2009: In Memory of...
| Tuesday, Dec 29 2009 09:31 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Dec 29 2009 09:32 PM
FEBRUARY
Longtime defense attorney Stanley Simrin was one of Kern County's most respected criminal defense attorneys in his nearly four decades practicing law. Simrin was working as a pharmacist in the 1960s when he began correspondence courses with a LaSalle Extension University in Chicago. He passed the bar in 1970.
Simrin was 79.
Tom Brumley was a former Buckaroo whose keening steel guitar gave the Buck Owens classic "Together Again" its soul. Brumley grew up in a music-loving Missouri family, turning to the steel guitar as a youngster. In 1961, Brumley went to Hollywood to record a country album with his brother and it was there Owens heard him play. He moved to Bakersfield with his wife in 1963 and traveled the world with Owens playing on his top hits of the time, including "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" and "Act Naturally." He received the Academy of Country Music Award in 1966 for No. 1 Steel Guitarist and went on to play with Rick Nelson and a host of other stars.
Brumley was 73.
Diesel Rhodes wasn't with us long, but he captured the community's heart as he battled a rare form of cancer. Diesel had growths on his brain and spine from an uncommon cancer. The infant underwent several brain surgeries here, but doctors ran out of options and gave him about six months to live. He was one of 21 children selected for a clinical trial at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee. St. Jude's covered nearly all expenses of the trip and treatment and Bakersfield rallied behind the family with donations and support.
Diesel was 4 months old.
Darlene Moriarity Slota lived long enough for her dream to become a reality, to marry the man she loved. She met Scott Slota online in 2000. After a cross-country relationship, the two ended up in Tehachapi and planned a life together, but cancer shortened their expectations. They married Feb. 8 and she died 12 days later in her new husband's arms.
Slota was 48.
MARCH
Judith Ann Michel was president of the Assistance League, which helps needy children get proper school clothes and other supplies. She was killed in a car crash in southwest Bakersfield. The league has a thrift shop in Bakersfield and several other programs. The Bakersfield chapter of the league is one of more than 100 nationwide. Michel enjoyed the arts and often attended Bakersfield Symphony concerts.
Michel was 75.
JUNE
Bruce F. Bunker was a well-known Bakersfield attorney and civic leader. The native of Porterville enjoyed a 55-year career focusing on estate planning, probate and trust matters. He was also active in the State Bar of California and volunteered for many civic and charitable organizations, including the California State University Foundation Board of Trustees, Kern County Council of Camp Fire Girls and American Red Cross among others.
Bunker was 84.
Robert Self was another prominent Bakersfield attorney who was known as unflappable, intelligent and even-tempered. He grew up in Bakersfield and studied at UC Berkeley. During his long career in Bakersfield, he specialized in business law and civil litigation, successfully arguing three cases in front of the California Supreme Court.
Self was 77.
JULY
Mark Ponder, owner of Westchester Realty, had become well known for his brash billboards around down proclaiming, among other things, that he helped stop foreclosures. His body was found in the Kern River east of Manor Street. His death touched off a firestorm of speculation about what had happened to the young real estate agent. His death was ruled an accidental drowning after three prescription drugs, Xanax, Ambien and Flexeril, a muscle relaxant, were found in his system. Levels weren't high enough to be fatal, according to the coroner's office. But they were enough to have affected his mental and physical capabilities.
Ponder was 38.
AUGUST
Carolyn J. Krone was a mainstay at Cal State Bakersfield for 35 years. She helped build up the Student Health Services, playing a major role in securing national accreditation for it and serving as its associate director for 13 years. She was a Cal State alum and co-taught the Advanced Health Assessment course for students enrolled in the Master of Science in Nursing program. She was known among friends for her work ethic and her giggle.
Krone was 63.
SEPTEMBER
Al Baldock was the architect of some outstanding Taft College football teams from the mid-1970s through the early 1990s and arguably put Taft College on the map. He coached at five California junior colleges from 1959-95. His 227 coaching wins rank fourth in the nation among junior college coaches. His Taft teams won 10 conference titles.
Baldock was 79.
James and Deborah Harmon were motorcycle enthusiasts who harnessed that love for the benefit of others by helping found the Bakersfield Toy Run to provide toys to the Salvation Army for needy kids. They were killed in a wreck in Kernville. This was the toy run's 26th year. The Harmons rode in the run when it was just 50 motorcycles and 75 toys. They volunteered through the years until it grew to 4,000 motorcycles, 200 classic cars, thousands of toys, $12,000 in donations and 1/4 ton of groceries helping 1,624 local families.
Jim Harmon was 58, Debbie Harmon was 57.
Charles Wesley Mitchell came to Shafter from Oklahoma as a child and spent much of his adult life farming in the Shafter area with his family. He later joined Pioneer Equipment and served as president of the Kern County Farm Bureau as well as serving on a number of other boards. He was also active in political circles, serving on the Kern County Republican Central Committee and was named Kern County Republican Party's "Republican of the Year."
Mitchell was 70.
Maria Palacios was a mother of four who was Kern County's first person to die of swine flu. She had moved with her family to Bakersfield about four years ago. She struggled with hepatitis, which she came down with nine years ago while pregnant with her son. The disease left her weakened and easy prey for the H1N1 virus. Through it all, her daughter said, she never complained.
Palacios was 37.
OCTOBER
John Lencioni came to America from Italy with nothing to help create one of Bakersfield's most successful construction companies, Colombo Construction. Buildings that bear his stamp include Downtown Elementary School; St. Philip the Apostle Church; and the Amtrak station downtown. He lived by the credo that: "If you wouldn't buy it yourself, don't try to sell it to someone else."
Lencioni was 83.
Marian Benner was a longtime community activist in east Bakersfield who was deeply involved in the East Bakersfield Faith Community Alliance and East Bakersfield Community Coalition. She focused on children, spearheading activities via the after-school Kid's Club program, the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. She even drove neighborhood kids to and from activities, held English as a Second Language classes in her living room and helped neighbors with taxes or legal documents. She was a good friend and a mom of four active teenagers. And she did it all despite struggling with acute lymphadema.
Benner was 46.
NOVEMBER
Carlos Lozano came to the United States from Mexico as a child in 1919. He later became fluent in seven languages, translated during World War II and Korea and became the founding chairman of Cal State Bakersfield's Department of Foreign Languages. He had dropped out of school at 16 but was encouraged to go back and eventually won a scholarship at the UC Berkeley. During doctorate studies in literature and languages, he was drafted into the U.S. Army where he rose in rank to major. In Korea, he endured a "horrendous year of fighting" and among other decorations, received the Legion of Merit. His academic career followed.
Lozano was 96.
Cliff Crofford was co-host of the mid-1950s KBAK-TV show "The Chuck Wagon Gang," a prolific honky-tonk club performer and movie-soundtrack songwriter. Crofford played with Bill Woods' Orange Blossom Playboys at the Blackboard saloon and at various local venues with the Jimmy Thomason Band. He also toured with Johnny Cash and Roger Miller. He achieved his greatest fame writing songs for movies and even appeared in two: "Every Which Way But Loose" and "Any Which Way You Can," both starring Clint Eastwood.
Crofford was 79.
Matt Cercone was a 1994 South High graduate who played briefly in the NFL as a tight end with the Minnesota Vikings. He played at Bakersfield College, where he was a JC All-American and first-team All-Western State Conference tight end as a sophomore in 1996. He went on to be a two-year letter winner at Arizona State, where he totaled 18 receptions for 201 yards and three touchdowns. In 2000, he played two games for the Vikings and three games in 2002.
Cercone was 33.
Darrel Hildebrand was one of Kern County's most respected planning officials. He died of complications from swine flu. He was the longtime assistant director of the Kern Council of Governments, leading the agency's Blueprint program, a three-year effort to create a vision of what Kern and the rest of the valley will look like in 2050. He was honest, down-to-earth and practical, according to co-workers.
Hildebrand was 56.
DECEMBER
Richard (Dick) L. Venturino was well known as "the voice of Bakersfield" for his many "did you know..." recordings often used locally in place of telephone hold music. He has more than 160 clients in Kern. Thanks for Holding was his second career after retiring from a successful radio and television advertising business at 69.
Venturino was 84.
