Billy George Highfill

Billy George Highfill, 83, died peacefully on Monday, March 26 at home. He was born in Gaineville, Texas. He lived in Oakdale for 67 years. Mr. Highfill served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. The family thanks the many friends and family who faithfully visited him. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Alice Henriques Highfill; son, Billy (Brenda) Highfill; daughter, Karrie (Farrell) Shatswell; two grandchildren; and nieces and nephews. He ...

Dr. Leo “Lindy” Morris, DDS

Dr. Leo "Lindy" Morris, DDS, 82, of Riverbank died peacefully on Sunday, April 1 in Modesto.

Apolonia ‘Polly’ Hoffman

Apolonia 'Polly' Hoffman, 93, died suddenly on Wednesday, March 21 at Oak Valley Hospital.

Kenneth C. ‘Whitey’ Josephson

Kenneth C. 'Whitey' Josephson, 84, died Sunday, March 25 in the presence of his loving family.

Florabelle ‘Florie’ Lathrop

Florabelle 'Florie' Lathrop, 93, died recently in Turlock. She was born in Oakdale. She is survived by her daughter, Mary Cox of Hilmar; son, Lawrence Lathrop of Soldotna, Alaska; nine grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband of 49 years, John 'Jack' Lathrop; son, John Lathrop; and grandson, Robert Cox. Rosary with mass to follow will be at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 30 at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 8417 ...

Carol Jean ‘Dolly’ Speck Snyder

Carol Jean 'Dolly' Speck Snyder, 67, died unexpectedly on Thursday, March 22 at Doctor's Hospital.

Jason Edward Turnage

Jason Edward Turnage, 39, died Wednesday, March 14 of colon cancer. He was born in Fremont, California and lived the majority of his life in Oakdale. He was a 1991 graduate of Oakdale High School and a United States Navy veteran. In 1995, he and friend Jeff Sawyer founded Oakies Board Shop. He began Plush Screen Printing in 1996 with one employee Paul Riva. In 2003 the two men combined their experience and began a ...

Mark Steven Godkin

Mark Steven Godkin, 61, died unexpectedly Monday, March 12 in Modesto. He was born in Oakland and raised in San Leandro. After graduating from Marina High School he started working for Pacific Telephone. Mr. Godkin moved to Oakdale where he pursued his love of living in the country, horses, hunting and sports. After his retirement he enjoyed traveling and taking cruises. He was a long time member of Grace Lutheran Church. He is survived by ...

Tony Navarro

Tony Navarro died Dec. 11, 2011 of cancer. A memorial bike and car run celebrating his life and legacy will be held for his friends and family on Saturday, March 24., leaving from 1049 East A St., Oakdale at 11:15 a.m. It will continue through town, exit on J59 / La Grange. First stop will be at 'Basso Bridge' river near La Grange, then proceed to the La Grange Odd Fellows Lodge to continue with ...

William James ‘Bill’ Pooley

William James 'Bill' Pooley, 60, died Wednesday, March 14 in Iowa as the result of a fall.

Hoyet Seals

Hoyet Seals, 94, died Thursday, March 15. He and wife, Arline Seals, moved to Oakdale from Southern California in 1988. He and his wife enjoyed their home in Oakdale where they were active members in the Community United Methodist Church. Mr. Hoyet enjoyed fishing, camping, and creating projects, including model railroads, in his workshop. He loved spending time with his family and gardening. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Arline Seals; daughter, ...

Rick Chuck

Rick Chuck, 53, died Thursday, March 15 of sudden heart failure. He was born in Santa Clara and lived in Oakdale for 45 years. He graduated from Oakdale High School in 1976. At age 13, he worked at Oakdale Chevron and worked his way up to eventually become the owner/operator. He worked at the station for 26 years. After selling the station, he began selling real estate for PMZ Realty, where he worked for five ...

Edna Barnes

Edna Young Barnes, 91, died Tuesday, March 6 of pneumonia. She was born in Rock Creek, Idaho and lived in multiple states before settling in Escalon in 1961. Mrs. Barnes was a public health nurse, caring for people for many years. The final years of her long career were given to Stanislaus County's Foothill Horizons Outdoor Education Camp, where she was dubbed 'Grandma' by all the ...

Connie Garcia

Connie E. Garcia, 82, died Saturday, March 3 at Oak Valley Care Center. She was born in New York and came to call Oakdale her home in 1969. Ms. Garcia was an avid seamstress. She loved to crochet and loved making dolls. She also made hats for babies for area hospitals. She volunteered for a Christian food sharing organization for 24 years. Her ...

Lindsay Peabody

Lindsay Kelly Peabody, 53, died Tuesday, March 6.

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 ...