Tag Archives: Class of 1961

Feda Rains

Freda Jean (Rains) Gonzalez — Class of 1961

Freda Jean Gonzalez, 79, passed away after battling a number of prolonged illnesses, August 12, 2022 at Antelope Valley Care Center, Lancaster, Calif. She was born May 18, 1943 in Norman, Oklahoma, daughter to Earnest and Carrie Mae (Wilson) Rains.

Although she spent the majority of her high school years at Trona High School, Trona, Calif., Freda completed her studies at Sherman E. Burroughs High School in Ridgecrest, Calif., Class of 1961.

Marrying her high school sweetheart, John Gilbert Gonzalez, they began their married life and soon welcomed a daughter. As a family, they settled in Glendale, Calif., where Freda had a long career of 30+ years as a Cosmetologist where she had a loyal and extended clientele. In her spare time, Freda liked watching and playing golf, watching football (USC Trojans were her favorite), cooking, reading, listening to music, and traveling along the West Coast where she would enjoy being outdoors in the fresh air and warm sun.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by; one brother, Ray Rains, of Trona, Calif. and her two sisters, Maxine (Rains) Mower and JoAnn (Rains) Wright also of Trona, Calif. Survived by; one daughter and son-in-law, Saundra and Ross Horman of Lancaster, Calif., one granddaughter, Nicole Williams of Marysville, Washington, one brother and sister-in-law, Charlie and Lisa Rains of Trona, Calif., as well as many nieces and nephews. 

At Freda’s request, there will be no funeral or memorial service. Instead, she asked that friends and loved ones celebrate her life by living each day to its fullest and enjoy spending time together.

See the original here:

Freda Jean Gonzales – The News Review (news-ridgecrest.com)

Bobbie Marie (Halstead) Jones — Class of 1961

I still remember the day that Bobbie Halstead walked into our 3rd grade class as a new student. It was around 1952 or 1953. The Halstead family had just moved to Trona from Porterville. I had never heard of Porterville before and had no idea where it was. She was assigned the desk next to mine. We were friends ever since. I didn’t keep up with Bobbie’s life so I can’t tell you much about it. I chatted with her on the computer quite a bit she started complaining about memory problems and just sort of disappeared from Facebook. The last time I saw her was at the last class reunion that I attended. It was a very sad moment yesterday when I heard that she had passed away. She died on July 10, 2022.

Bobbie was born in Porterville January 24, 1943 to James and Irene Halstead. Bobbie came to Trona with her three brothers, Frank, Jack and Richard and a younger sister Linda. Frank was in the class of 1954 and Jack and Richard were in the class of 1956. Jack passed away in 2003. Linda was in the class of 1962

We would like to express our sincerest condolences to Bob and to all of Bobbie’s family.

Rex Jay Worman — Class of 1961

Rex Worman passed away in Tennessee on August 19, 2019. He was taking a walk alone near his home in Hollow Rock, Tennessee when he died.

Rex had two older sisters who also went to Trona High School Ila (Worman) Powers, class of 1950 and Rena (Worman) Condren, class of 1951. He also had two nieces and one nephew that Graduated from Trona High School.

Rex was born to Esau and Lois Worman on August 10, 1943 in Wisconsin.

When the Wormans moved to Trona in 1945 they lived in the Panament Federal Housing Project. This was rows of small apartments that the Federal Government built because of the housing shortage in Trona during the 1940’s. When a house became vacant on California Street they moved there.

All of the houses on California street were torn down or moved around 1955 and the Worman’s moved to a house on the corner of Mountain View Street and Alameda Street. They stayed in that house until 1988 when both his parents had passed away.

After high school Rex was accepted into an apprenticeship program at Southern California Edison. After completing training at Redondo Beach Generating Station he went to work at the SCE Etiwanda Power Plant.

Rex married in 1967 and he had at least two daughters. Someone else will have fill in the rest of his life story from here.


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Diana (Badders) Weaver — Class of 1961

Diana (Dyna) loved so many things about life, but she loved taking road trips most of all, when on the hot afternoon of Saturday, June 17, 2017 she decided to take her final road trip home, without a doubt taking a detour thru Yellowstone on the way. When she arrived at the garden in the sky she was greeted by her husband Jimmy Weaver (2013) and son James Weaver(1986) who preceded her in death. Surviving her is her daughter Deborah Striplin, granddaughter Elizabeth Allen, grandson James Striplin Jr., sister Sue, brother Preston and extended family.

Diana was born in Reno, Nevada, moving to Southern California during her youth, with the family later returning to Nevada, where she spent the rest of her years. Battle Born she was, and loved living in Northern Nevada enjoying all its beauty. Diana retired from Bank of America and was very active with the Nevada State Fair volunteering many years in the exhibit halls.

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Paul Edward Billingsley — Class of 1961

I was contacted by Paul’s son who notified me of his passing.

Paul had an older brother David in the class of 1959 and a younger brother Robert in the class of 1962. Paul passed away in his sleep on June 23, 2021 in his home in Vacacville, CA. The cause of death was Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease and Pulmonary Emphysema. He had only one child and 2 grandchildern. He will be missed.

I’ve always had a great deal of respect for Paul and am deeply saddened by the news.  I express my sincere sympathy to his son and the rest of his family.


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Keith R. Schofield — Class of 1961

We just received word of Keith’s death. We believe he died in May of 2021. He was living in California City at the time.  Keith went to school in Trona from the fourth grade to the tenth. He moved between his sophomore and junior year and later returned to Trona and worked in the plant for several years. Keith was the son of Raymond (1910-1999) and Theresa (Hicks) Schofield (1912-2008). Raymond worked as an engineer for AP&CC.

Keith had two older sisters who also went to Trona High school, Nadeen (1939-2006), who was in the class of 1957 and Donnarae who was in the class of 1959.

We are sorry to hear of Keith’s passing and wish to express our deepest sympathies to his friends and family.

 

Gail (Murchison) Beck

Gail (Murchison) Beck — Class of 1961

It is with great sadness that I share the news of Gail’s passing. She died peacefully in her sleep on April 1, 2021, after battling Stage IV lung cancer for over 18 months. Gail was the daughter of Jeff and Myrt Murchison and granddaughter of George and Ann Pipkin, long-time Trona residents. She was the big sister to Warren, who died in 1976.

Gail was a 1961 graduate of Trona High School where she served as the 1960 homecoming queen.  She was active in student council and many other school activities.

Gail will be remembered by her lovely smile and warm, gracious personality.  She is survived by her loving children and their spouses:  Kelly and Han, and Eric and Shaun.  She was adored by her grandchildren: Zack, Aidan, Eli, Riley, Isabel, and Chelsea.  Being a grandmother was one of the biggest joys in her life. Gail is survived also by her aunts, Lit Brush and Val Hurlocker, and her uncle, Pat Hurlocker.

She will be missed forever.

Charlotte (Reeves) Biggs

Louis Edgar Sims — Class of 1961

Some of Louis’ ancestors were Vikings, both Danes and Celts, and we always saw him that way! He loved the outdoors, loved water with kayaking on the rivers and boating on the lakes, sailed around the west coast in his private plane and loved skiing, mountain biking, bow and gun hunting and exploring.  He was a volunteer fireman 1970-77 and reached the three-gallon level in blood donations. That all has come to an end. Louis died August 5, in Yellow Springs Ohio, from heart failure and pancreatic cancer the same illness that took his father at the same age.

Louis was born August 23, 1943, in Trona, in the California desert. He graduated with honors from Trona High School in 1961, after being very active in the marching band, football, basketball and track – Louis set a school record for the 880 yard sprint. When asked what had been a memorable event in his life, he answered it was when his high school basketball team won the State championship!

Louis went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from California State Polytechnic University in 1966. At one time during that period, all three Sims brothers were attending Cal Poly. After graduation, Louis married Carol Ford in Trona and they moved to Seattle where Louis worked on Minuteman missiles with Boeing Aircraft; he was excused from the Vietnam draft because he was a rocket scientist. He received a Master’s in Electronic Engineering from the University of Washington.

When the missile contract ended, Louis found new work with Keytronic, a startup computer company in Spokane. He designed and patented a capacitive switch for computer keyboards for them, which led to $100 million per year in sales. In 1977, Louis became vice-president of engineering for ISC Systems and directed development of on-line cluster terminal systems for banks. In 1986, Louis moved to Output Technology Corporation, which produced high speed-impact printers, where he launched three new products and won a government contract worth $50 million. He was president and CEO 1993-2000 and increased sales from $4 million to over $30 million per year and sold the printers in several countries around the world.

Louis is survived by his children Jenniffer, Jilliann, Evan, Hayley, and nieces Tiffany and Serrina Sims and his wife Mary Sims and her daughters Valerie, Alisa and Demi Kosheleff. He is also survived by his brother Richard and his wife Cindy. Louis’s ashes will be scattered in Yellow Springs and on a mountain near Spokane.