Luther Armstrong

Luther Armstrong, 81, died Wednesday, Aug. 29 in Valley Home after a long battle with cancer with his loving family nearby.

William J. Padgett

William J. Padgett, 85, died Wednesday, Aug. 22. He worked for AL Gilbert in Oakdale for 25 years. He also rented a ranch in Oakdale on Orange Blossom Road where he and Bud Hunt had a business called B and B cattle. He enjoyed raising beef cattle. Mr. Padgett also had a band and he loved to sing, it was something he looked forward to every week. He also enjoyed planting a garden every year. ...

Wanda Rich

Wanda Rich, 85, died on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012, in Ripon. She was born on April 28, 1927 in Howe, Oklahoma, the daughter of Roy and Ila Boswell, the eldest of nine children. She and her husband Ken raised their children in Tracy, where she worked first as a lab technician for the H. J. Heinz Company and then later, with her husband, for the Tracy Defense Depot. While there, they helped to build the ...

John Martin Utley

John Martin Utley, 85, died peacefully on Thursday, Aug. 23 at his home with his family at his side after a five-year battle with dementia.

Fernando Lomas

Fernando Lomas, 60, died Friday, Aug. 24. He was a longtime resident of Riverbank. He is survived by his beloved wife, Candy Lomas; daughter, Roseirene of Oakdale; sons, Fernando and Ruben (Marcella) Lomas, all of Riverbank; brothers, Ernesto and Alex Lomas; and seven grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his mother, Socorro Acosta; and father, Alejandro Lomas. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a rosary starting at 4:30 p.m. on ...

Eugene Alvin Miller

Eugene Alvin Miller, 60, died Monday, Aug. 20. He was born in Marshfield, Wisconsin. He graduated from Gustine High School and received an AA Degree from Modesto Junior College. He was a resident of Oakdale since 1982. Mr. Miller worked for BNSF Railway for 37 years. He was an outdoorsman and his values are exemplified by the Rivers of Recovery that provides combat veterans with a rehabilitation program that focuses on outdoor activities. He is ...

Hazel Rosamund (Robuck) Harris

Hazel Rosamund (Robuck) Harris, 99, died Wednesday, Aug. 22. She was born in Knights Ferry to Thomas and Myrtle Robuck. She attended grade school in Knights Ferry and graduated from Oakdale High School. Mrs. Harris' family maintains a home on the original ranch property where she was born on Sonora Road in Knights Ferry. She is survived by her daughters, Judy Anne Harris, Jeannie E. Blom; sister, Betty Irvine; two nieces; seven grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; ...

Della Mae Henderson

Della Mae Henderson, 77, died peacefully on Sunday, Aug. 19 in El Dorado Hills. She was born Della Mae Winters in Grady County, Okla. to Mattie and William 'Cyrus' Winters. Mrs. Henderson spent her entire active life in Oakdale involved in many community activities including the Oakdale Golf and Country Club, The Eastern Stars, and Calvary Baptist Church. She enjoyed gardening, fishing, and RV trips to Quartzsite and Branson. She was a friend to all ...

Ronald Morrow

Ronald Morrow, 67, died Thursday, Aug. 16 in Oakdale. He was born in Missouri to the late Jessie and Lena Morrow. He was a resident of Oakdale for the past 12 years and previously of the Ripon/Manteca area for more than 50 years. Mr. Morrow retired after 27 years of service from South San Joaquin Irrigation District as an Operations Water Superintendent. He was a reserved, loving man who enjoyed boating, fishing, gardening and Nascar. ...

David W. Peixoto

David W. Peixoto, 80, died July 31. He was born to Lenora and Frank Peixoto in Niles. He was a proud member of the large and loving Peixoto family, with a long history of farming and ranching in the Hayward area. Mr. Peixoto proudly served in the US Army in Korea. He had three great loves: family, gardening, and his 1931 Ford "Lil Joe." Following a long career in business as an independent owner/operator and ...

Dr. James E. “Jim” Laughlin

Dr. James E. "Jim" Laughlin, 68, of Mountain View died Friday, Aug. 3 after a 10-year battle with cancer.

Gerald William ‘Jerry’ Dickens

Gerald William 'Jerry' Dickens, 66, of Knights Ferry died Saturday, Aug. 11 with his wife and children by his side.

Darlene Donovan

Darlene Donovan, 73, died Thursday, Aug. 9. She graduated from Oakdale High School and lived in the Escalon, Oakdale and Riverbank areas her whole life. She was a resident of Oakdale and worked at the Oakdale Hershey Plant for more than 30 years. Mrs. Donovan was a talented artist and loved to paint. She will be greatly missed. She is survived by four children, including daughter, Tammy Blair of Lodi and son, Zane Garcia of ...

Sharon Benedix

Sharon Louise Benedix, 69, of Dorrington, died Friday, June 22 surrounded by her loving family in Rocklin. She was born at Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Escalon on March 13, 1943 to Richard and Thora Benedix. She had lived many years in the mountain community of Dorrington before spending her last couple of months in Rocklin. She was raised in Valley Home with her three sisters ...

Fred Paulus

Fred Paulus, 85, of Escalon, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, July 31. Born in Oakland, CA on July 30, 1927, he was a WWII and Korean War Veteran. Mr. Paulus spent 65 years in Escalon, farming rice while owning Paulus Rice Dryer. He enjoyed fishing, gardening, RV'ing from Alaska to Mexico with ...

Donna Joyce (Johnson) Smallwood

Donna Joyce (Johnson) Smallwood, 75, died Monday, Feb. 18 in Sonora.

McNeil Ballard, Jr.

McNeil J. 'Jim' Ballard, Jr., 77, died Monday, Feb. 11 from a very fast acting cancer at home, surrounded by his family. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. His family moved all around the United States as he grew up. He went to Los Gatos High School, went into the Air Force, and graduated from Northwestern University. Mr. Ballard's first job after college was ...

Mary Jo Banducci

James Capley

James Allen Capley, 73, died Friday, Feb. 15. He was born in Whittier to Mellie and Eugene Capley. He decided at a very early age that he wanted to become a cowboy. He was just that and loved every bit of horseshoeing, working cattle, and training horses. Mr. Capley lived in Oakdale for more than 40 years and was loved by many. He ...

Mildred Downing

Mildred Downing, 86, passed away on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013. She was born to Harold Vail and Esther Finfrock in Hines (now Paramount) California on Jan. 13, 1927. She was oldest of five children. She grew up in Bellflower, and graduated from Excelsior High School. She was a secretary at Republic Supply near Los Angeles, CA. One of her greatest joys as a young adult was taking her younger ...

Dorothy Lajeunesse

Dorothy Lajeunesse, 89, died Wednesday, Feb. 13 at Alexander Cohen Hospice House after a battle with cancer. She was born in Santa Rosa, the daughter of John and Helen Irwin. She grew up in Oakland and graduated from Oakland Technical High School. In 1990, she moved to Oakdale to be closer to her family after retiring from Brockway Glass Credit Union. Survivors include ...

Suzanne Holtan

Suzanne (Feichter) Holtan, 65, died Friday, Feb. 8 at UC Davis Medical Center after a long battle with heart-lung disease. She was a graduate of Oakdale High School and then lived in the Bay Area for many years. She retired to Twin Falls, Idaho with her husband Sam and granddaughter Amber. After her husband's death, she moved to Oakdale in 2009. Survivors include her granddaughter, Amber ...

Graham Sorensen

Graham James Sorensen, 77, died peacefully on Thursday, Feb. 14 after a brief illness, surrounded by his family at Doctor's Hospital, Modesto. He was born in Salinas, the son of Adolph and Ada Sorensen. He attended schools in Salinas and was a graduate of Cal Poly University, San Luis Obispo. He served in the Army National Guard. Mr. Sorensen worked many years for ...

Leland Ude

Dr. Leland K. Ude, 87, died Saturday, Feb. 16. He was a longtime resident of Oakdale, working as a chiropractor from 1950 until retiring in 1991. He was very involved with the Oakdale Kiwanis, Sportsman and Dinner Clubs, as well as the Parks and Recreation Board for Stanislaus County until the 1970s, where he oversaw the development of Woodward and Modesto Reservoirs and Fox Grove. <p ...

Barbara White

Barbara White passed away on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013 at the Riverbank Nursing Center, where she had lived for the past few years. She is survived by her mother, Frances Willett; sisters Sharon White and Debbie Willett; brother Joe Willett; daughters Dianne Sforza of Modesto and Sandy Leonard of Riverbank. She also had eight grandchildren, living in Riverbank and Modesto. Services were at ...

Mary Hofmann

Mary Angela Hofmann, 56, of Oakdale died peacefully on Saturday, Feb. 9 surrounded by her family after a brief illness. She was born in Patterson on Oct. 2, 1956 to Ina and George S. Bettencourt and was raised in Newman until she moved to Modesto in 1968. She attended Grace M. Davis High School and Modesto Junior College. She worked for Moore Business Forms for more ...

Gwendolyn Gregory

Gwendolyn C. Gregory, 75, died Wednesday, Feb. 6 at her Modesto home. She was a longtime resident of the Modesto and Oakdale areas. Working for many years as a registered nurse, she later owned care homes for the elderly before retiring. She relocated to her birth state of Tennessee for many years and enjoyed travel. Survivors include her sons, Michael ...

Jasperina Goedhart

Jasperina Cornelia (van den Berg) Goedhart, 88, passed away on Feb. 7, 2013, at Bethany Home in Ripon, CA. She was born on Sept. 7, 1924, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Hendrik and Teunje van den Berg, where she was raised until she moved to California in 1949 to marry Simon Goedhart, who preceded her in death in 1998. They were married for 48 years. She was ...

Johannes Denys

Johannes "John" Denys, 92, died Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013. He was born in Halstern, NB, Holland and had been a resident of Oakdale for 48 years. Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Quirina; six sons, John, Gary, Jeff, Casey, Adrian and Alvin Denys; three daughters, Annie Mayfield, Corrie Denys and Carol Solus; and many nieces, nephews and grandchildren. Viewing will be Wednesday, ...

William Amman

William 'Bill' Amman, 54, of Oakdale died Sunday, Feb. 3 at home. He was born Jan. 24, 1959 in Los Angeles, the son of Kay and Gerald Amman. Growing up in Southern California he developed a strong talent for woodworking from his father and was involved in 4H. His love for animals continued throughout his life and he was an active supporter of local 4H and the Oakdale Animal ...