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News Obituaries Obituaries for July 30, 2009
Obituaries for July 30, 2009
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Vada Mae ‘Katie’ Wilson Nov. 11, 1911 — July 25, 2009 Vada Mae “Katie” (Rogers) Wilson died July 25 at her Sonora home. She was 97. Mrs. Wilson was born in Lequire, Okla., at 11 p.m. on 11-11-11, her family said. During the Great Depression, she moved to Southern California, where she met her husband, Wilferd Wilson. They were marred June 2, 1935, and moved to Sonora in 1966. She lived in Sonora for 43 years. Mrs. Wilson was active throughout her life with family and community. At age 70, she started a day care center for preschool children, Katie’s Children’s Ranch, which she ran for 12 years out of her home. She was preceded in death by her husband and by a daughter, Wilma Armenta. She is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Pennie Wilson, of Sonora; a daughter and son-in-law, Pamela and Kenneth Haggard, of McMinnville, Ore.; eight grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, at Heuton Memorial Chapel. Heuton Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements. William R. ‘Bill’ Lewis April 7, 1951 — July 23, 2009 William R. “Bill” Lewis died July 23 at his Jamestown home. He was 58. He was the third generation of his family to live in the same Volponi Acres home, beginning with his grandparents, Cleta M. and Myron “Bud” Marsh, then his parents, Robert O. and Helene L. Lewis. He was born in the Columbia Way Hospital, which was owned by his grandmother. He lived in the hospital the first few months of his life while his parents’ house was being built in Tuolumne County’s first subdivision, Volponi Acres, now referred to as Golf Links Road. He attended Jamestown Elementary School and graduated from Sonora High School in 1969. He majored in business administration at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. While attending Cal Poly, he married his high school sweetheart, Linda Olmstead, at the Church of the 49ers in Columbia on Aug. 29, 1971. They returned to Sonora, where he worked as a purchasing agent for the Sierra Hospital, which was owned and operated at that time by his grandparents and parents. In 1977, he and his family moved to Siskiyou County, where his father was born and raised. They raised their two sons in Etna, Siskiyou County, and operated a pizza and deli business there for 21 years. In the late 1990s, he returned to the family home in Volponi Acres to care for his parents until their death and to spend his last years. He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Linda Olmstead Lewis, of Sonora; His sons and daughters-in-law, Orin G. and Natisha Lewis, of Etna, and Ben and Ingrid Lewis, of Vancouver, Wash.; grandchildren, Felicity Lewis, Brody Lewis and Beau Lewis, of Etna, and Camilla Lewis, Alyssa Lewis, and Blake Lewis, of Vancouver; his sister, Candace M. Lewis Robinson, of Sonora; his brother, Robert O. Lewis Jr., of Sonora; one nephew; and four nieces. A graveside service and celebration of his life were held July 29 in Siskiyou County. Terzich and Wilson Funeral Home handled arrangements. Margie Smith Nov. 26, 1911 — July 19, 2009 Margie (Dick) Smith, of Sonora, died July 19 at a Sonora care center. She was 97. She was born at her maternal grandmother’s home in New Pine Creek, Modoc County, to John Dick and Ellen Converse Dick. She graduated from Mount Brow Grammar School near new Pine Creek in 1926 and graduated from high school in 1930 in New Pine Creek, which was a high school branch of Alturas. Her grandmother, Elsie Schmitt, was born in Holland and immigrated with her family to the United States, via Ellis Island, N.Y., in the 1800s. The family settled in Minnesota and set up a small family farm. After three years, a drought led to mounting debt. A neighbor, Isaac Newton Converse, whose wife and three of his four children had died of small pox, settled the debt by buying 16-year-old Elsie, who was 36 years younger than he. They traveled west by covered wagon, landing in new Pine Creek. They were married in 1890 and had three children, Ellen, George and Temple. Margie Smith was the daughter of Ellen. The family still owns the New Pine Creek home where Elsie and Isaac Converse settled and makes annual trips there to fish and hunt. Margie married Louis L. Smith in 1933. They lived in Red Bluff from 1951 to 1966, spending their time in Arnold during the logging season each year. They have been co-owners of L&R Trucking in Sonora since 1969 and moved permanently to Tuolumne County in 1971, remaining actively involved in Tuolumne County’s logging industry. They celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary in January. Her family said her greatest joy was spending time with her family, especially, in later years, with her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by one grandson, Doug Smith, in 1984. She is survived by her husband of 75 years, Louis Smith, of Sonora; sons and their wives, Rodney and Claudia Smith, of Jamestown, and Lane and Peg Smith, of Jamestown; grandchildren, Jody McAlpine, of Sonora, Greg Smith, of Sonora, Lisa Smith, of Elk Grove, Eric Smith, of Boston, Phillip Watson, of Sonora, and Kate Watson-Whitaker, of Woodland; 10 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Tuolumne County Senior Center, 540 Greenley Road, Sonora. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 3, at Heuton Memorial Chapel, followed by a celebration luncheon at the Tuolumne County Senior Center. Heuton Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements. Glenna ‘Yvonne’ Arnett Sept. 16, 1933 — July 28, 2009 Former Sonora resident Glenna “Yvonne” Arnett, of Modesto, died July 28 at a Hughson hospice house. She was 75. A native of Oklahoma, she lived in Sonora for 25 years. She owned and operated Beauty and the Budget, a retail beauty supply store. She started her store in Modesto, then moved to Oakdale, and finally to Sonora, where it has been for more than 15 years. She is survived by her daughter, Dana Arnett, of Riverbank; a brother, Darrell Ireland, of Modesto; and two grandchildren. Remembrances may be made in her name to the Alexander Cohen Hospice House in care of Community Hospice, 4368 Spyres Way, Modesto, CA 95356. A graveside service will be held at 9 a.m. Friday at Oakdale Citizens Cemetery. Oakdale-Riverbank Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements. Notices PARKER — Phyllis Parker, 65, died Monday at an Oakdale care home. Terzich and Wilson Funeral Home is handling arrangements. SHOCK — Sharon Shock, 50, of Jamestown, died July 28 at a Sonora hospital. Heuton Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements. |
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