace and Truth Worship Ministry in Lake Elsinore.
Venerable has been with NAACP Branch 1034 since 1991, after she moved from Los Angeles to Lake Elsinore. During her years of membership, she has served as secretary, vice president and president, and she filled the position of treasurer until March of this year, according to a news release. She is continuing as the branch’s legal redress chairman and as a non-voting member of the executive board.
In 2021, Venerable was one of four recipients of the branch’s NAACP Legacy Awards, and in 2018, she received an NAACP/WIN (Women in the NAACP) Leadership Award in recognition of her leadership and many years of service.
She is now known as the matriarch of NAACP Branch 1034, according to the news release.
Her career included working in personnel and human relations management with the Navy Department and as a personnel analyst with the U.S. Civil Service Commission in Los Angeles.
A month after she retired in 1982, Venerable was offered a job as assistant to the personnel director of the Los Angeles Community College District. She retired from the Community College District in 1991.
She has also been a service officer with the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, advising federal employees and retirees on retirement issues, and until 2019 was a member of the Riverside County Transportation Commission’s citizens’ advisory council.
She has two sons, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren and has written a book, “My Life and Legacy,” which she has available for sale.
Her advice for staying young is “Help people, stay active, love God and keep the faith,” according to the news release.
NAACP Branch 1034 serves Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, Temecula, Corona, Norco, Canyon Lake, Wildomar, Menifee and Perris. For information, go to naacpbranch1034.org.
