Ronald Dennis James lived a long and fulfilling life. In 1980 married his beautiful wife Linda, and of this union 2 loving children, Lisa and Ronald Jr. resulted. Ronald was born in Manhattan New York and was a member of the United States Army for 15 years.

A man strong in faith, in character and in wisdom. Daddy was a father to fathers, a leader in every sense of the word, and a rare mentor. A man with a legacy that remains impeccable, one of God's generals on earth who through his words, presence and impact made a difference in the lives of all he met. A man of integrity who remained true and resolute even till the very end; faithful and committed to his calling, he did not waver in faith at any point in time. A loving husband, father, grand father, pastor, and friend, he has left his graffiti on the sands of time.
We do not mourn as those who do not have hope, we are confident in the legacy you have left behind. You remain in all our hearts, and in our minds, as a voice to guide, and as a trailblazer whose path we follow.

à venir

This memorial was created in the memory of our beloved Patricia Jean Walker who was born in Valparaiso, Indiana on 28th August 1963 and passed away on 4th April 2015, 51 years of age. Our Beloved Mother, Wife, and friend to many.

She is survived by her husband Douglas Walker, son Jason Vinroe, Daughters Suzanne Gordon and Tina Walker, 7 Grand Children, Brothers Ronnie Nuss and Roger Byers, Sister-in-Law Rhonda Sullivan.

God Took Her To His Loving Home

God saw her getting tired, a cure was not to be.
He wrapped her in his loving arms and whispered 'Come with me.'
She suffered much in silence, her spirit did not bend.
She faced her pain with courage, until the very end.
She tried so hard to stay with us but her fight was not in vain,
God took her to his loving home and freed her from the pain.

CAPPARELLI, Robert N. was born July 13, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois passed away March 21, 2015 in Sacramento. Husband of Freda Capparelli (deceased) and father to Albert Capparelli, Susan Capparelli (decesed), Robert Capparelli (decesed) and Paul Capparelli, and grandfather to Shaun Caun, Eric Caun, Michael Capparelli, Shawn Capparelli, Serena Lujan, Sabra Hill, and Shannon Capparelli. He is also survived by several brothers and sisters. He will be deeply missed. Private family service to be held.

Coesther Le Dora Taylor was born January 8, 1916 to Robert and Lucy Harper Ward. The 6th of 16 children, she grew up on a farm in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Her mother’s work as a mid-wife inspired Coesther from a very young age, and she often spoke of her admiration for this work and a longstanding desire to assist her mother with delivering babies.

After marrying Edward Taylor in 1937, Coesther moved with her husband to St. Louis, Missouri where she lived for 7 years. In 1939 her son Wardess was born. During World War II she packed her young son and took a long train ride to join her husband, who had relocated to the Bay Area for work. The family would eventually settle in Berkeley, CA and in 1947 her youngest son Wilbert was born. Coesther began working in the homes of local physicians while completing her certification and training as a Psychiatric Technician, and soon she started work in the psych ward at Highland Hospital. An intense job where she frequently had to manage difficult and even dangerous patients, she worked the night shift for over 30 years. At this point a single mother, she would often take jobs during the day as well. She continued to work in the homes of many local physicians even well into her retirement simply out of love for caring for others. In 1970, Wardess found the house at 1346 Ordway - the place that she would call home for 45 years.

Rarely one to shy away from an adventure, Coesther enjoyed travelling and could always be counted on to share stories about her excursions: day trips to Reno, cruises to Alaska, and visits to family everywhere from Maui to Chicago to Mississippi. She cherished the moments she spent with family and friends and could always be counted on to snap photos memorializing every event – taking so many pictures that she was known as the unofficial family historian. She grew fruits and vegetables in her garden and was a force in the kitchen, living a healthy, organic lifestyle well before it was popular. She adored dogs and had quite a few in her lifetime. And as an active and devoted member of the Church of the Good Shepherd for most of her life, Coesther always made room for God. She held various positions within the church and even served as a member of the Board of Christian Education. She was steadfast in her faith, loved her church and its fellow members, and was a regular churchgoer well into her golden years when she could no longer attend weekly. She was mighty, quick-witted, sharp, and fiercely independent.

Coesther died peacefully in her home on March 29, 2015 at the remarkable age of 99. She is survived by her sister Lucille Walker in Chicago; her brother Dewitt Ward in Berkeley; her seven grandchildren Miles, Aaron, Shokai, Kanoa, Kaisha, Gavin and Cicely; her 8 great-grandchildren Kayleigh, Katherine, Jacob, Zane, Kyra, AJ, Shayleigh and Ryan; her great-great-grandchild Solenne; and a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her parents Robert and Lucy; her siblings Mary, Pearl, Bessie, Robert, Jessie, Brinkley, Odessa, Narvelle, Lula, Bunyan, Joe, Sherman, and John; and her sons Wardess and Wilbert.

Dick Morgan was born in Long Beach, California to George and Marion Morgan. They had already lost a baby boy so their baby Richard was especially treasured. He was their only child. His mother doted on him and raised him with all the advantages she could afford. His father was a salesman so the family moved around the country a lot and struggled through the Depression like so many others at the time.

He spent a year in New York City as a small boy. His father has children by a previous marriage living in New York and he met his much older sisters and brother for the first time. He couldn’t remember meeting them but his sister Vivienne recalled being surprised by the little boy with his bright red hair. Marion embraced her step-children (their mother had died by then) and they cherished her and their new little brother.

Dick didn’t have pleasant memories of New York, though. He recalled being terrorized by street gangs that would chase him home from school. He was glad when the family moved back to California.

His father was an avid fisherman so they spent many summers at Convict Lake in the Sierra Nevada. Thus began a lifelong love of the High Sierra mountains, camping, backpacking, and wilderness adventure.

The family lived near Hollywood for awhile. Marion loved movies and they went almost every week-end to see the latest films. When she heard MGM was holding auditions for “Huckleberry Finn” she took little Ritchie to the studio. The casting director asked to talk to him alone in his office. He said, “Son, do you really want to be an actor?” Richie said “No”. The casting director escorted him out and explained to his disappointed mother that he just wasn’t right for the part.

Richie attended several schools throughout the Los Angeles area and that one year in New York. After his first year of high school in Los Angeles his mother insisted they settled down in one place. His parents bought a motor court (precursor to the motel) on the Rogue River outside Grant’s Pass, Oregon. Dick enjoyed his years at Grant’s Pass high school. He played violin in the band. By this time he was 6’2” and recruited for the football team. His only complaint about his high schools years was that he was first on the school bus in the morning and last off at the end of the route every day.

After high school Dick started at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) in Corvallis. He had spent his childhood tinkering with Rube Goldberg models, soapbox derby cars, and taking apart clocks, toasters, and anything else he could get hold of. So it was natural that he would one day major in engineering. The war was on and by this time his parents had moved to Washington to help build Liberty ships in the Vancouver shipyards. Dick spent his summers working there.

Marion had ambitions for her son that went beyond their life in the rural Pacific Northwest and encouraged him to enroll at the California Institute of Technology. When Dick arrived he was told that none of his credits from OAC would transfer so he would have to start over as a freshman. Undaunted, he graduated from Cal Tech in 1949 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He played left tackle for the Caltech Beavers.

By this time engineers were being aggressively recruited to help design rockets for nuclear warheads. Dick was soon working at North American Aviation developing rocket technology, where he met and was smitten with a brilliant and pretty analyst named Mary Sherman. They married in 1951. By 1962 they had four children.

Although Dick had a great career at Rocketdyne (a spin-off of NAA in 1955) his true love was automobiles. He bought a brand new Volkswagen Beetle in 1953 which he tinkered on and souped up to 75 horsepower. He wrote one of the very first books on hot-rodding VW’s: “Souping the Volkswagen”, published in 1960. In the early 70s he started racing a Jaguar at Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats and came within a fraction of a second of breaking a land speed record for his class of engine.

He often bought old cars with the intention of restoring them. There were usually 6 or 7 cars in the driveway, the garage, on the back patio waiting for restoration. He was always working on one or another on week-ends and evenings.

When he wasn’t tinkering on cars or working up a new invention he would be helping his sons build large scale rockets in the garage and launch them in the desert as amateur rocket engineers.

Dick and Mary loved to travel, camp and backpack, and having 4 kids in tow never slowed them down. As soon as a child was ready to hike (at 4 or 5 yrs old) they hit the trails. Many summers were spent camping and backpacking in Yosemite. Alternate years were spent at the other great natural wonders all over the western United States. In 1976 they and their 2 daughters drove across the country to Washington DC for the Bicentennial. In the early 80’s they were among the first American tourists to visit mainland China. And they later toured Europe in a rented motor home, seeing the great sites of the continent, like the Fiat Museum in Italy.

After the success of the Apollo program, Dick switched departments and began developing renewable energy sources in the form of solar energy. He designed the energy storage system for the Solar I plant built outside Barstow, California.

When federal money for the solar program dried up after the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, Dick decided to forge his own path in energy conservation and research. He and Mary founded their own company, American Energy Consultants. The business was a great success as California was passing stricter regulations for energy conservation. They became the foremost experts in Title 24 energy code.

When Mary developed COPD Dick took care of her until she died in 2004. He was devastated but still did not retire. While recuperating from a broken hip 2010 he met a caregiver who gave him a new lease on life. He married Mercy and spent the last four years of his life with her. She made him very happy.

Dick was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just weeks before he died on June 3, 2014. As he requested he was buried holding one of his beloved model cars.

He is survived by his beloved wife Mercy, his four children, George Morgan, Steve Morgan, Monica Felo Weber, and Karen Morgan Newe and their spouses. He also is survived by fifteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He will be greatly missed.