On January 29, 1990, Ava Gardner’s family, including sister Myra Pearce, buried the star who had died of pneumonia, per United Press International. Myra cried softly on that rainy day throughout the pastor’s eulogy in which he admitted Ava “was no saint” but that she was “genuine” and loved her family. “Myra and Ava were very close and a lot of comfort to each other in later life,” their great-niece Ava Thompson recalled on the Ava Gardner Museum blog. Myra lived in Winston-Salem, raised three children and owned a diaper service with her husband.
Beatrice Cole, known as Bappie, was too sick to attend Ava Gardner’s funeral. She had moved to Los Angeles with her younger sister in 1941, the only way their mother would agree to allow Ava to go to Hollywood. She became her personal assistant and helped guide her career, according to The News and Observer. She died in 1993 and is buried next to Ava.
