Lennie Nilson
Lennie "Mae" Nilson, a resident of Porterville, died there Thursday, April 17, 2003. She was 90.
Visitation will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Myers Chapel in Porterville. A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at Hillcrest Memorial Park in Porterville with the Rev. David Treadwell of Porterville Rescue Mission officiating.
Mrs. Nilson was a native of Polk, Tenn., and a resident of Porterville for 41 years. She was a homemaker for 72 years. She volunteered at Helping Hands for 11 years and at Porterville College giving away USDA for 10 years. She was a member of Porterville Gleaning Seniors.
Survivors include a brother, Robert "Dock" Dill of Oldfort, Tenn.; two sisters, Ruth Ann Shannon of Oldfort, Tenn., and Opal Dillard of Cleveland, Tenn.; and several nieces and nephews.
Mrs. Nilson was preceded in death by her husband, John Nilson, in 1969; her daughter, Mary Elder; two brothers, Jim and Woodrow Dill; three sisters, Jesse, Ollie and Louise Williams; and her parents, John and Susie Dill.
Memorial contributions may be made to Helping Hands, P.O. Box 2323, Porterville, CA 93258.
Myers Funeral Service in Porterville is in charge of arrangements.
Clyde Tillery Jr.
Clyde Curtis Tillery Jr., a resident of Porterville, died there Sunday, May 18, 2003. He was 74.
Visitation will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Myers Chapel in Porterville. A service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Myers Chapel in Porterville with the Rev. David Treadwell of Porterville officiating. A military honors graveside service will be held at Hillcrest Memorial Park with the American Legion Post #20 officiating.
Mr. Tillery was a native of Fairfax, Ala. and a resident of Porterville for 22 years. He was a member of the Porterville Elks Lodge, BPO #1342 and an honorary lifetime associate member of the Tulare Elks Lodge #1424. In his younger years, he served in law enforcement in Georgia. He was a member of the Tulare County Grand Jury.
Survivors include his wife, Johnnie B. Tillery; one daughter, Sharon Ray of Porterville; one son, Clyde C. Tillery III of Porterville; one brother, Dan Tillery of Phoenix City, Ala.; and six grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Roger Good Cancer Center, 465 W. Putnam Ave., Porterville, CA 93257.
Myers Funeral Service is in charge of arrangements.
Allan Arnold
Allan Robert Arnold, a resident of Porterville, died there Sunday, June 1, 2003. He was 61.
A graveside service will be held at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Home of Peace Cemetery in Porterville with the Rev. David Treadwell of the Porterville Rescue Mission officiating.
Mr. Arnold was a lifelong resident of Porterville. He was a mason for 22 years.
Survivors include his sister, Evelyn Herriman of Porterville.
Myers Funeral Service in Porterville is in charge of arrangements.
John Garcia Sr.
John P. Garcia Sr., a resident of Tennessee, died there June 22, 2003. He was 63.
Visitation will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday at Heritage Funeral Services in Visalia. A combined rosary and Mass will be held at 9 a.m. Friday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Visalia. Interment will take place at Visalia District Cemetery.
Mr. Garcia was a native of New Mexico, and a resident of Tennessee, previously of Visalia and Porterville. He was raised and educated in Visalia, graduating from Redwood High School in 1958 and going on to College of the Sequoias. He owned and operated AAA Janitorial Service in Porterville for more than 30 years and about nine years ago he left the Porterville area. He was an avid 49ers fan, who enjoyed reading the newspaper and loved his work.
Survivors include his wife, Rita May Garcia of Yucaipa; his children, Anna Marie, John P. Jr., and Gabriel Garcia, all of Porterville, Katrina Garcia-Rodgers and Randal Garcia, both of Tennessee, and Jessica Garcia of Yucaipa; his father, Raynaldo Garcia of Visalia; two brothers, Fabian and Manuel Garcia, both of Visalia; three sisters, Alice Sanchez and Helen Torres, both of Visalia and Cristina Avina of Fresno; seven grandchildren; one great-grandson; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Mr. Garcia was preceded in death by his daughter, Angelina Garcia; and his mother, Adela P. Garcia.
Heritage Funeral Services is in charge of arrangements.
Carolyn Dye
Carolyn Sue Dye, a resident of Merced, died there Wednesday, July 23, 2003. She was 60.
Services and interment were already held.
Ms. Dye was a native of Heber Springs, Ark., and a resident of Strathmore for 34 years, before moving to Merced. She enjoyed traveling and slapstick comedy. She played the piano when she was younger.
Survivors include her brother, Max Dye of Strathmore; and two sisters, Glenna Allen of Sweet Home, Ore., and Sammye Lou Williams of Hopeton.
Webb-Sanders Funeral Home in Lindsay was in charge of arrangements.
Sarah Wickham
Sarah Ann Wickham, a resident of Bakersfield, died on July 20, 2003. She was 82.
Services and interment were already held.
Mrs. Wickham was a native of Atlanta and a resident of Bakersfield.
Survivors include her sons, Herbert O. Wickham Jr., of Atlanta, Ernest Wickham of Bakersfield and Jimmy Wickham of Porterville; a daughter, Beverly Jones of Bakersfield; a brother, Thomas of Mesa, Ariz.; four grandsons, four granddaughters; and five great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Wickham was preceded in death by her husband, Herbert O. Wickham.
Ira Johnson
Ira S. Johnson, a resident of Porterville, died in Fresno Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2003.
A service will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Landmark Christian Center in Porterville. Interment will be private.
Mr. Johnson was a native and resident of Porterville. He graduated from Monache High School in 1993. During his school years he played football, was in wrestling and cad drafting. He was employed by Douglas K. Janzen Architects as a cad draftsman for the past three years. He enjoyed motorcycles, jet skiing, remote control cars and, most of all, his friends.
Survivors include his parents, Jeannie Ambrosi Baeza of Porterville and Kim Johnson of Oklahoma; his stepmother, Kathie Johnson of Oklahoma; his stepfather, Joe Baeza of Porterville; two sisters, Ann Torrence of Buena Park and Stacy Kaiser of Fairbanks, Alaska; his grandparents, Consuelo Lopez of Santa Barbara and Richard Ambrosi of Santa Maria; and many nieces.
Miller Memorial Chapel in Visalia is in charge of arrangements.
Abraham Pavone
Abraham Pavone, a resident of Porterville, died Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2003. He was 76.
A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. tonight at Westfield Christian Church in Porterville. A graveside service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Monday at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale.
Mr. Pavone was a native of Syracuse, N.Y., and a resident of Porterville for three years, previously of Glendale for 30 years and Hemet for 10 years. He worked for the City of Los Angeles for more than 12 years. He was a member of Westfield Christian Church.
Survivors include his wife, Juanna Pavonne; his children, Michael Pavone and Deborah Reilly; and six grandchildren.
Forest Lawn in Glendale is in charge of arrangements.
Edna Hickman
Edna Mae Hickman, a resident of Porterville, died there Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003. She was 78.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. on October 25 at Evergreen-Washelli Funeral Home in Seattle, Wash. Internment will take place at Abbey View Memorial Park in Brier, Wash.
Mrs. Hickman was a native of Fisher, La., and a resident of Porterville for one year. Formerly of Seattle, Wash., she was a housekeeper for 42 years and attended Powerhouse Church there.
Survivors include five daughters, Rittie Bell Caldwell and Gwendolyn F. Scott both of Porterville, and Eva Mae Lee, Marilyn U. Walker and Mattie D. Hickman all of Seattle, Wash.; one son, Robert D. Hickman of Porterville; 23 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and nine great-great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Hickman was preceded in death by her son, Lloyd Kenneth Caldwell, and brother, Warren D. Smith.
Myers Funeral Services is in charge of arrangements.
In Memory of Richard C. Wenzel
Our husband and father, Richard C. Wenzel, who loved the water, Hobbits, and taking things apart and putting them back together, died at 5:45 a.m. Friday, Jan. 9, 2004.
He was 65 and had lived in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and Destin, Fla., for more than 30 years.
Those of us who love Richard hope that in heaven, God will give him back what the brain tumor stole from him: his strength, his smarts and his ability to fix anything and everything. We hope there is plenty of sunshine and fresh air where he is. We especially treasure the memory we have of a strong and carefree Richard, skin tan and hair blond and curly, standing on the deck of his beloved sailboat on Choctawhatchee Bay.
Richard was born in a beach town, Lavallette, N.J., on July 14, 1938, to Mabel and Gus Wenzel. When it was time for college he moved clear across the country to the University of Miami, where he started his Air Force career. The military took his family all over, to places such as Texas, California, Ohio and New York, before bringing them to Fort Walton Beach, Fla., in the early 1970s.
Early on, Richard was a navigator. Later he worked for a long while at Eglin Air Force Base's Site C-6. Most recently he worked in cost analysis at the base, in a program he helped establish.
Richard is survived by his devoted wife of 42 years, Bonnie Wenzel of Destin; his son, Randy C. Wenzel of Destin and Randy's daughter, Carly Harsha of Richardson, Texas; and his daughter, Tracy Wenzel Conner, her husband Tom and their children, Tyler, Megan and Evan, all of Porterville. Also surviving are Richard's sister-in-law, Ann Lindsey of Fort Walton Beach, and his brother and sister-in-law, Bob and Jeanne Wenzel of Boynton Beach.
A memorial service will be held later at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., with the Rev. Bill Tyson officiating. Emerald Coast Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
