Lavonne Sanchez

Camp Fire Girl

Lavonne Irene Sanchez, age 66, passed away on March 7, 2017, at her home in Carpinteria, after a long battle with cancer. She was born December 3, 1950, in San Luis Obispo, Calif. She was the second born daughter of Leo and Irene Rogers. Lavonne graduated from San Luis Obispo Senior High in 1969 and earned a Bachelor's Degree in political science from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1977. She worked for the Equal Opportunity Commission in San Luis Obispo from 1978-1991, where she received the "Employee of the Year" award in 1983. She also worked at with the state disability office in Santa Barbara for more than 20 years and retired in June of 2014 to pursue her many other interests. Lavonne had a love for theatre and the arts and spent many years as the house manager for the Arlington theatre and the Garvin Performing Arts Center at Santa Barbara City College. She and the love of her life, Ted Cheeseman, shared a passion for old trains and they travelled together across the United States and internationally to ride as many old steam trains as possible. She also worked as a docent on the Coast Starlight train that travelled between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Lavonne's greatest joy in life was to spend time with her four grandchildren. She enjoyed attending birthday parties and reading to her 5 year old grandson Dallas. She also travelled internationally to visit her grandchildren Josiah, Malia, and Kalea who currently live in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Her many visits to see them included trips to Cameroon, Tanzania, South Africa, and most of Europe. Lavonne is survived by her two sisters, Linda (Larry) Brown of Clayton, Calif. and Nadine of Gig Harbor, Washington; her two sons, Michael (Brie) of Rhonert Park, Calif. and Frank (Heidi) of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She was preceeded in death by her brother, Alan Rogers of Albuqueque, New Mexico. Lavonne's parents served on the Camp Fire Board and were Club zleaders. Lavonne's dad worked on the original water lines at Camp Natoma.

C.W. Hodges

Camp Volunteer

"Skip" Hodges, 65, born in Santa Monica departed on August 12, 2017. He lived in San Luis Obispo since the early 1970s, and graduated from Cal Poly. Skip was the owner of several businesses, the most notable being Security Blanket. Skip served as a camp volunteer in the early 90,s. His wife Anne, was a Camp Fire leader. Skip also made all of Camp Fire's keys for many years. Skip is survived by his wife, Anne Hodges; and his children: Jennifer and Stephan. 

Alberta Brown-Silva

Camp Fire Leader

 Alberta Brown-Silva, 72, of Nipomo passed away November 18, 2016. She is survived by Jerome, her husband of 55 years; three children: Debra Dey, Laura Berry (Randy) and Jerome Brown-Silva Jr. (Michelle); brother David Vieira (Janice); four granddaughters: Frances, Emmy, Amber and Kyla; and great-granddaughter, Aryah.

Betty Stockton

Camp Fire Leader

 Elizabeth Tomasini Stockton passed October 21, 2016. Betty was born to Alex and Josephine Tomasini in San Luis Obispo. As a child she loved riding her horse "Birdie" on her family's Cayucos ranch and spending summers at Camp Natoma. Betty earned a B.A. and teaching credential at UCLA and taught elementary school for San Luis Coastal. She married Lawrence James Stockton in 1955. Jim and Betty had three children: Wendy, James and Melissa. Betty temporarily "retired" from teaching to raise her three kids and volunteer as a Camp Fire leader and headband-beading specialist at Camp Tacanneko. Betty later served 30 years as a charter docent for the Jack House and Gardens. Lately she enjoyed paying for kids to go to Camp Natoma. Please join us in Betty's honor from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, November 27, 2016, at the Jack House, 536 Marsh St., SLO. Free tours of the house, refreshments and a memory book will be available. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Friends of Camp Natoma, P.O. Box 3012, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93403.

Dear Friends,

We are writing to tell you that our mother, Elizabeth Stockton, died Friday, October 21st, 2016.  She had not been feeling well for the past three weeks and was no longer enjoying her favorite past times nor even her favorite strawberry ice cream. 

 

Mom was deeply involved with and faithfully volunteered for over 30 years at the Historic Jack House in San Luis Obispo.  We invite you to honor her memory by visiting the Jack House on November 27, 2016 from 1 to 4 p.m.  An afternoon of free tours will be dedicated to honor her service.

 

Mom also gave countless hours to youth through the Camp Fire program.  She particularly loved sending kids to Camp Natoma.  In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Friends of Camp Natoma (P.O. Box 3012, San Luis Obispo, CA  93403) in her memory. 

 

Most sincerely,

Wendy, James, and Melissa Stockton

"Meme" Butler

Camp Fire Leader

 Miriam Carol McFadden Butler was known to the world for most of her 98 years as "Meme," a name she adopted in her early years as a Camp Fire Girl. She was born to Stan and Carol McFadden in 1918 in Santa Maria, into one of the first pioneer families to settle there. In 1922, they moved to San Luis Obispo, where Meme spent the rest of her life. The McFadden family spent a lot of time camping, picnicking, and at relatives' cattle ranches. Meme always loved being outdoors. As an adult she became a great gardener. She kept her neighbors and friends supplied with home grown vegetables and the best raspberries ever, for many decades. As a young woman in San Luis Obispo, she was very active in school activities, Camp Fire and Rainbow Girls. She was valedictorian of the San Luis High School Class of 1936, and was a member of the first graduating class of what was then SLO Junior College in 1938. She planned to go to UC Berkeley after that, but Morse R. Butler ("Mo" to all) had moved to San Luis Obispo, been introduced to her by family friend school Superintendent Charles E. Teach, and Mo's proposal of marriage changed her mind. They married Christmas Eve of 1938, in SLO First Presbyterian Church. Meme and Mo had two daughters, Beverly and Kathryn "Kay." Meme was active in community organizations while they were growing up, but most of the Butler parents' activities were centered around the two girls and their friends. Meme led one Camp Fire Group from second grade into high school and was a counselor at Camp Natoma every summer. She taught Sunday school and was leader for the youth groups of the Presbyterian Church. The Butler house was a second home for the girls' friends. The front door was always open and there were always homemade cookies in the old gold cookie can. They disappeared quickly and were replaced equally quickly. Meme's activities in the church and community continued after the girls had grown and left home, as did her interest in all of their friends and hers. She enjoyed her life and its many activities. And those who were a part of it enjoyed her. Daughter, Kay Gabbert, and then Mo, preceded Meme in passing. She leaves behind daughter Beverly James, Kay's daughters Sharon Barnes (Tod) and Lynn Fedoryk (Mike) who were like daughters to her, grandchildren, Katherine James and Walter James (Pauline), and two great grandsons, Kevin August and Austin James. Services will be held at 2:00pm, Sunday, November 20, 2016, at the First Presbyterian Church (on the corner of Marsh and Morro Streets). In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite charity in her name.

Sandra Cabassi

Camp Fire Leader

Sandra Jane Cabassi, 76, was a lifetime resident of Arroyo Grande, Calif. She was born in San Francisco to her parents Vard and Gladys Loomis. "Sandi" as she was known to friends and family died peacefully on August 8th, 2016, at French Hospital with her beloved family at her side. She was a graduate of Arroyo Grande High School and attended UC Berkeley for one year until she returned home to marry Charles Cabassi. Over the years, she became a mother and grandmother, but continued her educational goals to study Ornamental Horticulture and art at Cal Poly State University. She eventually achieved a Master's degree in English there, and taught classes at both Cuesta and Hancock Colleges. Her hobbies included, drawing and painting, singing in the church choir, piano playing, flower arranging, antique, miniatures and doll collecting, reading, poetry and short story writing. She was a Camp Fire Girls leader and softball coach as well as a passionate member of the South County Historical Society and speaker for local Japanese history. She is preceded in death by her parents and her son Joseph Cabassi. Her family includes brother Terry Loomis and nephew Roy Loomis, son Michael Cabassi, and daughters Carol Swenson and Shelly Doran, as well as sons-in-law Curt Doran and Brian Swenson and daughter-in-law Anadina Cabassi-Vallejos. Her grandchildren include: Darrell Jack and Jessica Friday, and Charlie and James Doran. Her great-grandchildren include, Alyssa, Vincent and baby Michael. A graveside ceremony will be held at 11:00am on Thursday, August 18th at the Arroyo Grande Cemetery with a celebration of life to follow at Portuguese Hall 707 Huasna Road, Arroyo Grande, Ca. In lieu of flowers, Sandi wished that donations would be made to the South County Historical Society and the Cuesta College Scholarship Foundation.

Ruth Pennington

 Ruth Pennington passed away peacefully in her sleep on October 8, 2016 at the age of 99, just one month shy of her 100th birthday. Ruth was born in Calgary Canada and moved to San Luis Obispo with her parents and 5 siblings when she was 8 years old. She graduated from San Luis Obispo High School and then attended Beauty College in San Francisco, and later returned to San Luis Obispo. At the age of 22 she married Oliver "Penny" Pennington. Together they opened a grocery store "The New Park Grocery" across the street from Mitchell Park which they operated for over 28 years. Both Ruth and Penny were avid golfers and were founding members of the San Luis Obispo Country Club till their early 80's. They both loved to travel and did many trips with their friends, taking their golf clubs in tow on as many trips as they could. They also loved to dance and spent many Saturday nights at the Monday Club dancing with all their friends. She was involved in Junior Matrons, Campfire Girls, Monday Club, Elks Club and other organizations. She was preceded by death by her husband and daughter, Carol Triplett. She is survived by daughters Sharon Varner (Mike) and Cindy Iroff (David). She also leaves behind 6 grandchildren, Jeff, Ron and Kristin Varner, Larry Triplett, Jason and Justin Iroff and 8 great grandchildren. 

Debbie Doubledee

Camp Fire Leader

Debbie Doubledee Deborah Sue "Debbie" Doubledee, 63, was born in 1953 to parents Alan and Bettie Henry, in Santa Monica, Calif. All three passed away tragically in a car accident on Monday, August 15, 2016, on Highway 178 in Lake Isabella, Calif. Debbie grew up in Hawthorne, Calif., where she was active in the YMCA Indian Princess Program, dance classes, and the Hawthorne Swim Club. She graduated from Hawthorne High School in 1971. Debbie married in 1974 and moved to Morro Bay. Her greatest joy was her daughter, Rebecca. She was active in every aspect of Rebecca's life. She led Rebecca's Camp Fire Troop, was active in PTA, and went out at night to the ponds to help Rebecca study frogs. Quite a feat for a single mom! Debbie graduated from the nursing program at Cuesta College and went on to earn her BSN. This led to a 29-year career as a nurse at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo. She began her career as a nursing assistant then went on to work as a nurse in the medical-surgical department, the pain clinic, and finally the day stay surgery department. She provided excellent patient care. Her mentorship, friendship, and commitment to helping others earned her the hospital's Nurse of the Year Award in 2012. She was a devoted nurse who taught CPR to staff at Sierra Vista Hospital on her days off and spent summers as a nurse at Camp Natoma, in Paso Robles, the Camp Fire camp her daughter attended. Debbie was an active member of the Delta Theta Chi Sorority for 36 years. Most recently, she was vice president of the local California Epsilon Chapter, president of the Alcyone Province, and was on the Educational Board at the national level. She used her talents as a seamstress and a cook to raise money for charity. She was famous for her beautiful aprons and scrumptious peanut brittle. Debbie had a great love for all things in nature. She loved camping along the Kern River, snorkeling in Hawaii, taking road trips to national parks, feeding the birds, and tending to her beautiful garden. She has loved many dogs and cats over the years, but her most recent loves were her dogs Daisy and Fiona. She was a devoted daughter, mother, sister, aunt and great-aunt. Debbie leaves behind her daughter Rebecca (Ravi); brothers, Steven Henry (Tom), Brian Henry (Juanita), and David Henry; nephews, Sean (Sarah), Eruch, and Stevie; and great-nephew and niece Brian and Keira. She also leaves behind an abundance of friends and sorority sisters. Her creativity and leadership will be deeply missed. A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Sept. 17, 2016, at 3:00pm at Rock Harbor Christian Fellowship, 1475 Quintana Rd., in Morro Bay, Calif. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Debbie's memory to: Delta Theta Chi, Alcyone Province Scholarship, C/O Kathleen Hull, 4039 Calgary Ave., San Diego, Calif., 92122.

Onorina "Rena" Perry

Camp Fire Leader

January 24, 1928-October 15, 2016

Onorina Rollini Perry passed away suddenly but peacefully on October 15. Rena was born January 24, 1928 in Santa Maria to John and Caterina Rollini. She grew up on her parent's dairy farm and attended Santa Maria High School, class of 1946. She married a Santa Maria native, Samuel (Sam) Perry, an officer in the Army Air Corps, during World War II. They had one child, Virginia. Rena and Sam built their own home on Miller Street, where she was still living happily until her death.

Rena was much beloved and remembered as a Camp Fire Girls leader and a member of the Miller Street Mother's Club. She was as an inspiring home maker and a dedicated fruit and vegetable gardener. She knit and sewed many items for her family, most notably her granddaughter Lindy's wedding dress. Rena was a patient teacher, and especially enjoyed teaching her granddaughters and great-grandsons how to make her blackberry pie. Pies made from her backyard fruit were favorites of everyone who knew her.

Rena and Sam founded Perry's Electric Motors and Control in 1967. She was active in the business until it was sold after Sam's passing in 1989. She and her daughter founded the Natural History Museum, Santa Maria, in 1996 and she volunteered there as secretary/treasurer and as a docent until the week of her passing. Also in retirement Rena enjoyed traveling through the United States with her women friends.

She is survived by her daughter, Virginia Perry Souza; her grand daughters, Angela Hoxsey, Paula Stein and Lindy Boisvert; grandsons -in-law David Hoxsey and Joel Boisvert; and great grandsons Ellis Boisvert, Samuel Boisvert and Matthew Stein.

Sally Baldwin

Camp Fire Leader

Sally Baldwin Sally (b. Sadie) Louise Baldwin, 90, of Arroyo Grande, died on July 5, 2015, after a brief illness. She was born in May 1925 near Burden, Kansas, to William Alfonzo "Lon" and Bertha May (Miller) Elrod, and raised on the family farm in New Salem, Kansas, and, for a short time as a young child, in the vicinity of her mother's childhood home in Cabool, Missouri. She recalled both the hardships and pleasures of farm life during the Depression in the beautiful Flint Hills of Eastern Kansas, where her father grew wheat and the family raised chickens, pigs, sheep, milk cows, and horses, and maintained a huge garden at a time when money was scarce and everything needed was either produced on the farm or obtained by the barter system. She had hardworking, loving parents who she remembered dearly. Sally left the family farm to attend high school in Winfield, Kansas, where she lived with her sister Clara and graduated early, in 1942, by taking courses at Southwestern College. She married Robert Leon "Bob" Baldwin in 1944 and they moved to California in 1946. She worked as a bookkeeper at Sears & Roebuck in San Luis Obispo for several years; until shortly before the birth of her first child, Suzanne, in 1954, when she devoted herself to caring for her family, which grew to include Bruce in 1957 and Randall "Randy" in 1959, in Arroyo Grande. Her children remember her as an ideal mother, who always put their interests ahead of her own and gave love unconditionally. She also was devoted to her grandchildren and highly supportive of their activities. After her children were raised, Sally returned to bookkeeping at the family business, Valley Auto Service, where she also was office manager. She retired from those duties only last year, at 89. In earlier years, she taught Sunday school at the United Methodist Church in Arroyo Grande and was especially active for eight years as a Camp Fire Girls leader. Sally loved the outdoors and she and Bob instilled that love in their children with outings and camping trips throughout the West, sometimes with others, especially Gordon and Manetta Bennett and family, with whom they also enjoyed hot-air ballooning, narrow-gauge railroading, and whitewater rafting. Sally and Bob enjoyed travelling internationally, to Canada, Mexico, and countries in Europe and Asia. At home, Sally was an avid gardener, with a particular fondness for roses, and a bird watcher, who enjoyed feeding large flocks of wild mallards and band-tailed pigeons as well as songbirds for many years. In later life, she pursued a longstanding interest in writing poetry, which always accompanied the family's holiday cards and was repeatedly selected for publication in The Tribune. Sally was a voracious reader of non-fiction, consuming dozens of books in a short time. She retained her mental acuity and generous, warm personality until the end. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and all of her siblings, including her sister Clara, brothers Otis and Rex, half-sisters Faye, Alberta, Fern, and Madelyn, and Chester, a half-brother who died a year after birth. Survivors include daughter, Suzanne Leslie (Tim) of Menlo Park; son, Bruce of Berkeley; son, Randy (Tina) of Arroyo Grande; grandchildren: Taylor and Brett Warren, and Reece and Tess Baldwin, and several nieces and nephews, all of whom she cared for deeply, and her canine companion, Leroy. A Memorial and reception will be held on Sunday, August 9, at 11:00am at the Central Coast Masonic Lodge, 112 Poole St., Arroyo Grande. In lieu of flowers, those wishing to make contributions are encouraged to give to The National Audubon Society, P.O Box 422249, Palm Coast, Fla., 32142-2249.

Our Friend Cynthia LeRoy

Camp Fire Leader