Bobbie Coffer lost her battle with cancer and passed away peacefully on March 15, in her home at the age of 63.
Bobbie was born on Oct. 6, 1960, in Fortuna to Robert (Bob) Russell and Beverly Russell. She was the youngest of their three daughters. Bobbie graduated from Fortuna High School in 1978. It was there that she met and later married her high school sweetheart Mike Smith. The couple spent many years together and ended up having two daughters, Brooke and Briana. Eventually the couple later grew apart and she met and remarried to Paul Coffer. They later also had a daughter of their own, Kara Coffer.
Kevin Douglas Coles was born in Lakeport, California 1937 and died in his home in Manila, California on March 7, 2024, with his wife Mary and his daughter Shannon by his side.
Kevin was 86 years old and he spent those years living close to the things and people that he loved, doing the things he loved and wanted to do. He was a sailor at heart, all about boats and bays and sailing. He loved to tinker with trucks, boat motors and small engines and get them to work. He loved discovering and exploring new places and making people laugh.
David Lee Sams was born on May 18, 1931, in Portland, Oregon, to Lee and Marguerite Sams and passed peacefully on Feb. 10, 2024, surrounded by his sons, at Alder Bay Assisted Living in Eureka, California. He lived in Humboldt County for the past 60-plus years, primarily in Ferndale followed by Eureka.
After graduating from University of Oregon in 1953, dad volunteered for the draft; prior to leaving, he married Janice Hollister, a union that would last until Janice's passing in 2022. After spending a year in Korea, dad returned to the University of Oregon and obtained his teaching credential. His first job was at Douglas High School in Winston, Oregon, where he reports "learning a lot." With Janice seeking to leave the area, Dad secured a teaching position in Ferndale, California, and began teaching there in 1961, a career that lasted some 25 years. He taught arts, crafts, geography, mechanical drawing and even some math. He taught night school for seniors in a program that didn't last long. Son, Steve, reports that he didn't give any leniency to his sons while in school — "mechanical drawing was the hardest B+ I ever earned in high school." Dad was very active as a small-town teacher, involved with every graduating class and class advisor to many different years' students; he retired from teaching at Ferndale High School in 1986. He was very involved with the Ferndale Art Festival prior to and when it turned into the Kinetic Sculpture Race, as well as Our Saviors Lutheran Church and various automobile clubs
Upon retirement, dad continued his hobby of collecting those things that caught his fancy; from treadle sewing machines to Columbia River post cards to Roseville Pottery to automobile license plates to cars to automobile accessories — and much more. He always had the neatest and most organized collections. He was a good pinochle partner and trained many a cribbage player.
Preceding dad in death are his wife, Janice, and his son, Patrick. He is survived by Jerry (Carrie, and grandchildren Emily/Jonah, Lucas/Ashley); Phil (Lani, and grandchildren Kelly/Tyler and David/Ariel); and Steve (Elaine, and grandchildren Matthew and Stephanie/Tristan). He is also survived by two great-grandchildren, Jude and Maya.
A memorial service was held March 23, 2024, at Our Saviors Lutheran Church, in Ferndale.
Mom and Dad truly enjoyed living at Alder Bay for the last few years of their lives and we thank this facility for the care and companionship provided. The family would also like to thank Hospice of Humboldt for their compassionate care and support in the final few months of dad's life; he would be proud of any donations made on his behalf to Hospice of Humboldt.
It is with heavy heart that I announce the passing of my beloved mother, Carol J. Lauer, who departed on March 7, with her adoring daughter by her side.
Carol was born in Berkeley, California, in 1930 to Dagmar (Larson) Knudsen and Morris Knudsen. She was preceded in death by her devoted husband of 70 years, Richard, her sister Elaine Hesemeyer, brother Tommy Knudsen, and son David Lauer.
Left to cherish her memory are her daughter Linda Anderson, granddaughter Beth Elasowich and husband Adam Elasowich, two great-granddaughters, Rosemary and Marigold, grandson Aaron Lauer, his daughter Annette, and nephew Jeff Hesemeyer.
Carol deeply valued her friendships, and her numerous cherished friends were an integral part of her life. Though impossible to name them all, she expressed immense gratitude for the joy and support they brought her.
In accordance with Carol's wishes, there will be no funeral or memorial service. A private gathering to celebrate her life will be arranged at a later date.
The family of Calvin Harold Kernen is sad to announce his passing on Feb. 11, 2024, in Arcata, California. Cal was born Aug. 5, 1925, in Del Norte, Colorado, to Swiss Immigrants Friederick Alfred and Mary Albertina (nee: Gerber) Kernen and was proud to have turned 98 ½ years old just days before his passing.
He grew up on Pinos Creek near Del Norte as the youngest of seven children and loved life in the great outdoors. Cal grew up farming organically, eating farm to table, composting and living off the grid. He remembered the big changes electricity made to their home in 1937. The family raised their own crops and livestock, and Cal began helping at age 7. He loved tending to cattle in the hills, hunting and fishing. A highlight of growing up was being chosen to drive the school bus. Any 17-year-old in high school got to drive the school bus if they were the farthest one out on the route. That way the person driving had the bus in the morning to pick up the children for school. He drove a Ford V8 bus and was paid $12.50 a month. Cal was equally as proud to have passed the CA DMV written and road test on his last birthday.
Doris Hickerson died Feb. 22, 2024, in Eureka, California after a short illness.
Doris May McCann was born in Eureka Dec. 31, 1924, to Andrew Warren McCann and Cora Margaret Olson McCann. Both her parents were born in Eureka to immigrants from New Brunswick, Canada and Norway. The family included her older sister, Beryl Marie McCann. After her parents divorced, her mother married Barry Brown, and Doris's half-brother, Thomas Ashmun Brown joined the family.
She graduated from Eureka High School in February of 1943 and from Humboldt State College in June of 1946 with a BA in Elementary Education and a teaching credential. While she was a student at HSC, she met Robert Hickerson, a sailor stationed at the Naval Air Station in McKinleyville. They married in June of 1946. Doris taught for several years as Bob took advantage of the GI Bill to graduate from Oregon State College in Corvallis with a degree in physics. She followed Bob to his new job in Burbank, California, where their only child, Dean Robert Hickerson, was born in 1954. Bob's work took the family to Grass Valley, Sacramento, Davis and Yreka, California, as well as to a memorable year in Santiago, Chile. Doris especially liked the house they built a few miles outside Yreka, where they had Araucana chickens that laid colorful eggs, a large and productive vegetable garden, and a beautiful view of Mt. Shasta. In addition to teaching, Doris's various jobs included working in the U.C. Davis library and the Siskiyou County Planning Department.
When she and Bob divorced in 1983, Doris returned to Eureka, where she worked in the Humboldt County Planning Department until she retired in 1997 at the age of 73. In her retirement she took up quilting, writing, watercolor painting and some genealogy, mostly in small groups at The Meadows senior apartment complex where she loved, and was loved by, many of her neighbors. She also continued her life-long enjoyment of plants and gardening at The Meadows.
Doris was preceded in death by her parents, her beloved sister Beryl Carrico, her half-brother Tommy Brown, her ex-husband Robert Hickerson, her Siberian Husky Tara and many spoiled cats. She is survived by her son Dean Hickerson, her nephews Randy Carrico and Rob Buerk, nieces Lynn Carrico, Deborah Dukes, and Lori Buerk, and extended family.
No services are planned.