Search for celebrities on Ancestry.com!Matt Howard
Matt Howard died on Nov.18, 2002, in Las Vegas. Born in Pampa, Texas, on Oct. 19, 1934, he was 69 years old.
At age 7, he moved with his family to Southern California where he lived for 33 years. He moved his family to Woodland in 1974, where they lived for 25 years. He and his wife retired to Bullhead City, Ariz., in 1999 where he lived until his death.
He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War and was stationed in San Diego. He was a journeyman carpenter and an avid bass fisherman all of his life.
He was preceded in death by his father, Warren M. Howard; mother, Cassie Silver; and brothers, Irvin and Sam Howard.
He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Carmen Howard of Bullhead City, Ariz.; three children, Matthew Howard and his wife Diana of Bend, Ore., Terri Tuck of Woodland and James Howard and his wife Lisa of Woodland; and five grandchildren, Kacie Tuck, Brandon Tuck and Breanne Howard, all of Woodland, and Christine Howard and David Howard of Bend, Ore.
He is further survived by his step-mother, Dorothy Howard of Vacaville; siblings, Nancy Smith of Vacaville, Edward Graddy of Canadian, Texas, Dick Howard of Woodland and Bobbi Weaver of Sacramento; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Friends are invited to attend the visitation Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. at McNary's Chapel. Friends are also invited to attend the funeral Saturday at 11 a.m. at McNary's. Interment will follow at Monument Hill Memorial Park.
Miriam Montgomery
A memorial graveside service for Miriam Montgomery, who died Sept. 14, 2002, will be Saturday, Nov. 30, at the Davis Cemetery on Pole Line Road. Friends and relatives are invited to attend the 11 a.m. service.
LaVerle Ridenour
A funeral will be held Friday morning for LaVerle Ridenour, who died Nov. 17, 2002, in Davis. She was 63.
Born March 18, 1939, in Quincy, she moved to Vallejo and lived there until she was 12, then moved to Pasadena and Chino, where she graduated from Chino High School.
She worked as a telephone operator for Pacific Bell until she met the love of her life, Ken Ridenour; six months later, she was marriage and traveling to Montana to start her new life.
After their two children were born, the couple lived in North Carolina, Hawaii, Texas and California. Following a divorce, she worked as a machinist for the EDO Corp., then moved to Northern California to live with her daughter and help raise her four grandchildren.
She knew every movie star who acted during her lifetime, and loved baseball so much that she could name every player on every team. She was an avid collector of baseball cards, stamps, Elvis Presley memorabilia and state quarters.
"She was a wonderful, loving and caring wife, daughter, mother, grandmother and a dear friend to anyone who had the chance to meet her," her family says. "We will all miss her dearly."
She was preceded in death by her parents, Lucille Moyer and George Anderson; her stepfather, Lee Moyer; and her brother, Butch Moyer.
She is survived by her children, Kenneth Ridenour and his wife Cindy of San Lorenzo, and Colleen Martin and her husband Mark of Davis; her sisters, Charlene Kaiser of San Diego and Carol "Cookie" Jurgensmeier of Salem, Ore; and four grandchildren, Ryan, Ashley, Brent and Daniel Martin, all of Davis.
She is also survived by several nieces and nephews, Carrie Huston and her husband Jim of Chino, Carmen Kaiser of Fullerton, Ben Jurgensmeier, Sally Jurgensmeier, Ty Moyer and Sally Moyer.
A funeral will be Friday at 11 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 785 Elmwood Drive. Arrangements are under the direction of the Davis Funeral Chapel.
Memorial donations may be made in her name to the Davis Senior Center, 646 A St.
William E. Duncan
William E. "Bill" Duncan died at his home in Davis on Nov. 21, 2002, at the age of 86. He was born Aug. 31, 1916, in Woodland to Eva (Chadwick) and Howard Duncan. The vast majority of his life was spent in Yolo County with the exception of a few years spent in Sacramento and the Monticello Valley.
He graduated from Winters High School in 1935 as class valedictorian. On Feb. 1, 1943, he and Alecia R. "2-D" Conard were married. Twenty-two days later he entered the Army Air Corps. He served in World War II as a B-17 "Flying Fortress" pilot Instructor and eventually was assigned to a B-29 Group prior to the end of the war.
Upon returning from military service, he and his wife settled in Winters. Starting with a tractor and a disc, they developed and continued a successful farming operation in the Winters area for more than 40 years. While living in Winters, he served as a City Councilman and was an active member in numerous organizations, including the Winters Chamber of Commerce. He was also a member of the Elks Lodge and the Winters/Esparto Masonic Lodge, serving as Worthy Master and eventually receiving his 50-year pin.
He was an active member of the Democratic Party and had a keen interest in politics, particularly local politics. His increasing concern with county politics led him to run for Yolo County supervisor in 1962. He served on the Board of Supervisors for four terms until 1978. While a supervisor, he was a driving force in the establishment of the Putah Creek Access Area that effectively preserved land along Putah Creek and opened it to the public for recreational use.
Following reapportionment of the county supervisorial districts in the early 1970s, he and his family moved to Davis, where he continued to actively support the improvement of county facilities, including the instruction of a new Davis library.
After his retirement from politics and farming, he and his wife traveled extensively, during which time he pursued his interest in photography. He was fondest of his two trips to Africa. During his second trip, he hiked to the habitat of the highland gorilla in Rwanda where he had the opportunity to observe their behavior. He also became a member of the Sacramento Zoological Society. As a member he served as a zoo docent, leading local schoolchildren on educational tours of the zoo.
In addition to his wife, he survived by their three children, George Duncan and his wife Sandra, Thomas Duncan and his wife Judy Bean of Winters and Dana Duncan and her husband Joseph Tursi of Alameda; four grandchildren, Brian Duncan and his wife Karen of Dixon, Sara Bean Duncan of Winters and Joseph and Ryan Tursi of Alameda; and two great-grandchildren, KC Mertz and Kayla Duncan of Dixon.
He is also survived by his sisters, Betty Cavaglieri and her husband John of Davis and Lillian Potter and her husband Stewart of Folsom; two brothers-in-law, Hardy Reddick of Dixon and George Conard of Los Molinas; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
It was Duncan's request to be cremated and his family is also honoring his request that no funeral be held. Arrangements are under the direction of the Davis Funeral Chapel.
Horace E. Shell
Horace Edward Shell died on Nov. 24, 2002, at the age of 90. A descendant of early California Gold Rush pioneers, he was born on April 23, 1912, on the Shell Homestead near the old mining town of Rawhide, Calif., named before the advent of barbed wire, when enclosures for livestock were made with strips of rawhide.
He was educated in Sonora Union High School in Sonora. He received a bachelor of arts degree in geology from UC Berkeley in 1938. He worked as a seismologist exploring for oil in Texas; Oklahoma; Wyoming; Alberta, Canada; Australia; and New Guinea. He was an award-winning photographer and a lifelong collector of cameras. He was a member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, the American Association of Petroleum Geophysicists and of the Del Rey Fraternity.
He is survived by his wife, Gwendolyn Dexter Shell of Davis; son, Thomas Daniel Shell and his wife Karen of Denver, Colo.; daughter, Susan Shell Winston and her husband Thomas of Wharton, Texas; and four grandchildren, Andrea Shell of Denver, Jennifer Winston of Austin, Texas, Steven Winston of San Antonio, Texas, and Janis Winston of Wharton, Texas.
Memorials in his name may be sent to the Salvation Army.
Steffi San Buenaventura
Asian American studies faculty, staff and students at UC Davis mourn the loss of Professor Steffi San Buenaventura.
A distinguished historian and professor of Filipino American history in Asian American studies at UCD, she died peacefully at her home in Davis on Nov. 22, 2002, after a long and courageous struggle with cancer.
She arrived at UCD from UC Riverside in November 1999. She was a beloved teacher and mentor to her many students at Davis and an active scholar, colleague and friend to the faculty and staff who worked with her.
She was born on Aug. 7,1941, and raised in Manila, Philippines. She attended Maryknoll College and graduated with a degree in English literature and a minor in journalism.
She attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis., and did her graduate work at the University of the Philippines in Metro Manila, Philippines. She received a Ph.D. in American studies at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, in 1990.
She was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at UCLA in 1991. She then taught at UC Irvine and at UC Riverside, where she was appointed as faculty in ethnic studies. She came to UCD as an associate professor in Asian American studies in 1999.
Her research interests were in American ethnicity, immigration history, race relations, social movements, religion, Asian American studies (emphasis on Filipino American history), Asian diaspora and Philippine-U.S. relations. She added a richness and distinction to UCD's program curriculum through her committee work and courses that students have long waited for: Asian American history, Filipino American experience, Filipino American social movements, and Race and ethnicity in Hawaii.
She had hoped to develop a course on historical research methodologies in Asian American studies and to develop Filipino American experience research projects throughout California with the students she mentored and taught in her classes.
She published a number of scholarly articles on Filipino American history and experience. Her most recent essays include a chapter titled "Filipino Religion at Home and Abroad: Historical Roots and Immigrant Transformation" in "Religions of Asian America: Building Faith Communities," an edited volume by Pyong Gap Min and Jung Ha Kim published by AltaMira Press (December 2001); a reprinted essay "Filipino Folk Spirituality and Immigration: From Mutual-Aid to Religion" in "New Spiritual Homes: Religion and Asian Americans," an edited volume by David Yoo published by the University of Hawaii Press (2001); and an essay "The Colors of Manifest Destiny: Filipinos and the American Other(s)" in Amerasia Journal (1998).
At the time of her death, she was completing a much-anticipated book, "Nativism, Ethnicity and Empowerment: A Filipino American Socio-Religious Movement (1925-1975)," which was under contract to Stanford University Press. It was to be the first in-depth study of Filipino American community formation, beyond standard historical narratives that simply emphasize the role of Filipinos as laborers in Hawaiian and West Coast agriculture.
The book was charting the path of Filipinos and their migration to California and Hawaii, conveying the rich and complex Filipino indigenous cultural life as well as the Western colonial pressures that settlers faced throughout their migrations and settlements.
She is survived by a daughter, Michelle Peixinho; grandchildren, Taro Sakulich and Malaya Peixinho; son-in-law, Mateo Peixinho; mother, Sylvia Salumbides; sister, Nona Posadas; and many other family and friends.
The immediate family and representatives of the UCD Asian American studies department are planning a memorial service for early January in Davis. Plans for a memorial fund in her memory will be announced later.
For updates and where to send cards, contact Kathy Entao, the ASA program coordinator, at the Asian American Studies office, 752-3625
Elton Johnson
Elton Johnson died at home on Nov. 28, 2002, surrounded by his loving family. Born on Sept. 29, 1909, he was 73 years old.
He was a lifelong resident of West Sacramento who retired in 1926 after 26 years in law enforcement. He began his career as a military policeman during the German occupation after World War II. He ended his career as the chief deputy coroner of Yolo County.
He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Connie Johnson of West Sacramento; two sons, Kevin Johnson and his wife Amber of West Sacramento and Steven Johnson of West Sacramento; two brothers, Lloyd Johnson of Galt and Melvin Johnson of Redding; and two grandchildren, Kale and Webb Johnson.
Friends are invited to attend a celebration of his life Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the Trinity Presbyterian Church, 1500 Park Blvd. in West Sacramento. Friends may visit in the funeral home chapel on Monday from noon to 8 p.m.
A private inurnment will follow. Memorials may be sent to Shriners Children's Hospital.
Ruth A.S. England
Ruth Ann Siess England of Reno, Nev., died peacefully at home on Nov. 27, 2002. Born July 27, 1930, to Louis and Edna Keys Siess in Kokomo, Ind., she was 72.
She and husband Bob were engaged in farming in California's Sutter Basin for more than 40 years. A loving wife and mother, she was active in many community organizations, including serving as president of the Robbins PTA. She also served as captain of the Ladies Club at the Peace Tree Golf and Country Club.
And and her husband lived at Lake Tahoe for 10 years before relocating to Reno three years ago.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 51 years, Robert S. England; her sister, Betty S. Meek Tucker; and her brother, Robert Siess.
She is survived by her daughter, Deborah A. Markley and grandson Brad Markley of Sacramento; her son, Robert S. England Jr. of Reno; and several nieces and nephews.
A funeral will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. at McNary's Chapel, 458 College St. in Woodland, with Burial to follow at Monument Hill Cemetery in Woodland.
Visitation will be held Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. at McNary's.
Memorial donations may be made to the Circle of Life Hospice, 1575 DeLucchi Lane, Suite 214, Reno, NV 89502.
Joy Vickery
Joy Vickery died on Nov. 26, 2002, with family and friends by her side. She was 46 years old.
She was born in Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 6, 1956. At the age of 10 months, she traveled with her family to New Zealand and in March of 1970 the family settled in Davis. She graduated from Davis High School and was trained as a legal secretary at Heald Business College in Sacramento. She remained an Australian citizen.
She worked as a word processing technician for the real estate section of the law firm of McDonough, Holland and Allen in Sacramento. She would have begun her 24th year with the firm on Dec. 17. Her grammatical knowledge of the English language together with her technical skills made her an invaluable employee. She typed an average of 140 words per minute.
She began serving as the secretary and treasurer for Elijah Ministries in 1989. Her voluntary service will be greatly missed. She rendered this work with enthusiastic joy, asking for no reward.
She is survived by her husband of 20 years, Darby Vickery; father, Bishop Ron Coady; brother, Calvin Coady and his wife Lois; uncle, Kenny Coady and his wife Betty of Australia; mother-in-law, Betty Vickery; and brother-in-law, Kirby Vickery and his wife Susan. She is also survived by nephews and nieces as well as numerous other relatives.
John G. Kincheloe
Former Davis resident John Garner Kincheloe died on Nov. 29, 2002, at Washoe Progressive Care Center in Sparks, Nev.
Born on April 28, 1930, in Crawford County, Arkansas, to Julian Garner and Lucille Titsworth Kincheloe, he was 72 years old.
He and his wife Betty moved to Davis in 1958, where they lived until August of this year. He worked as the animal resource supervisor for UC Davis from 1959-1990. He was an avid sports fan who loved to golf, play horseshoes and fish. He was a member of the Northern California Horseshoe Association for many years. The couple enjoyed wintering at their home in Rancho Casa Blanca near Palm Springs.
He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Betty Kincheloe; daughter, Cyndi Kincheloe of Arbuckle; son, Keith Kincheloe and his wife Cindy of Grass Valley; and four grandsons, Christopher Bowers and his family of Gig Harbor, Wash., Aaron Bowers and his family of Minneapolis, Minn., Joshua Kincheloe and his family of Chico and Benjamin Kincheloe of Grass Valley. He is also survived by William, Nichole, Nathan, Christopher and baby Kincheloe.
He is further survived by his brother, Bob Kincheloe and his family of Davis; and three sisters, Ruth Ann Bell and her family of Dublin,Lucy Gelly of Dublin and Edna Clegg and her family of Leland, N.C.
Private Interment will be held at Monument Hills Cemetery in Woodland, followed by a public memorial service Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Pole Line Road Baptist Church, 770 Pole Line Road, Davis.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the donor's charity of choice.
Charles Santos
University Retirement Community resident Charles "Chuck" Santos died on Dec. 2, 2002. Born on May 27, 1914, on his family's 500-acre ranch in the hills of Benicia, he was 88 years old.
He lost both his parents and a baby sister when he was 9. After their parents' deaths, he and his 12 brothers and sisters were raised by their maternal grandmother on the family ranch.
As a young man, he shared the duties of the family dairy and farm. In the late 1930s, he marriage Adeline Alameda and worked at Mare Island as a carpenter. During World War II, he built and operated a Grade A dairy in Fairfield. At the end of the war he returned to carpentry and built a few homes in Fairfield.
The call to be a farmer led him to relocate his family to Sacramento where they had a small Grade B dairy and raised calves for sale. He sold the farm in 1953 and moved to Davis, where he purchased a butcher shop and food locker plant on G Street, named Santos Food Bank. His youngest brother, Leonard, was one of the butchers in the shop.
In 1956, he returned to carpentry and worked in the Sacramento area. He helped build the Sacramento Inn near Interstate 80. He became a general contractor after tiring of being an employee. He helped his customers design and build several homes in the Sacramento area. He worked in the field with his son Charles until 1979, then he retired to enjoy a more leisurely life.
His hobbies included fishing, ballroom dancing, square dancing and wine making. His favorite hobby was gardening. His vegetable garden always produced an abundance of vegetables. He dabbled in grafting, a favorite graft being a pear/apple cross. While living in Sacramento, he was a member of St. Rose Catholic Church and a member of the Carpenters Local No. 46.
Although his formal education was limited to the eigth grade, he prided himself on his accomplishments and his fluency in English, Portuguese and Spanish.
He is survived by his only remaining brother, Leonard Santos of Vacaville; his children's mother, Adeline Ramey of Davis; and his three children, Ruth Webster and her husband Marvin of Davis, Eleanor Weiss and her husband Marvin of Roseville and Charles C. Santos and his wife Rebecca of Davis.
He is also survived by five grandchildren, Daniel Schneider Sr. and his wife Shari, John Webster Sr. and his wife Barbara, Kenneth Webster and his wife Amy, and Cordellia and Steven Santos. Six great-grandchildren, six stepchildren and many nieces and nephews also survive him.
A viewing will be held Thursday at the Davis Funeral Chapel from 4 to 8 p.m., with the rosary recited at 7 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be at St. James Catholic Church on Friday at 11 a.m. A reception will follow afterward in the church hall.
Interment will be private at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Sacramento.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that remembrances me made to the Shriners Hospital for Children of Northern California, 2425 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95817, or to a charity of the donor's choice.
Donald H. Gale
Donald Herbert Gale, a lifelong resident of Yolo County, died on Dec. 4, 2002, at Sutter General Hospital. Born June 23, 1924, in Winters to Art and Mary Gale, he was 78 years old.
A decorated war veteran, he served as a sergeant in the Pacific Theater and was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart while serving with the 375th Infantry Division in Burma. After the war, he enrolled at UC Davis in 1945. He majored in civil engineering.
While a student at UC Davis, he lettered in basketball and baseball and continued to be a sports enthusiast all his life. He was instrumental in pioneering youth baseball and Little League in Davis, where he lived for 27 years.
He was marriage to Elizabeth Kendrick on Feb. 7 1948, and was a commercial building contractor working in the area for more than 45 years.
He was preceded in death by his mother and father, Mary and Art Gale; brother, Elwood Gale; and sisters, Florence Gale, Lucille Freeman and Mary Lou Washabaugh.
He is survived by his brothers, Robert Gale and his wife Annette of Davis, Gene Gale and his wife Betty of Winters and Gerald and his wife Louise of Woodland; and sisters, Laura Manger of Davis and Elizabeth Strauss of Pleasanton.
He is also survived by his sons, Michael Gale and his wife Stacy, Jeffrey Gale and his wife Carolyn and Robert Gale, all of Woodland; grandchildren, Andrienne Gonzales of Long Beach, Elizabeth Wells and her husband Ron of Lakewood, Wash., Johannah Gale of Woodland and David Gale of Woodland; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held Monday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Anthony's Parish Hall, 511 Main St. in Winters.
The family requests that remembrances be made to the charity of the donor's choice.
