Joan (Warner) Farley - Class of 1960

Chip and I will not be able to attend the class reunion due to a prior commitment, but here is a brief biography.

Joan Warner Farley lives with her husband ,Chip, 4 dogs, 3 horses, a cat and a parrot in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

I worked for State Farm Insurance in Santa Rosa 1963-1968, then transferred to the Pleasant Hill Office when I moved to Walnut Creek in 1971. I then joined the newly opened office of a Los Angeles based insurance company and worked for them until I retired in 1998. I also ran a horse boarding and training facility in Danville, Ca for 15 years.

After I retired, we moved back to Gualala. I traveled the world with Chip until he retired from Bechtel in 2002.

Unfortunately, the Coastal climate is not arthritis friendly and we moved to Santa Fe in 2007.

I have 2 children and 4 grandchildren, Chip has 3 children and 9 grandchildren.

Gary Beall - Class of 1961

Life is good. I retired more than six years ago from the University of California, Davis where I worked as a public communications specialist for 29 years. My current lifestyle emphasizes the great outdoors--photography, hiking and gardening--and spending time with family and friends. I trained for and completed the Lake Tahoe Marathon last September and am now training for the Maui Marathon that will be held in January.

I am married and have three children, a son and two daughters and two grandchildren.

After PAUHS, I attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, majoring in electronics engineering because our principal/counselor Bill Barber thought I would be good at it. However, it wasn’t for me, so I transferred into journalism, a much better fit. (I should have listened to Ed Garrett, who used to tell me I was a good writer.)

After Cal Poly, I had stints doing public information work for the San Joaquin County Office of Education in Stockton and the California State Department of Education in Sacramento. (The Army didn’t want me during the Vietnam buildup, thanks to torn cartilage in my knee from attempting to tackle Jason Franci during football practice in our senior year.) Then it was on to graduate school at the University of Oregon, where I received a master’s degree in journalism, with an emphasis in public relations.

My first job out of grad school was as editor of an Agricultural research magazine at Oregon State University in Corvallis, not a bad gig, but the rain and gloomy Willamette Valley weather made me yearn for the California sun. Luckily, I was accepted for an agricultural information job at the University of California, Davis, and worked there in various capacities until retirement.

I now live in Avila Beach but also spend time in Gualala and Winters. I regret not being able to attend the reunion but would like to hear from classmates and can be reached by email: gabeall@ucdavis.edu. Enjoy the evening and thanks, Mike, for your efforts to get us “oldtimers” together.

Ed, Class of 1951, And Alice (Parks) Garrett, Class of 1960

Alice, 1960 graduation photo

Ed, 1960 faculty photo from our Foghorn Annual

Ed is a 1951 graduate of Point Arena High School and went to Cal Poly and San Francisco State where he graduated in 1955. After two years in the Army he got his teaching credential. He taught and coached at Point Arena from 1959 to 1965.

Alice graduated from Point Arena High School in 1960 and the Monday after graduation went to work at the Bank of America in Point Arena. We started dating and married in 1961. We had two daughters in Point Arena. Ed changed teaching jobs and we moved to King City in 1965, where he taught and coached. Our third daughter was born in King City. Alice worked as a bookkeeper and was active in Junior Women’s Club and her art.

In 1992 we both retired and moved to the Parks Ranch on Miller Ridge (Stewarts Point) where we built our home. After our parents passed Alice took over the sheep business and with her many hobbies is very busy. Ed is busy keeping the roads open, collecting and reading books, and writing his “Fading Memories.”

We are looking forward to our 50th anniversary next year. We have three wonderful daughters and sons-in-law, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandson, which we enjoy. Two of our daughters followed their Dad and are teachers and the oldest is a tax assessor.

HOW ABOUT THAT!!

Carolyn Biles (York) - Class of 1958

I was born in 1940 in Healdsburg, California, to Doris (Gillmore) and Taylor York. Brother Chuck followed the next year, and brother Jim in 1949. Our family lived in Healdsburg until 1944, then moved to Point Arena to be near my grandparents while Dad spent two years in the army. When he returned we moved back to Healdsburg and I started first grade. The following year we moved to Dry Creek Valley just outside of Healdsburg where Chuck and I attended Manzanita School, a small country school with all eight grades in one room with one teacher. In 1951 we moved back to Point Arena where we attended elementary and high schools.

After graduating from PAUHS in 1958, I attended Humboldt State College in Arcata and received a bachelor of science degree with a major in nursing. In 1962 Bob Lopez and I were married. We lived in Eureka for a year while he received his teaching credential, then moved to Pittsburg, California. I worked at the local hospital until daughter Elise came along. When she was two years old we moved back to Eureka where Bob taught art in the local high school and I worked part time at one of the local hospitals. Daughter Michelle came along in 1967, and daughter Diana in 1969. Life changed for me in 1976 when I became a single parent and took training to work as an intensive care nurse at General Hospital in Eureka. The girls grew into young women – Elise became a college student, Diana became a working girl and Michelle became a wife. In 1988 I married Charlie Biles and life changed again. We bought a new house and began to learn about gardening (we are still learning) and being a married team once again. Bob lives in Eureka with his wife, Janet, and is retired. We are good friends and share family and grandchildren.

A big change for us has been becoming grandparents, which is such a joy! Diana and husband Derrick have two children – Taylor, sixteen years old (boy) and Devin, almost thirteen (girl). They live in Eureka and we see them often. Elise and husband Ted live in Redding, and have two children – Teddy, six years old, and Annalise two years old. We see them often also, since the drive is only 3 hours from Eureka to Redding. We have a grandson, Nigel, who lives in southern California. His father is Charlie’s son. We don’t see him as often as he is so many miles away. Daughter Michelle passed away in 2002 after a long illness and I chose not to return to work after her death. Charlie retired in 2005. He was a mathematics professor at Humboldt State University.

Since retiring I have become an active quilter. Charlie is studying American history. We have done some traveling, including three trips to Europe and one to Costa Rica and Guatemala. This fall we will journey by car to the east to visit historical sites. We will meet brother Chuck and his wife, Mickie, in Williamsburg and explore together. Life is good!

Jack O'Connor - Class of 1952 (1935-May 11, 2011)

After high school, I attended Napa Jr. College, played football, and earned an AA degree. I returned to Manchester and worked at the BOJOCK lumber company for 14 years, married, and had four children. Expanding my education was a priority, so I attended Sonoma State University, received a B. S. degree with a major in P. E. and a minor in biology, and a secondary teaching credential. Petaluma High School was my teaching and coaching base for over 30 years. I taught science for 26 years and coached wrestling for 4 years. Coaching duties in football and baseball lasted for over 30 years. I'm presently retired, live in Petaluma, married to Ellie, and enjoy fishing and hunting.

(Jack passed away May 11, 2011 about a year after he attended our 2010 reunion. Jack was a wonder friendly fellow, and I enjoyed watching him play basketball on the Bojock Lumber Company team with his best buddy Gary Ohleyer and the Girelli twins Lawrence and Leonard against the Air Force team starring Dean Green and Kay Spack. I saw a lot of the games because I would run the time clock and scoreboard.)

Jack's obituary in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Teacher Jack O'Connor was a bear of a man, but his imposing demeanor belied his gentle and encouraging nature as a longtime coach to hundreds of Petaluma athletes.

O'Connor died unexpectedly May 11 after entering a San Francisco hospital with pneumonia. He was 76.

A longtime biology, physical science and drivers ed teacher at Petaluma High School, O'Connor was perhaps better known as a successful football, baseball and wrestling coach.

Hundreds of friends and family are expected at a celebration of his life at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Petaluma Sheraton. Visitation will be today from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Parent-Sorensen Mortuary & Crematory in Petaluma.

O'Connor was hired as a teacher at Petaluma High in 1971. He retired in 1995 but continued coaching, serving under head football coach Steve Ellis for nearly three decades. He was still helping coach baseball this year.

"People referred to him as a gentle giant, and he was a very gentle, loving person," said Ellison, who visited his longtime friend in the hospital last week.

"But what stands out more than anything, though, is that he was a great teacher of fundamentals," Ellison said. "He really loved the kids and was strong at teaching kids not just how to block or swing a bat, but how to be a good citizen and do the right thing always."

His eldest son, Bob, said his father started coaching even before he got his teaching credential. He set up a basketball league for junior high school kids in the 1960s when he was living in Manchester on the Mendocino County coast.

O'Connor was born in Eureka to a family in the lumber industry and the family lived in nearby Samoa. Later, in Manchester, a young O'Connor worked at the Bojock Lumber Company felling and peeling trees.

He graduated from Point Arena High School in 1952, married and raised his four children in Manchester before moving to Rohnert Park to attend college and earn his college degree and teaching credential.

He loved hunting, camping and fishing, although he seemed to have at least as much fun observing nature than actually bringing home a fish, his family said.

Teaching - in the classroom and in the athletic arena - came naturally. "He did it in a very practical way," said his wife of 20 years, Eleanor "Ellie" O'Connor of Petaluma. "He talked plainly about how things should be done. The kids knew that he loved them and they knew they could trust his advice."

 O'Connor taught so many kids over the years that he couldn't remember all the names, so he began calling people "Bud." That, in turn, became O'Connor's nickname.

"People come up to me now and ask me if I'm Bud's son," Bob O'Connor said.

Ellie O'Connor, also a longtime Petaluma High teacher, said it's been comforting to hear touching stories about her husband in the past week.

"It's his legacy, one that he has shared in such a positive way," she said. "How can I not be glowing when I hear these things about a man I loved dearly and had 20 wonderful years with?"

In addition to his wife and oldest son, O'Connor is survived by daughter Cathy Guy of Albuquerque, sons Kelly O'Connor of Red Bluff and Larry O'Connor of Sand Point, Idaho, step-son Matt Schmitka of Petaluma; 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Petaluma High School baseball or football program, c/o Petaluma High School, 201 Fair St., Petaluma, 94952.

 

Gary Cooper - Class of 1960

Wow, can you believe it’s been 50 years!

Betty and I are enjoying retirement in Beaverton, Oregon and recently celebrated our 46th anniversary. I retired in 1998 after 34 years with the U.S. Forest Service. Our two daughters, son-in laws and six grandchildren live in Tigard, OR, only about 10 miles from us. It is a real blessing to have them so close.

We keep busy with our grandchildren(our oldest is 6), gardening, traveling, hunting, fishing, crabbing, sewing (Betty), church, reading, wood cutting (We still heat with wood), and all of our miscellaneous hobbies. We recently enjoyed a trip to Israel and have a trip scheduled in September to Rome and northern Italy (sorry to miss the reunion).

After graduating from PAUHS in 1960, I worked the summer of ’60 on my uncle’s rice farm in Maxwell, CA, where I decided that I did not want to be a farmer! In the fall, I enrolled at Humboldt State College along with Mike Combs and Gary Phelps. I worked the summer of ’61 as a firefighter with the California Div. of Forestry at Clearlake and the summers of ’62-‘64 with the Forest Service. While at Humboldt, I met the girl of my dreams, Betty Covington from Trinity County. We were married in 1964. I graduated with a BS in Forest Management and accepted a forester/silviculturist position with the U.S. Forest Service at Coffee Creek Ranger District (RD) on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest (NF).

In 1967, I was promoted to District Lands Officer on the Big Bear RD on the San Bernardino NF. I was responsible for land adjustments, land use, minerals and resource management. Some highlights at Big Bear were administering movie and TV use permits and overseeing a landmark Supreme Court decision involving a minerals case. Betty worked at the Big Bear Lake Sears Catalog store.

In 1971, I accepted the Land Exchange Officer position on the Tahoe NF at Nevada City, CA (we lived at Grass Valley). In addition to completing land exchanges, I became certified as a paraprofessional archaeologist and a qualified land and timber appraiser. Betty worked at the Grass Valley Credit Bureau until 1973 when our first daughter (Kelley) was born. She then worked even harder as a stay-at-home mom!

We moved to South Lake Tahoe in 1976 where I became the Forest Lands Staff Officer on the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit with primary responsibility for a multi-million dollar land acquisition program. Some major acquisitions included Zephyr Cove Resort, Jennings’ Casino Site, Whittell Estate, Fibreboard and Harrah’s Beach Front. Our youngest daughter Megan was born at Lake Tahoe. While at Tahoe, I realized that something was missing in my life. I began attending church and became a born again Christian by accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. What a change in my life!

As with all Forest Service employees, there are “other duties as assigned” with a primary one being fire fighting. I have fought fires throughout the west, beginning as a “grunt” firefighter and then in other positions as crew boss, sector boss, intelligence officer, maps and records officer and plans chief.

In 1980, I accepted a position as Group Leader-Land Adjustments for the Pacific Northwest Region in Portland, OR. On May 18, I was driving our 1968 Cougar (which we still have) from Tahoe to Portland to report for work when I saw an unbelievable sight, the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. What a grand welcome to the Northwest!

In my new job, I immediately became involved in drafting legislation and land acquisition for the new National Volcanic Monument. In managing the land adjustment program for Oregon and Washington, I was responsible for land purchases, donations, exchanges and land status. I assisted Congressional staff in drafting legislation for nationally designated areas including Columbia Gorge, Mt. St. Helens, Hell’s Canyon, Wild and Scenic Rivers and Wildernesses. I also served on the Regional Planning Team, National Forest Service/Bureau of Land Management Interagency Team, and was unit leader on the National Lands Training Cadre. Other duties as assigned were several detail assignments to Washington DC.

When our daughters left the nest, Betty worked in interior decorating, Census Bureau, Post Office, and managed a booth at an antique mall on the Oregon coast. She has been active with the Machine Embroiderers of Oregon and Washington (MEOW) serving as area director and president.

Since retirement in 1998, we have been busier then when I worked full time!! But we are enjoying every minute! In 2004, my left hip finally gave out from a childhood disease and I had a titanium hip replacement, but it hasn’t slowed me down. Have a great reunion and sorry to miss lt.

Gene Price, Class of 1957

After graduating from Point Arena High in 1957, I went 2 years to San Francisco City College, then on to Denver University where I graduated in business administration & then went into the Navy.

While stationed in San Diego, I met & married Judy my wife of now 44 years. We moved to Point Arena after getting out of the Navy & spent 13 years operating the restaurant at the Point Arena Hotel.

We then moved to Lake Oroville where for 24 years I owned & operated a landscaping business & Judy was a Speech Therapist.

We have 2 sons, Jeff & Darren & 4 grandsons, Jayson 17, Kyle 12, Max 9 & Asher 6.

We have been retired for 7 years & are living the good life in Sun City Lincoln Hills Californiia, where we are very active in sports, travelling, cruising with friends & enjoying our children & grandchildren who live close by. Life is good!