VCCCDRA BLOG

Mike Taggart, former ESL instructor for the Bilingual Vocational Arts program at Ventura College, passed on July 27, 2019 (he was born on September 15, 1930).  Mike would have been 89 next month.

Daughter Rebecca Taggart informed us that there will be a celebration of life for Mike in Ojai on September 8th.   More information will follow.

Hiroko Yoshimoto spent the five last days of his life by his bedside together with his family and friends in his house at Higgins Lake in Michigan.  When contacting us about Mike’s passing, Hiroko shared that Mike was a very close friend for nearly 40 years, and that in those days, he held court at the campus cafeteria with Frank Salazar, Mike Seely, Don Clark, Gary Johnson and many others most of whom are no longer with us.

Mike’s obituary was published in the Ventura County Star on Sunday, August 25, 2019; click here to view.

To visit the VCCCDRA website, click here.

The VCCCDRA Board recently learned of the passing of Jim Jarvaise on June 19, 2015.   Although it has been more than four years, we wanted the retiree membership to be informed of his passing.

Jim Jarvarise was a Founding Faculty at Oxnard College having begun his tenure in 1975.  Jim was an internationally known painter whose works were displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Gallery San Jorge in Madrid Spain and many others.

There is a beautiful article about Jim, his family, and his home in Santa Barbara in the Santa Barbara Magazine (beginning on page 118), click  the link to read the article; and a  biography of Jim on Wipipedia and can be viewed thru this link.

To visit the VCCCDRA website, click here.

The VCCCDRA recently learned of the passing of Jeri Chandler.  Jeri worked at Moorpark College for nearly 20 years.  She served as Student Services Specialist and Matriculation Specialist.  She passed away peacefully on July 1, 2019.  A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, August 24th at 1 pm at the Thousand Oaks Inn — Banquet Center, located at 75 W. Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Thousand Oaks.

To read Jeri’s obituary please, click here.

To visit the VCCCDRA website, click here.

Per information received from Steve Gunderson, Miriam’s son, Miriam Gunderson passed on June 25, 2019.  Miriam worked at the District Office as administrative assistant to Dr. Bill Lawson.  Services for Miriam will be held on July 12, 2019 at 10 am at Pierce Bros Cemetery in Westlake Village.

An obituary has not yet been published.  We will provide a link to it as soon as it is published.

To visit the VCCCDRA website, click here.

Last week, the VCCCDRA Board learned of the passing of George Wymer on December 24, 2017.  Below is a shortened version of George’s obituary that was published by the VC Star on December 30, 2017.  Below the text is a link to the full obituary.

George Edward Wymer

February 14, 1945 – December 24, 2017

George Edward Wymer, seventy-two years of age, passed away in his sleep in the early morning hours of December 24, 2017. He is survived by his two daughters, Wendy Wymer Frost and Jennifer Ann Wing, and their children and grandchildren.

George was born on the fourteenth of February, 1945 in Redding, California to Diane and Louie Wymer. He grew up in the small town of Central Valley, California in Shasta County where he enjoyed playing baseball, reading comic books, hanging out with his friends and swimming in Lake Shasta.

He had his first job there working at the local movie theatre running the projector. George graduated from Central Valley High School in 1962. George attended Shasta College and graduated with an Associate Arts degree in 1964. He and his wife, Lola, moved to Chico, California where he attended and graduated from Chico State University with both Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in English in 1967 and 1968, respectively.

After graduating, George moved his family to the beach in Ventura, California where he got a job as an English teacher at Ventura College. George worked at Ventura College for forty-two years until he retired in 2009. Throughout the course of his career he helped create the film program and the creative arts magazine at Ventura College. Over the years he shared his love of nature, film, creativity, poetry, satire, photography, writing, reading and literature with the thousands of students he taught during his long career. While his academic career was very important to him he most of all enjoyed spending time with his family especially his grandchildren. His retirement was rich with laughter, love, and family time.

Throughout his life, he displayed incredible generosity of spirit and a deep loving kindness towards all of those he came in contact with. He was the most giving, dedicated and loving father, a super amazing grandfather and great-grandfather, and a loyal and sweet friend. We are all better for having had him in our lives. He will be deeply missed.

Ojai has been home for George since the 1980’s. He loved the amazing colors of Ojai’s sunsets, particularly the Pink Moment, of which he often took pictures.

To read the full obituary, please use the following link.

To visit the VCCCDRA website, click here.

Daisy Pauline Eilers – known as “Polly” – passed away at the age of 94 on April 28, 2019. I can think of no better words to describe her than those used by her beloved nephew Dustin Benham: “She was a beautiful person, kind to everyone and inspirationally positive.” A memorial service and celebration of her life will be held on Thursday, May 9th, at 3:30 p.m. in the Point building at C.C. Young, 4847 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas 75214. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to either Joni And Friends or the Benevolence Fund at C.C. Young.

Published in Dallas Morning News on May 1, 2019.  To see the obituary in the Dallas Morning News click here.

——– Forwarded Message ——–

From Harry Cullota:

“William (Bill) Shilley passed away on April 5 at the age of 90.  He had many careers – priest, family and marriage counselor, and instructor – and was the founding instructor of the Alcohol and Drugs Studies program (later renamed Addictive Disorders Studies) at Oxnard College.  This is a program that exists within the District only at Oxnard College, a program for which Bill worked very diligently to develop its curriculum.  Bill was such a dedicated instructor that he taught full time for many years, only retiring at the age of 79.  Even after retiring, he continued teaching part time in the program for many years thereafter.

To leave a memory or message for the family, please use this link.

It is with deep regret and sadness that VCCCDRA announces the passing of William “Bill” Shilley,  founding faculty of the Addictive Disorder Studies Program at Oxnard College and a beloved professor of thousands of students.  Bill retired in 2007 but continued to teach part-time at OC.  At his passing, Bill was teaching one Spring 2019 semester class of ADS R101, Overview of Addiction.  Bill was known and highly regarded throughout the State of California in the field of Addiction Studies and Prevention.  He advised many colleges in the State on the establishment of their own addiction studies programs.  Bill was on the board of California Association for Drug/Alcohol Educators (CAADE) for over thirty years, and continued to his passing.  Bill was instrumental in establishing accreditation standards for Alcohol/Drug Studies Programs in California.

Cards may be sent to Bill’s daughter, Kristin Shilley, at:
8058 Denver St.
Ventura, CA 93004

Funeral arrangements are pending.

To visit the VCCCDRA website, click here.