Shari Lynn Sousa was killed Dec. 30 while traveling in an automobile with Tom Robbins on Cold Canyon Road. She was 40. The two were headed toward a favorite place in the Santa Monica Mountains to watch the stars.
Born in Santa Barbara on Dec. 26, 1966, Sousa and her family moved to the Los Angeles area before her second birthday. Growing up in Monte Nido, a small community in the Malibu Canyon area of Calabasas, Sousa at age 7 became close friends with Robbins. More than once, Sousa moved away with her family to places like Mt. Baldy and Oahu, but she always returned to the old neighborhood and her extended family. In 1989, Sousa married Rick Sousa. She gave birth to Valerie Lynne on Oct. 9, 1990. In 1997, Sousa returned to live in the Calabasas area to be near family and her many friends.
Sousa’s mother, Kathy Wellman, and Robbins’ mother, Laura, were partners in a Malibu business for nearly 30 years. For the past nine years, Sousa worked in Malibu at the Malibu Colony Co. and Room at the Beach.
Sousa is survived by her daughter, Valerie Sousa; father, Michael Wellman; brothers, Jason and Shawn Wellman; sister, Savannah Wellman; grandfather, Bob Wellman; grandmother, Alice Epperson; uncle, Kirk Simioni; aunt, Charlene Nilssen and many cousins and other family members. She is preceded in death by her mother, Kathy Wellman; grandfather, Renzo Simioni; grandmother, Barbara Wellman and uncle, James Wellman.
Family and friends will share a celebration of Sousa’s life on Jan. 26 at 2 p.m. at the Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park and Mortuary, located at 5600 Lindero Canyon Road in Westlake Village. Following the ceremony, the celebration of Sousa and Robbins’ lives will continue at a location to be announced.
Donations may be made in Sousa’s name, in memory of her mother, to The ALS Association, Development Department, 27001 Agoura Road, Suite 150, Calabasas Hills, CA 91301.