Obituaries

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.

We are saddened to announce that our beloved GG, Ione Franz, passed away peacefully holding her husband’s hand on Feb. 24, 2024.

Ione was born Feb. 26, 1936, to Joe and Mary Leonardo. She grew up in Ferndale, California, with her siblings Mary, Evelyn, Joe and Frank. In 1953 she was crowned Queen of The Holy Ghost Portuguese Celebration. Ione graduated from Ferndale High School in 1954 and spent her life in the field of bookkeeping. On July 17, 1970, she married the love of her life Lee Franz, and they were happily married for 53 years.

Ione was known for her amazing sense of humor, love of Wildcats football games with her cowbell in hand, volunteering at The Ferndale Museum, going to her great-grandkids school and sporting events, anything that involved spending time with her family and most of all … she loved to SHOP!!

Ione is survived by her husband Lee Franz, children Sandy Hosley, Debbie Hosley, Steven Hosley and daughter-in-law Claudia Hosley. Grandchildren: Rendy Hosley, Janessa Campbell (Kyle), Hollie Kostick (Wes), Keri Hosley, Dennis Hosley Jr. (Kelly) and Lee Hosley. Great-grandchildren: Avery Ione and Darian Campbell, Kelsey and Donovan Atkinson, Dalton and Sullivan Hosley, as well as many more loved ones.

Ione was proceeded in death by her mother Mary, father Joe, brothers Joe and Frank, sister Mary and her son Dennis Hosley.

While we mourn the loss of our beloved GG’s passing, we take comfort in knowing that she has been reunited with her friends and loved ones up above. We will carry her memory in our hearts for a lifetime.

Matthew 5:4 — “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Services were held on March 15 at Sanders Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, we request donations to be made to the Cancer Society or St. Jude’s Hospital.

Tim Cochrane was born the evening of Aug. 24, 1953, in his maternal grandparents’ home in Eureka, California, to James William Cochrane III and Alice Loree Stockton Cochrane of Loleta, California. He and elder brother James Michael “Sham” were later joined by Robert Todd and sister Leslie Loree, the four of them growing up on Singley Hill in Loleta. Tim had an ear for music and began playing the piano when he was only 3 years old. On his fourth birthday, he was
presented with a piano from his parents, launching a lifelong love for the instrument and all things musical. Tim attended Loleta Elementary where his father was superintendent and briefly attended Fortuna Union High School
before the family relocated to Chiapas, Mexico, resulting in a year escaping formal education and exploring the jungles of the Yucatan. Later, the family moved to
Peru when his parents joined the Summer Institute of Linguistics.

The time in the Amazon was formative for Tim and he embraced the different cultures, their traditions, music and cuisines. Packing his trusty accordion along since the piano did not fit under his arm, he easily established rapport with people
through his music and learning their music. When Tim was 16, he hitch-hiked from the jungle to the Andes, south to Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia, Chile and back, a trip that he never forgot.

After high school graduation in Peru, Tim returned to the states to attend College of the Redwoods and Humboldt State. It was there that he met Marie Mengel through mutual friends, and they married in 1975. In 1976, daughter Jana Marie was born and in 1978, Laura Ann joined the family. Three years later, Dorothy Loree was born, and Rebecca Elizabeth appeared on the scene in 1984, completing the family.

In 1975 Tim was recruited by Bank of America and by 1981 he was the Chief Financial Officer at Bank of Loleta. Seven years later in 1988, Tim left the Bank of Loleta to found Six Rivers National Bank and became president and chief executive officer of the new community bank. The bank was noted for its technological innovation and caught the eye of the New York branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, which was assisting the Russian Central Bank in its transition from the communist system to the free market. This led to Six Rivers National Bank hosting Russian bankers for hands-on experience in U.S. banking and reciprocal invitations to Tim to travel to Russia on several occasions, where he made many lasting friendships. Subsequently, Tim was asked to create Banker Benefits, a start-up human resources and benefits subsidiary for the California Bankers Association. After three years, Tim returned to banking, working as a management consultant in San Francisco, Seattle, Houston and Southern California before returning to Eureka and establishing Cochrane & Associates Wealth Management Services.

Health issues forced him into retirement and in 2011, he was fortunate enough to have a heart transplant, a gift from a donor family whom he never had
the privilege of meeting. Tim and Marie became ardent advocates of organ donation and were provided the opportunity to honor Tim’s heart donor and to continue the legacy of organ donation with the untimely death of their eldest daughter Jana. Tim was a wonderful, loving husband, father, papa, uncle and friend. He was a prankster at his core and enjoyed making people laugh and smile. He had a great love for all things cooking and baking, a past time that he often enjoyed with his grandchildren. Even as he lay there in his final days, no less than three times in one day did three kids come asking for cooking tips: What temperature on that chocolate cake? What’s the zing you put in your huckleberry reduction sauce? Papa, how do we prep this catfish to fry up?

Tim raised four strong willed women and nurtured the development of eight grandkids, who all loved him dearly. He will be greatly missed by all, especially his wife of 49 years, Marie. Tim left this life the morning of Feb. 9, 2024, having squeezed the last possible second out of the time allotted him by our Creator. He was blessed to pass from this realm in the place he was most happy, his home for the past 16 years: On the beautiful Mattole River in Ettersburg, California.

He was preceded in death by his daughters Jana Marie Cochrane and Dorothy Loree Chambers; parents Jim and Loree Cochrane; brothers Sham, Patrick and Todd; maternal grandparents Virgil and Ruby Stockton; paternal grandparents
Jim and Louise Cochrane; son-in-law Charles Schuttloffel; brother-in-law Sam
Mengel; and in-laws Lowell and Dorothy Mengel.

He is survived by his wife, Marie; daughter Laura Cochrane and her children Tig and Hazel Schuttloffel; daughter Rebecca Sheets, her husband Jason and their children Colin, Reed and Mae; son-in-law Douglas DeShiell; son-inlaw Kelton Chambers and his children Kaden, Hunter and Makenzie; sister Leslie Loree Cochrane Burchfield, her husband Dennis and daughter Lauren; sister-inlaw
Cyndee Cochrane and her sons Justin and Christopher; brother-in-law Lowell
Mengel; brother-in-law Ward Mengel, his wife Christine and son Carl; brother-inlaw Russell Mengel, his wife Donna and children Russell, Robert, Kerri, Michelle
and Jennifer; nephew Corey Cochrane; and niece Kristie Cochrane Stogner. He
also leaves behind lifelong friends and confidantes Jon Sapper and Alan Mahon.

Reflecting on his life, Tim said, “I’ve had a good ride. I was born into a loving family, had a wonderful wife and children, great friends, met many interesting
people, had an interesting and successful career and been able to travel the world. What more could I ask for?” Indeed, what more?

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.

Dr. Edward Buzz Webb, vice president for student affairs emeritus, died peacefully at home with his wife Judy, daughters Lisa and Sydney, by his side. He leaves his wife Judy, daughters Lisa (Erik) and Sydney (Geo) both of Homer, Alaska, his sister-in-law Salli Sachse, half sisters, Judy Webb and Peggy Webb, along with six granddaughters: Anna (Kevin), Miranda (Justin), Isabel (Emily), Larsen (Keaton), Malina, and Natasha.

Buzz wrote this about the joy in his life. “I am 86 years old and under hospice care because of a terminal lung disease and am housebound. It might seem counterintuitive to write this as joyous. The joy comes from looking back with few regrets at a full life: a satisfying career, backpacking in the Sierra, traveling after retirement, watching my children and granddaughters grow and mature. But most of all being married for 64 years to the same person I met in high school. As your readers know, one gives up gracefully the activities we can no longer do — and we find new ones that better fit our capabilities. That is where I am — with joy and contentment.”

Buzz waited to leave us until the daffodils bloomed and the taxes were paid.
A complete obituary will follow.

A celebration will be held March 9, from 4:30 – 7 p.m.,, at Merryman’s Beach House. Parking is limited so carpooling is encouraged.

Audrea Filbey (Hafner) was born on March 12, 1977, in Arcata, California, to Timothy Hafner and Sandra Andrews and passed away on Feb. 2, 2024, in Eureka, California, two years and four months after being diagnosed with treatment resistant Ewing cancer.

Growing up, Audrea loved painting rainbows, music (she played the clarinet and taught herself how to play the piano), playing with her Rainbow Brite and Strawberry Shortcake dolls, honing her skills on the monkey bars, riding her bike, and, most of all, playing with her little sister, Allie. The day Allie was born, Audrea told her mother that she was actually *her* baby and that she would be the one to take care of Allie! The sisters developed a bond like no other and would often be found rolling around in fits of laughter, unable to breathe at times. They were inseparable from day one and had a lifelong, unbreakable bond.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024