Revered TV Mom to Appear at Thousand Oaks Event : * Barbara Billingsley of ‘Leave It to Beaver’ fame will speak on life after divorce and widowhood at annual expo.

Sunday is Mother’s Day. So comparisons with ideal moms of techno-pop television culture are inevitable. And it’s a good bet that channel surfers will run across reunion segments featuring Jane Wyatt, Harriet Nelson, June Lockhart and Florence Henderson--among the most revered moms to ever grace the tube.

And there would have to be at least one station showing one of the most beloved, milk-and-cookie moms of all time, Barbara Billingsley, a.k.a. June Cleaver. But Ventura County residents can get firsthand advice from the actress who vicariously nurtured millions of Baby Boomer fans of “Leave It to Beaver” when she appears as the celebrity speaker at Senior Expo ’93 in Thousand Oaks on Wednesday.

This annual event for seniors will feature music, dancing, lunch and displays representing local social service agencies. In keeping with this year’s theme, “A New Beginning-Abundant Living,” Billingsley, who admits to being 70, will talk about her outlook on life after divorce and widowhood. She will also share her experiences as an actress on the popular television series.

I recently visited Billingsley in her Malibu beachfront house and encountered a gracious, warm hostess quite unaffected by stardom. We began our chat in the elegant living room overlooking the Pacific Ocean. But Billingsley soon led me to the kitchen, where she warmed up her homemade bran muffins. We talked easily while she brewed coffee and rummaged through cabinet drawers for pastel cloth place mats and napkins.

Finally, we settled in comfortable overstuffed chairs for a “schmooze” across a small dining table in her cozy den.

“My children tell me I am June Cleaver,” Billingsley said. “But June Cleaver has been good to me. So I can’t complain.”

The original 234 episodes of “Leave It to Beaver” aired between 1957 and 1963. And after a 20-year hiatus, and a two-hour TV reunion movie, Billingsley joined the cast to film 105 shows of “The New Leave It to Beaver.”

With some delight, Billingsley talked about playing against type when she took on the role of a jive-talking passenger in the film “Airplane.” She also discussed the voice-over part of Nanny in the Muppet Babies cartoon series she did for eight years. She continues to work in television and theater while lending her talents to charitable events. But she said public speaking is something new to her.

But Billingsley said she plans to talk about adjustment in people’s lives. “We are living longer. But doctors can’t give us quality of life--we have to do that by changing our thinking,” she said. And she gave examples from her life.

Divorced when her sons were 2 and 4 years old, Billingsley remarried about four years later. She was devastated when her second husband, director Roy Kellino, to whom she had been married for three years, died from a heart attack at age 44. Two days before, she had auditioned for a different pilot with the producers of “Leave It to Beaver.”

“It’s a terrible blow. But you can’t wallow in your grief,” Billingsley said. “When Roy died, my agent made me work all the time. And six months later, they called me to start the series.”

In addition to her two sons, Billingsley has three stepchildren and 17 grandchildren. She and her third husband, physician Bill Mortensen, shared 22 years before he succumbed to lung cancer nine years ago.

As she sorted through old photographs, Billingsley explained the similarities and differences between her life and that of her television persona.

Billingsley was born in Los Angeles. As a result of divorce, she grew up with her sister in a single-parent household.

“As long as you know you are loved, I don’t care what kind of family you’re from,” she said, crediting her mother as a strong role model.

By the time we had exchanged some personal information and advice, night had fallen. And in keeping with her alter ego, Billingsley insisted on walking me outside and waiting until I reached my car.

“I’ll stay here and watch,” she said, giving me a hug, “I want you to be safe.”

* WHERE AND WHEN

Senior Expo ‘93, for adults ages 50 and older, will be sponsored by the Goebel Senior Adult Center, Wednesday, from 9:15 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cal Lutheran University, 60 W. Olsen Road in Thousand Oaks. Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m. Activities will include music, dancing, lunch and presentations on Elder Hostel Programs and Self-Empowerment. Admission is $2 per person. Tickets are available only in advance on a first-come basis at the Goebel Senior Adult Center, 1385 E. Janss Road in Thousand Oaks. No phone reservations will be accepted and there is a limit of two tickets per person.