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Modesto Campos Rios
Modesto Campos Rios passed away Sunday, March 23, 2003, at the age of 74. Born Jan. 12, 1929, in Crystal City, Texas. Modesto was the son of Honorato H. Rios and Adela Campos Rios.
Survivors include his wife of 51 years, Maria De Jesus Rios and children, Armandina Rios, Adela Guzman, Ricardo Rios, Pilar Rios and and husband Domingo Castro, Modesto Rios Jr., Diana Rios, Josefa Rios and husband Herman Lee, Elvira Rios and husband John Manes. Grandchildren include: Felipa Ortiz and husband Jordan Pallen, Hortencia Rios, Pedro Rodriguez, Michael Modesto Lee, Maria Rios, Johnny Manes Jr., Natalie Castro, Felipe Lee, Crystal Rodriguez, Alicia Manes, Domingo Castro Jr., Sofia Castro, Modesto Rios III. Great-grandchildren include: Jordan Pallen Jr. and Bianca Isabaella Pallen. Modesto is also survived by his brothers: Ventura Rios of Texas, Jose Rios of Montana, and David Rios of Minnesota; and sisters, Elena Guarez Rios of Texas and the late Julia Lerma Cantu. Modesto had his own television program called "The Modesto Rios Show" running from 1972 to 1976. Modesto also had a Spanish radio show in Sacramento in 1977-1983. Later he became a meat cutter and was last working at Travis Air Force Base until retiring in 2002. Modesto was a strong, courageous and kind-hearted man. He only wanted the very best for his family. He enjoyed working and most of all spending time with his family.
Visitations is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. today, Thursday, March 27, at Kraft Bros. Chapel, 175 Second St., Woodland. A memorial service is scheduled at 11 a.m. Friday, March 28, at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Stake Center, Pioneer Ave., Woodland, with a burial at 1 p.m. at Monument Hill Memorial Park, Woodland.
RIPPEY
Carlotta Rippey
Carlotta Rippey died Feb. 15, 2001, at Sierra Health Care in Davis. Born June 17, 1911, in Oroville, she was 89.
She was raised in Oroville, graduated from Oroville High School and attended Sacramento City College. During World War II, she worked for the American Red Cross, then moved to San Francisco in 1948, where she went to work as a bookkeeper for Nellie Gaffney, an exclusive dress shop. After her retirement from the dress shop, she worked for the YWCA in San Francisco for 10 years.
She was a member of the Sierra Club and went on camping excursions with them until she was 78. At the age of 70 she went on a nature expedition in Alaska. She was a season's ticket holder to the San Francisco Ballet.
She moved to Davis in 1990 and lived at Covell Gardens until one year ago, when her health began to fail.
She is survived by her niece, Penny Gunther of Davis; nephew, George Dean Rippey of Magalia; great-niece, Maia Gunther of Davis; and two great-nephews, Adam Gunther of Davis and Scott Rippey of Magalia.
A private graveside service will be held at a later date at the Oroville Cemetery in Oroville. Remembrances may be made in her name to the Sierra Club or to the Museum of Natural Science and History in San Francisco. Arrangements are under the direction of Davis Funeral Chapel.
RISLEY
Edward Baker Risley
After 15 years of battling a neurological disease and cancer, Edward Risley died peacefully of acute leukemia on Sept. 24, 2005, at Sierra Nursing Home in Davis. He was 83.
Edward Baker Risley was born April 17, 1922, at East Windsor Hill, Conn., the eldest child of Robert and Ruth (Baker) Risley.
Raised on their small farm, he graduated from Elsworth Memorial High School, and later, from the University of Massachusetts. He was the first male graduate student at Smith College, and later was a graduate student and a faculty member at the University of New Hampshire, teaching plant science and breeding roses, carnations and many other flowers.
He moved to Davis in 1959, where he began his long career as research and electron microscope technician for the UCD botany department. His hobbies were gardening, weaving, electronics, birding, and model railroading.
He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Jean (Spettigue) Risley; his son Bruce and his wife Marie; his daughter Jennifer and her husband Jack Moon; his sister Elizabeth and her husband Linwood Addington; and many nieces and nephews.
RISLING
David Risling
David Risling, the "father of Indian education" who spent his career opening the doors of higher education to Native American students, died March 13, 2005, at Woodland Memorial Hospital. He was 83.
Throughout his career, Risling was an effective champion of Indian rights and education - and a teacher who passed along the wisdom of his father to the generations of Native Americans who came after.
He arrived at UC Davis in 1970 to help develop Native American studies as an academic discipline and then taught as a senior lecturer for 21 years in the program until he retired in 1991. He remained active on campus and at D-Q University until shortly before his death.
Although his original focus was tackling injustices on behalf of California Indians at the state level, by the mid-1970s, Risling had gained national renown. He was appointed by three U.S. presidents to serve on the National Advisory Council on Indian Education and later was instrumental in the creation of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.
He also co-founded California Indian Legal Services and the Native American Rights Fund, whose lawyers fought for long-ignored treaty rights to the U.S. Supreme Court. Risling was integrally involved in passage of the federal Indian Education and Indian Tribal Community College acts. That legislation led to the founding of 31 Indian community colleges and dozens of K-12 reservation education programs across the nation.
In California, he was respected by Native Americans for his instrumental role in co-founding D-Q University in rural Davis and for his leadership in the establishment of UCD's own full-fledged, nationally recognized Native American studies department in 1993. It remains one of only three such departments awarding doctoral degrees in North America.
"He was a person of absolute personal integrity, honesty and courage, " said Jack Forbes, UCD professor emeritus of Native American studies and anthropology, and a friend of nearly 40 years. "He embodied in his life all of the attributes of a Native American leader: warrior, compassionate father, host, pathfinder, caretaker, facilitator, friend and counselor."
Risling's daughter, Peg Murray, said her father counted his family as his greatest accomplishment.
"He was proud of our talents and our own accomplishments, and those of our children, " she said.
Risling was also a second father to many in the Indian community. Known for his honesty and warmth, he took into his home a number of youngsters to give them a better chance at life.
Born on April 10, 1921, near Weitchpec in Northern California on the Klamath River near its junction with the Trinity, Risling was one of eight children of David Risling Sr. (Chief Su-Wohrom) and Mary Geneva Orcutt. A member of the Hoopa tribe, Risling was also of Yurok and Karuk ancestry.
He was inducted early into the life of northwestern Indians, participating in a cycle of river fishing, hunting, ceremonies, agriculture and forestry. An athletic youth, Risling excelled at every sport offered by Hoopa High School and went into Golden Gloves boxing with great success.
During World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy to become a lieutenant commander of a patrol craft that escorted larger ships full of supplies to war zones in the South Pacific.
When he returned, he marriage his high school sweetheart, Barbara Phelps, and with her support graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with bachelor's and master's degrees in vocational agriculture. He was hired as an agricultural teacher at Modesto Junior College in 1950, where he taught for 20 years.
During the 1950s and early '60s, Risling helped his father travel throughout the state, reviving Native American dances and bringing people together on key California Indian issues.
While others confronted authority during the contentious early days of Indian political consciousness in the late '60s and early '70s when Native American activists seized Alcatraz Island and the American Indian Movement was making headlines, Risling worked behind the scenes, building relationships in Congress and lobbying for recognition of Indian rights and educational opportunities.
"He was the 'E.F. Hutton' of the Native American community, " added Micki Eagle, business officer for UCD's political science department. "When he spoke, everyone listened. Our native community has lost a revered elder, proud of his heritage, an accomplished story teller and someone who never forgot who he was or where he came from."
Among the institutions Risling helped found, and the one of which he was most proud, is D-Q University, the only private American Indian college in California. The school now faces serious financial difficulties but continues to function.
"It was a dream that the late Carl Gorman and I had worked on from 1961 to 1962, but it was Dave's organizing skill and patience that came to the fore in 1971 when DQU finally acquired flesh and bones, " Forbes said.
Risling was heartened to see students embrace their heritage, picking up the disrupted streams of tradition and identity.
"Indians are moving up nowadays, " he said last fall in an interview for the UC Davis Magazine. "Indian people now realize that they can expand their destinies positively and recognize that they can live successfully in two worlds."
Risling is survived by his wife, Barbara, of Davis; children Kathy Wallace of Fairfield, Peg Murray of Forestville, Lyn Risling of McKinleyville and Ken Risling of Santa Rosa; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Hoopa Neighborhood Facility, Hoopa.
Donations in Risling's name may be made out to the UC Regents for the David Risling Award, a scholarship given to UCD students of California Native American descent. Send checks to Judy La Deaux, Department of Native American Studies, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616.
David Risling, Jr. (memorial service)
A memorial celebration honoring David Risling Jr. is from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at D-Q University, 33250 County Road 31 west of Davis.
Honored guests include representatives from the Native American Rights Fund, California Indian Legal Services, Native American Studies at UC Davis, the Association of American Indian Affairs and other state and national organizations.
Chris Peters, executive director of the Seventh Generation Fund, will serve as master of ceremony. The afternoon will include musical performances and honored speakers. Food and refreshments will be provided and everyone is welcome to bring food to share.
In 1967, a group of mostly California Indian single mothers asked Risling to help them organize to address the most pressing problem facing the community at the time - the educational needs of Indian children. With Risling at the head, the group founded the California Indian Education Association to demand legislation and policies for equal educational opportunities for Indian students.
RITCHIE
Philip Gray Ritchie
Philip Gray Ritchie was born in Winters in the home he lived in much of his life on Jan. 6, 1918. He died at Anderson’s Convalescent Home in Woodland on Jan. 14, 2006, after a long battle with esophageal cancer.
Mr. Ritchie attended Winters schools and was recognized as an outstanding athlete, participating in every sport, excelling in all of them, especially diving, track and football. He set the Winters High School track record of 9.8 seconds for the 100-yard dash in 1935, a record which still stands and equaled the world record of 9.5 seconds in the 1938 Fresno Relays. He was voted Best All-Around Athlete all four years in high school, graduating with the Winters High School Class of 1936. He was also an accomplished musician, and played the drums. Mr. Ritchie was awarded a scholarship to the University of the Pacific, where he played on the football team that almost beat Notre Dame to play at the 1934 Olympics. He served in the U.S. Army in 1941, receiving an honorable discharge, and was employed as an insurance investigator for 30 years.
On Sept. 17, 1967, Mr. Ritchie marriage Linda Lockhart and they had one son, Phil Jr., who shared his father’s love of sports. After separating, Mr. Ritchie raised his son as a single parent. He marriage Jeannie Ritchie, on July 25, 1998 in a garden ceremony at his home on Russell Street, followed by a large reception at the Pizza Factory.
Mr. Ritchie served the Winters community as a Little League coach, karate teacher and helping to maintain the baseball fields. For his accomplishments as a Winters athlete and community volunteer, he was named Honorary Youth Day Grand Marshal in 2004, and was affectionately known as “Flip.”
Phil leaves behind son Phil Jr. of Stockton, and stepsons Douglas Ritchie of Branson, Missouri, Raymond Ritchie of Blythe, George Ritchie of Layton, Utah, Edward Ritchie of Loma Rica, Donna Durnen of Las Vegas, Nevada, 20 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his father, Philip Gray Ritchie, an accomplished contractor of residential and commercial buildings, and his mother, Wanda Mary Baker.
Mr. Ritchie will be interred in the Winters Cemetery family plot on Thursday, Jan. 19, at 11 a.m. in a private ceremony. A Christian memorial service celebrating Mr. Ritchie’s life will be held at the Winters Community Center on Friday, Jan. 20, at noon, followed by a potluck luncheon at the Winters Community Center. Contributions to the Phil Ritchie Memorial Fund may be made at the First Northern Bank in Winters.
RITCHSON
Kathryn Ritchson
Kathryn Ritchson passed away on Friday, March 3, 2000, at Sutter Roseville Hospital in Roseville, California. Born on May 10, 1923 in Clarksville, Texas, she was 76 years old.
Mrs. Ritchson was raised in Clarksville, Texas. She came to Winters in June 1963. She resided in Winters until 1998, when she moved to Antelope to be near her children. She worked at Yolo General Hospital in Woodland for over 20 years as a nurse's aide.
She is survived by her children, Dorothy M. Torres of El Centro, Georgia Fay Dewey of Antelope, Bobbie Jean Harris and husband, Jerry, of Antelope, Vena McLean and Husband, Jim, of Carmichael, and George Marvin Ritchson of Antelope; 17 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death in April of 1995 by her husband of 49 years George Ritchson.
A visitation was held on Wednesday, March 8, from 4-8 p.m. at the Pioneer Presbyterian Church, 205 Russell in Winters. The funeral service will take place Thursday, March 9, at 9 p.m. at Pioneer Presbyterian Church. Burial will follow at the Winters Cemetery.
Arrangements are under the direction of Smith's Colonial Chapel in Winters.
