All Obituaries

Nancy Jacqueline Mathews   Born August 12, 1928 Died July 16, 2019   Born in Fort Smith Arkansas, Nancy moved to Taft, CA in 1930 and lived there until her 87th year at which time she moved to Bakersfield. She graduated from Taft High School in 1946 and attended vocational nursing school in Long Beach CA where she met her future husband William H Mathews of Wharton, Texas. They were married in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 1948.  They bore 3 children...

Hazel Ruth Davis 1928 - 2019 Hazel Ruth Casparis was born February 7, 1928 and passed away July 15, 2019. A native of Taft, Hazel lived most of her life in town, only moving to the Los Angeles area in her later years to be near her daughter, Joan.  At the age of 19, Hazel married fellow Taft native Charles Davis. Their union lasted 36 happy years until Charles's untimely death. Never one to slow down, Hazel remained active in the community as a volunteer at Taft's West Side...

Della Mae Bench August 10, 1937 - June 26, 2019 A Memorial Service will be held at Erickson & Brown Funeral Home, Taft on Wednesday, July 3rd 2019 at 10:00 am for former Taft resident Della Mae Bench, 81. Rev. Mark Roberts, Pastor of the Celebration Church of the Northwest, will officiate the service. Della Mae was born in Fellows, California, on August 10th, 1937 to Boyd William and Opal Bethell, and passed away in her home on June 26th, 2019. Della and Donald Bench owned and...

Paul Fredrick Cook February 15, 1940 - June 22, 2019 Paul Fredrick Cook was born on February 15, 1940 in Viane Oklahoma. He passed away peacefully in his home in Fellows, Ca on June 22, 2019. He is survived by his wife Loretta (Sutton) Cook, Son Mike Cook and wife Mary, Daughter Paula Glendening and husband Greg, Sisters Frita Barnett, Ruby Cox, Brother Kenny Cook, six step-children, 14 grand children, 17 great-grandchildren. He is proceeded in death by his son David Cook, his three...

Hope Rae-Lynn Phillips May 11, 2015-June 3, 2019   Hope Rae-Lynn Phillips was born to parents Rich and Teffoni (Moor) Phillips in Bakersfield, CA on May 11, 2015 and was tragically taken from this world on June 3, 2019 in Midland, TX. She was her parent’s miracle, her older sister’s answered prayer and cheer partner, and her younger brother’s boss, I mean protector. From the moment she entered the Earth, she truly stole the show. Whether it was her screaming until...

John Ray Lippert Sr. 1918 - 2019 John Ray Lippert Sr was born July 14, 1918, in Fellows, CA, and went home to be with the Lord on April 15, 2019 at his home in Taft, CA, just 3 months shy of his 101 st birthday. John was born on a lease near Fellows, CA to Peter and Bessie Lippert and attended elementary school in Fellows, graduated from Taft Union High School in 1937, and attended Taft College where he ran track. He married Charlotte Patricia Varley of Maricopa, CA on May 4, 1947. John...

Obituary, Laura Mae May April 19, 2019   Laura Mae May, age 95, long-time resident of Valley Acres, died at home on April 18, 2019.  Laura was born September 28, 1923, on a homestead near Upton, Wyoming.  Her parents were Howard and Lillie Norris Butts.  Laura attended a one-room country school before entering and graduating from Upton High School.  In 1941 she travelled to Tacoma, Washington, where she met and married Willard May.  The couple were married 67...

M. Corene Wagner October 27, 1926 – April 15, 2019   Corene Wagner was born in Fellows, California to Theo Filer and Grace O’Harrow and grew up and became lifetime friends with her future husband of 58 years Robert C Wagner Jr.  She was a member of First Baptist Church in Taft before her move to Bakersfield where for the last 14 years she has been a member of Valley Baptist Church and part of the Prayer Quilt Ministry.  She is preceded in death by parents Theo...

Edward Dean Johnson May 22, 1948 - April 10, 2019 Edward was born in McCurtain Oklahoma on May 22, 1948 to Earl Junior Johnson and Mary Marie Bray Johnson Bethell. Edward, a Taft High School graduate of 1966, proudly served his country in the U.S. Airforce from July 1966 until he was Honorably discharged in June of 1972. After his discharge he went on to work for Texaco/Chevron from where he Retired after working for more than 30 years. He had a small farm where he raised horses, goats,...

Wanda Margaret Ireland Sutton Spradlin July 7, 1931 - April 7, 2019 Wanda Spradlin passed away April 7 2019 in Taft California. Wanda Margaret Ireland Sutton Spradlin was born in St. Elmo, Illinois on July 7, 1931– the youngest child of Jim and Nancy Sweetland Ireland. Wanda had a twenty- month older sister, Alta Ireland, to welcome the new baby home. Wanda was a happy and busy child. She loved school, and entered into everything she could. When she was in the third grade, the...