Modoc County Record – April 5, 2001 Georgina P. Ballard Long-time Alturas resident Georgina P. Ballard, passed away on March 29, 2001, of natural causes at the age of 92, at Modoc Medical Center's Skilled Nursing facility in Alturas, Calif. Born Georgina P. Lewis on May 17, 1908 to Lucy (Platt) Lewis and Henry Lewis on the family's 160-acre homestead, on Big Ranch Road, five miles north of Napa, Calif., she was voted "Healthiest Baby" and named Napa's "Little Bo Peep." Georgina loved animals and was fond of gardening. Finishing high school in Napa, she went to work as a secretary for Shell Oil Company in San Francisco, for many years until 1948. She married "Jack" Gibbons on December 12, 1948 in Redwood City and the two moved to Modoc County. Jack passed away in 1960. Georgina went to work from 1961 until 1973, with the Modoc County Tax Collector's office. She married Francis "Frogs" Ballard in Reno, Nev. on June 8, 1973. He owned Alturas Building Materials. Mrs. Ballard was an avid bridge player and homemaker, until Mr. Ballard passed away in 1997. Georgina's brother Ted Lewis also preceded her in death. Georgina's grandmother Lucy (McCabe) Platt was born in Ireland in 1833 and came to America in 1850, where she lived until 1853. She sailed around 'The Horn' to San Francisco and traveled to Napa to live with her aunt in 1854. Lucy was married in 1856 to George Platt, who was born in Germany and had traveled by horseback with the wagon train across America to Napa. Georgina's father was born in New York and had spent time in Alaska before moving to California. Mrs. Ballard is survived by her stepdaughters, Marsha Gaskey and Jolene Caldwell, both of Alturas; niece Gay (Decious) Boehme of Brentwood, Calif.; nephew Daniel Decious of Sacramento; cousins Catherine Platt Maddux, Joanne Finnegan Shannon, Dr. Mary Gonzales, Lee Maddux of Santa Rosa; and special friends Dee Berlin and Christine Jobe of Alturas. Services for Mrs. Ballard were conducted by the Rev. Dr. Ben Zandstra on April 3 at 10 a.m. at the Alturas Cemetery. Donations in Mrs. Ballard's memory may be made to the High Plateau Humane Society, P.O. Box 1383, Alturas, CA 96101. Mary Ethel McMullan Mary Ethel McMullan, a Modoc County resident for many years, passed away at the age of 87, at the Life Care Center of Reno on March 30, 2001 in Reno, Nev. Mrs. McMullan had relocated from Likely to Reno about three months ago to be closer to her family. While living in Modoc County, rearing her children, she also assisted within her community by working with the schools and Parent Teacher Association, as a 4-H leader and as a member of the California and Modoc County CowBelles organization. In addition to her duties as a mother and homemaker, she kept busy as a cattle ranch cook. She was born December 9, 1913 in Republic, Wash. She was preceded in death by her husband Bert McMullan in August of 1997 and her daughter Janice Tarp in 1994. She is survived by her sons, Kenny of Reno, Nev.; John of Lovelock, Nev.; Irvin McGarva of Orovada and Douglas McGarva of Redding; sister Lyndall Fisher of Portland, Ore.; many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. Services were held at graveside at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 4 at the Likely Cemetery in Likely, Calif. O'Brien-Rogers & Crosby Funeral Home of Reno handled arrangements. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of the donor's choice. Edith Ruby Schadler Former Surprise Valley resident Edith Ruby Schadler, also known as Edith Stewart, passed away March 9, 2001 in Walnut Creek, Calif. Edith was the youngest of eight children in the Nils and Amelia Muhr family of Fruita, Colo. She was born December 16, 1916 in Fruita. She has one surviving sister, Signa Weston of Palisade, Colo. and three surviving sisters-in-law, Helen Stewart of Garden Grove, Calif. and Lorrena Roland and Sally Best of Grand Junction, Colo. She married Ray Edgar Stewart on February 2, 1935 and moved to northeastern California. He passed away in 1967. They reared four daughters, Linda Gooch of Cedarville, Calif.; Lorna Chandler of Lafayette, Calif.; Ruth Bettandorff of Acworth, GA; and Janeil Payne of Salem, Ore. After working as a nurse's aide for many years, Edith became a Registered Nurse, graduating from Shasta College in 1971. She worked as a cardiac care nurse in Redding, Calif. and Grand Junction, Colo. She later worked as an RN at Surprise Valley Medical Center in Cedarville, Calif. and at Warnerview Convalescent Hospital in Alturas, Calif. She was married to George Schadler from 1979 to 1983. Mrs. Schadler is also survived by 10 grandchildren, one great-grandchild and many nieces and nephews. She was greatly loved by all. A Celebration of Life service will be held August 4, 2001 in Cedarville, Calif. For information about location and time, contact Lorna Chandler, 3875 Quail Ridge Road, Lafayette, Calif. 94549 or chandlerfam@home.com. Memorial gifts may be directed to the Surprise Valley Health Care District, Cedarville, CA 96104. Lyda Laura Brown Lyda Laura Brown, 78, a 10-year resident of Rossmoor in Walnut Creek, Calif., died suddenly at her home on the evening of March 21, 2001. Memorial services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 8 at Lafayette Orinda Presbyterian Church (LOPC), 49 Knox Drive, Lafayette. Mrs. Brown always considered herself a "Modoc'er," says her husband Vernon. Lyda's grandfather by marriage was John Davis, a past Assessor of Modoc County. Her uncles Dan A. and John C. Davis and cousins Paul D. Davis, Richard M. Davis, and Dorothy C. Kelley preceded her in death. Mrs. Brown retired in 1981 from the William Feria Academics Plus School in the Cupertino School District, where she taught third grade at Feria for three years, a magnet school that stressed 'back to basics approach to education.' She spent 11 years at Panama School, involved from the beginning with the A+ program. Prior to this, she taught in two schools in the Arcade District of Sacramento County, Wyda Way and Dyer Kelly. She graduated with Honors from Sacramento State College in 1955, with a B.A. degree in Education and Music. She taught piano. For two years she attended the Sherwood Conservatory in Chicago, IL. She was born in Chicago and graduated from Roosevelt High School as its' Valedictorian in 1940. She received the outstanding student award from the American Legion while in the eighth grade at Von Struben School. For 38 years she was active in square dancing and at Rossmoor was a member of the Happy Squares until her health failed. She kept active as the secretary/treasurer of the Big Band of Rossmoor, and as a parish coordinator and collator for her church. She is survived by her husband Vernon Brown of 58 years, whose father William S. Billy Brown was a past assistant Supervisor of the Modoc National Forest. She is also survived by her daughter Karen Phillips of Walnut Creek; son Bill of Fall River Mills, Calif.; four grandsons and one granddaughter and cousins Lulu Grivel and Lola Dollarhide of Davis Creek and Michael Grivel, Alturas. Memorial gifts may be made to the Diablo Vista Retired Teachers' Association scholarship fund, (DVRTA), 4254 Heights Ave., Pittsburgh, CA 94565. John Edward Vega Alturas resident John Edward Vega, 48, died of a heart attack on March 30, 2001 in Reno, Nevada. Mr. Vega had made Modoc his home for the past eight years, moving to Alturas in 1993. He worked as a truck driver and mechanic over the years, working in Modoc County driving trucks for Walter Sphar Trucking of Likely, Fitch Sand and Gravel, Rene Larranaga of Alturas and most recently Martin Transportation of Medford, Ore. Born in Gilroy, Calif. on October 31, 1952, he received his education in Morgan Hill, Calif. As hobbies, Mr.Vega enjoyed fishing and working on cars. He will remain in the hearts and memories of many relatives, friends and co-workers. Mr. Vega is survived by his wife Tomie Guzman Vega of Alturas; sons, John Ed Vega, Jr. of Ft. Irwin, Calif.; Alberto Vela of Salinas; Jesus Ray Vela of Alturas; uncle Alfred Vegas, Alturas; grandchildren James, Steven and Andrew Vega; Richard, Naomi, Sabino, Lucas, Quentin, Albert, Jr., Gilberto and Brenda Vela; step-grandchildren, Patricia, Vanessa, and Luis Madrigal; sisters Victoria, Madeline and Sylvia Vegas of Gilroy; brothers, Albert, Anthony, Edward Vegas and Rafael Hernandez of Gilroy. Visitation will be held at Kerr Mortuary Chapel in Alturas from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m. today, April 5 with a Rosary at the Kerr Chapel at 6:30 p.m. tonight. Graveside services will be held on Friday, April 6 at 11:00 a.m. at the Alturas Cemetery. Veva Bonacina Graveside services were held in Chico, Calif. on Saturday, March 24 for former Modoc County resident Veva Bernice Bonacina, 93, who passed away on March 21, 2001 of natural causes in a Chico hospital. Born Veva Watkins on May 26, 1907, to Charlie and Josephine Watkins of Davis Creek, Calif., she spent much of her life in Modoc County. She graduated from "the Grammar School of South Davis Creek District" in 1920. When she was young, she worked with her father at the Davis Creek Store. She also was manager of the NCO building on Main Street for a time, and a charter ember of the local Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen Auxiliary. She volunteered to teach arts and crafts at Alturas Elementary School. Before leaving Modoc County in 1971, she owned the two-story house which once sat near the corner of Fourth and Main and was later moved to 11th Street. During the service, she was remembered as a person who often made sacrifices to help others. "A mother to many, a friend to all," is how great-grandson Joseph Torsitano, described her. Although she was 57 when Joseph was born in Alturas, she raised him until he left home at 19. She often assisted members of the local Indian community. When friends and family found themselves between jobs or otherwise in tough circumstances, they were always welcomed by Veva and given a place to "get back on their feet." Veva was also remembered as a person who had a great will to live. Cancer surgery in 1979 was performed to enable her to live up to another five years. But, she held on much longer because she always said, "I want to see how it all ends." She was preceded in death by her parents and brother Noel Watkins, Sr. Survivors include a son, Burnell Shelton of New Jersey; a sister, Reva Gray of Chico; and two nephews, one grandchild, one great-grandchild and two great-great grandchildren. ~~~~~~ Billie C. & Anita 'Jean' Reynolds Family Researcher of "The Last Frontier" Modoc County, California --- Our outgoing mail is checked by ZoneAlarm AntiVirus.