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Cullen Lowe
A celebration of the life of Cullen C. Lowe who died March 13, 2007, will take place Wednesday, March 21.
Mr. Lowe, 46, worked as a clerk for Bel Air markets for 15 years until ill health forced him to leave.
He was born in Marysville, and lived in Elk Grove and Sacramento County since 1978. He attended Sacramento City College and was a member of the Sacramento Nisei Bowling Association. Interests included golf, bowling, gambling, sports and eating.
Mr. Lowe was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Elidia Lowe.
He is survived by his wife of 17 years Julie Lowe of Elk Grove; brother Calvin Lowe and wife Debi of Yuba City; sisters Roberta Taylor and husband Tom, Barbara Trygg and Mary Lowe; nephew Darrin Trygg; and great-nephews Darrin Jr. and Robert Trygg all of Sacramento.
Today’s services begin at 10 a.m. in the chapel of South East Lawn Mortuary, 9189 East Stockton Blvd., Elk Grove. Cremation is private.
Remembrances may be made to the Fred H. Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, P.O. Box 19024, J5-200, Seattle, WA 98109-1024; the American Diabetes Association, 10445 Old Placerville Rd., Sacramento, CA 95827; or the charity of the donor’s choice.
James Fales
A celebration of the life of James (Jim) Fales will take place Sunday, March 25 at the Senior Center of Elk Grove, 8830 Sharkey Ave. Mr. Fales, 79, a longtime educator with the Elk Grove Unified School District, died March 13, 2007 following a brief illness.
He was born in Kane, Pa. on April 26, 1927, and, although education was his career, he also enjoyed acting. In 1953, while playing in “Guys and Dolls,” he met a backstage worker, Nula Cheronis, and the couple married in 1954.
They lived in Warren, Pa. for six years where Mr. Fales taught, until coming to Elk Grove in 1960 as a counselor at Elk Grove High School. He moved on to serve as vice principal of that school, and then became principal of Daylor High School, the first continuation high school in Elk Grove. He went on to help start other alternative schools in the district.
Mr. Fales was a member of the Rotary Club of Elk Grove where he received the highest honor Rotary offers, that of being named a Paul Harris Fellow. He was also a member of the State Continuation Education Association, and served on the board of directors for the Strauss Festival of Elk Grove.
For the past 12 years the couple has split their time between Elk Grove and Mazatlan, Mexico, enjoying boating, swimming, warm weather and Mazatlan sunsets.
Mr. Fales is survived by his wife of 52 years, Nula; and his children and grandchildren, Lisa and Mike Iliff, Sam and Mac; Susan and Renato Peruzzi and Nico; Jimmy and Kelli Fales, Noah and Zachary; and Ann Niemann, Mallerie and Kaylie.
He was the brother of Joyce Campau of Michigan.
Sunday’s services begin at 2:30 p.m., and the family says shorts and no socks are preferred. Remembrances may be made to the Jim Fales Scholarship, Elk Grove Community Foundation, P.O. Box 2021, Elk Grove, CA 95759.
Thelma Irene Storjohann
Thelma Irene Storjohann died April 15, 2007. She was 89.
Memorial services for Ms. Storjohann, a loving mother and grandmother, will take place on Saturday, April 21 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Elk Grove.
She is survived by her daughter, Sylvia Porter, of Elk Grove; grandchildren, Wendy Dorton, of Utah; Aaron Porter, of Sacramento; Sara Otter, of Riverside; and Tim Porter, of Elk Grove.
She was the great-grandmother of seven and was preceded in death by two husbands, Andrew J. Mesna, whom she was married to for 33 years; and Max Storjohann, whom she was married to for 25 years.
Friends are invited to attend to memorial service at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Elk Grove Boulevard. In lieu of flowers remembrances are preferred to Mercy Hospice, 7919 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento.
Melvin Warner
Melvin Arthur Warner passed away in Elk Grove on August 11, 2002 at the age of 76.
A native or Oregon, Mr. Warner lived in Elk Grove for eight years.
“Our father was a very self-motivated man, a jack-of-all-trades and very good at all of them,” said daughter Sandy Warner.
Mr. Warner is survived by his son, Ron Warner, who lives in Redmond, Oregon with his wife, Lesli; and his daughter, Sandy Warner, and her husband, Tim Underwood of Elk Grove; seven grandchildren: Darlene, Donna, Scott, Tyson, Nathan, Maya and Janelle; and seven great-grandchildren, Jayme, Cora, Heather, Courtney, Lyshele, Sandra and Michael.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 48 years, Edna Warner.
Friends are welcome for visitation today 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Thursday from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. Services will be Friday at 10 a.m. in Elk Grove Funeral Chapel, 9101 Elk Grove Blvd. Interment, at Oakmont Memorial Park in Lafayette, will be private.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances are preferred to the Kaiser Permanente Hospice Program, 2025 Morse Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95825.
Chester Womack
Chester Virgil “Grizzly” Womack, the colorful owner of Wilton Antiques, died Dec. 22, 2002, at the age of 88.
He was born July 3, 1914, on a farm in the Ozarks in Missouri, where he grew up. Later he would write about those years in two books, "Tis Better To Be Rich and Healthy than Poor and Sick," and a cookbook, "Vim and Vigor without Viagra."
Mr. Womack joined the U.S. Navy before World War II, a move that was the start of a career in deep sea diving. He worked on several historic diving missions, one of which was at Pearl Harbor, where he raised several sunken ships and made decisions on ships that were doomed to stay at the bottom of the bay. The Arizona was one of the most notable of those decisions.
He spent 14 years in the Philippines, where one of his big jobs was the salvage of silver pesos in the Bay of Corregidor.
In 1955, while on a work hiatus in San Blas, Mexico, he met Graciela Castorena, who became his wife and mother of their four children.
The family moved to Marin County, where Mr. Womack was in the business of buying and selling property. He founded the Silver Peso in Larkspur, a popular watering hole to this day, said his son, Fred.
The Womacks then moved to Sonoma County, where he bought the Rustic Inn in Glen Ellen. This was in the ’60s and early ’70s.
“By this time Grizzly was getting fed up with the so-called hippies,” said Fred, “and decided to move the family to Mexico, a plan which ended on the highway somewhere near San Diego when a truck driver suffered a heart attack and rammed his semi into our trailer from behind. My dad was worst off, but after his back recovered, he moved the family to Montana, where he bought a hotel, restaurant and bar in town. That lasted a few years.”
Next stop was Elk Grove, where he bought a large warehouse, selling it after a few years, and acquiring part interest in the Y-Not Club in Sheldon.
In the early ’90s he purchased the community building in Wilton, turning it into Wilton Antiques as well as a “counseling center for the lovelorn,” said Fred. “He held court there for the last years of his life.”
Mr. Womack is survived by his wife, Graciela, of Yuba City; his children, Alicia Patricia Gignoux and husband Tom of Missoula, Mont., Frederick Louie Womack and wife Patty of Oakland, Orville Virgil Womack and wife Beth of St. Charles, Iowa, and Graciela Jessie Meyer and husband Terry of Yuba City; and eight grandchildren.
An old-fashioned wake for Grizzly was held Sunday at the Wilton Antiques Store, where Fred summed up the family’s feelings by saying, “My father was a larger than life character and will be remembered to all as a legend in his own time.”
Alfred Marois
Alfred "Ace" Marois, a resident of the Sacramento area for approximately 20 years, died March 3, 2003, at the age of 81.
Mr. Marois was born Nov. 5, 1921, in Fitchburg, Mass., where he grew up. He married Ruth Schwartz in Beaumont, Texas in November 1948.
He was a painter by trade, a shipper in electronics and a heavy equipment operator who helped build Foster City, California. The family came to California in 1963.
Mr. Marois was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth.
He is survived by his children, Kenny Marois of Fitchburg, Jerry Marois of Elk Grove, Clara Marois of Lake Wales, Fla., and Linda Arslanian and Debra Marois of Sacramento; nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
He was the brother of Alfonce Marois of Florida, and Moe Marois, Jeanette Solwan, Rita Griffin and Terri Adams all of Massachusetts.
Graveside services will take place Saturday at 11 a.m. at Elk Grove District Cemetery.
Helen Swiston
Helen O. Swiston, a resident of Elk Grove for the past 36 years, died Feb. 27, 2003, at the age of 78.
Mrs. Swiston was a past president and lifetime member of the Methodist Hospital Volunteer League, serving as the chairman of the information desk and hospitality services. She was a founding force in the creation of the special hospital service, "Krafty Kritters."
She was born Oct. 31, 1924, in Haskell, Okla. to Buford and Lela Harshaw. Following her graduation from high school there, the family moved to the state of Washington to work in the shipyards during World War II. She was a welder's helper and also drove trucks and cars for the U.S. Army units stationed there.
Following the war the family moved to Portland, Ore. and Mrs. Swiston worked for several years at Farmers Insurance Co. She met her husband, William "Bill" Swiston, there. The two were married and, in 1952, moved to Sacramento, where they established an independent insurance company.
The Swistons came to Elk Grove in 1967. Both Helen and Bill participated in community and church organizations, including Elk Grove Lions Club, Elk Grove Quarterback Club and St.
Joseph's Church Knights of Columbus. They were also charter, active and social members of Valley Hi Country Club.
Mrs. Swiston was an avid fan of the athletes in her family, beginning with her husband, son and grandsons.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Bill Swiston, and her brother, Eddie Harshaw.
Mrs. Swiston is survived by her children, Jalynne Callori and husband Fred of Elk Grove and Bill Swiston II and wife Julie of Sutter Creek; her grandchildren, Dominic and Dain Callori and Patrick Simmons; and great-grandson, Adler Simmons.
She was the sister of Sybil Timmons and husband Sherman, and sister-in-law of Janet Harshaw all of Portland. She is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews and great-nieces.
Funeral services took place Wednesday at South East Lawn Mortuary, Elk Grove.
