Killer pedicure
03/15/7
A pedicure may have been responsible for the death of Gerry Ann Schabarum, wife of former state Assemblyman and longtime Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum, who died on March 7 in a hospice near the couple's Indian Wells home.
There will be a public memorial service on Saturday in Palm Desert.
Schabarum, 70, had been battling a staphylococcus infection for more than a year that, because she suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, was able to take hold in her body.
Family members believe that Schabarum initially contracted her fatal illness during a pedicure, said Los Angeles County Director of Public Affairs Judy Hammond, who worked as a press deputy for Pete Schabarum when he was a county supervisor, a position he held for 19 years before retiring in 1991.
Over the last two years, state health officials have investigated outbreaks of bacteria and staph infections in several Northern California counties that officials believed may have taken the life of a 43-year-old woman.
“That's why I personally stopped having pedicures,” said Hammond.
In response to the outbreaks, the Legislature moved last year to give state health officials the power to shutter salons that are cited for health and safety concerns, according to published reports.
Last month in Texas, according to other reports, a 46-year-old Fort Worth woman died from a staph infection caused by a pedicure.
The Schabarums had been together 49 years.
The public memorial service begins at 1 p.m. at the Palm Desert Community Presbyterian Church, 47-321 Highway 74 in Palm Desert. Call (760) 346-8195.
— Joe Piasecki
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