A final good-bye

In this issue, we offer a final tribute to those we lost in 2008. We limit ourselves to 20 names from those whose lives helped shape Carson Valley, some for years, others decades.

This year, touched by the couples who died together, or within weeks of each other, our list includes 23 people.

They include soldiers Timothy and Randi Miller who were gunned down in their home March 2 outside Fort Lewis, Wash. Timothy Miller was a 1998 graduate of Douglas High School. The Army sergeants met and married in the service.

Their legacy lives on through their daughter 18-month-old daughter Kassidy who is being raised by her grandparents in Gardnerville.

Norman and Virginia White were killed May 23 on their way to a classic car show in Topaz Lake. The Whites celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2006. Friends said they died doing what they loved.

Leonard and Betty Ann Ludel, longtime Gardnerville residents, died within weeks of each other in Reno. Betty Ludel died May 22 at age 85. Leonard Ludel, who put Gardnerville on the map with the American School of Diamond Cutting, died July 13. He was 95.

He was instrumental in the Carson Valley Swim Center.

Those who died in 2008 included Washoe Tribal Elder Marie Kizer who died May 1 at age 81 and Basque sheepherder Esteban Iturri, 79, who died Oct. 17.

The Minden-Tahoe Airport community lost two businessmen. Charles "Chuck" Dickerson died Jan. 13 at age 64, and Bill Hutt, 69, died May 5.

Carson Valley lost several military veterans including Larry Lamb, 88, who died April 30; Daryl Mobley, 81, who died June 30; Kenneth Hellwinkel, 80, who died Sept. 12, and Leonard Anker, 87, who died Sept. 22.

The arts community lost Lynn Kelly Brown, 83, on Jan. 22. She was a founding member of the East Fork Gallery.

Harriet Cox, the centenarian grand marshal of the Glenwood neighborhood Fourth of July parade, died at her home Sept. 8 at age 105.

Roxe Richter, died Oct. 30, seven months after she celebrated her 100th birthday with a party at Carson Valley Inn.

"I thought that if I reach 100 and get a bite of my birthday cake, I'd be ready to go," she told a reporter.

Former East Fork Justice of the Peace Max Jones died March 28 at age 91.

A patriarch in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jones also helped found the Douglas County Sheriff's Mounted Posse.

Our list is by no means complete. We invite our readers to submit additional reminiscences and pictures to: editor@recordcourier.com.

- Charles "Chuck" W. Dickerson: age 64, died Jan. 13, businessman, pilot and owner of Air Sierra Unlimited at Minden-Tahoe Airport

- Lynn Kelly Brown: age 83, died Jan. 22, Gardnerville artist and founding member of East Fork Gallery

- George Abbott: age 84, died Jan. 31, Minden attorney and active in Nevada Republican party, served during presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower

- Timothy and Randi Miller: Timothy, 27, and Randi, 25, were murdered March 2 in their home near Fort Lewis, Wash. Timothy was a 1998 graduate of Douglas High School

- Max Jones: age 91, died March 28, former East Fork Justice of the Peace and patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

- Lawrence W. "Larry" Lamb: age 88, died April 30, Pearl Harbor veteran, served in the U.S. Air Force for 25 years in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, past commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars

- Marie Kizer: age 81, died May 1, Washoe Tribe elder, basketweaver, active in Dresslerville Senior Center and helped organize and prepare food for annual cultural dinner

- William O. "Bill" Hutt: age 69, died May 5, U.S. Navy veteran, pilot, businessman and owner of Hutt Aviation at Minden-Tahoe Airport

- Leonard and Betty Ann Ludel: Leonard, 95, died July 13, Betty Ann, 85, died May 22. Leonard Ludel opened the American School of Diamond Cutting in Gardnerville in 1967 and was instrumental in the Carson Valley Swim Center

- Norman and Virginia White: Norman, 73, and Virginia, 70, were killed May 23 on Highway 395 on their way to a classic car show in Topaz Lake, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2006

- Gerald "Jerry" Northway: age 65, died June 15, former Carson Valley Kiwanis Club president, active in Project Santa Claus, Carson Valley Community Food Closet and Kids' Fishing Derby

- Daryl Mobley: age 81, died June 30, active in Topaz Veterans of Foreign Wars No. 3630

- Harriet Cox: age 105, died Sept. 8, grand marshal of the Glenwood neighborhood Fourth of July Parade and community volunteer

- Kenneth Hellwinkel: age 80, died Sept. 12, Korean War veteran, rancher, lifetime Gardnerville resident

- Leonard Alton Anker: age 87, died Sept. 22, led platoon on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 4, 1944, recipient of Distinguished Service Cross, three Purple Hearts and three Bronze Stars, businessman and rancher, served on Gardnerville Town Water Board and Minden-Gardnerville Sanitation District, member of numerous service clubs

- Mary Dorothy Coone Downs: 87, died Oct. 10, trained as "Rosy the Riveter" in World War II, one of the first to homestead in Johnson Lane, she helped build the house and cultivate the 160-acre property.

- Joseph William Denton: 49, died Oct. 20, active in Kiwanis Club, Toastmasters, Douglas County Republican Central Committee and was Exalted Ruler of the Minden-Douglas Elks, former county commission candidate, taught blind skiers and volunteered with "Reel Kids Real Recovery" teaching fly-fishing to children with cancer

- Esteban Iturri: 79, died Oct. 17, immigrated to the United States in 1948 as a sheepherder in the Ruby Mountains in Elko, relocated to Genoa in 1961 and became manager for Meadow Gold Dairy for 18 years, retired in 1997 from State of Nevada prison dairy

- Roxie Alta Richter: 100, died Oct. 30, school teacher, celebrated her 100th birthday on March 31 with a party at Carson Valley Inn

- Diane Gordon: 78, died Nov. 25, former inner-city high school principal in San Francisco, active in Douglas County Republican Central Committee, Sierra Nevada Republican Women, Autumn Hills Fire Relief Committee, Sheridan Acres Volunteer Fire Department and Sierra Philharmonic League