LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Siegfried Franz Otto died June 1, 2017, just shy of his 80th birthday, after a short battle with pneumonia.

He was born July 30,1937, in Wickede-Ruhr, Germany.

He was an adventurous man, and he often said that he could live almost anywhere in the world and be happy.
 
As a child, he survived World War II. While his village was being bombed, grenades flew through the windows of his family’s home. During the war, he and his brother would often steal apples from the local orchards when they were hungry. Since all of the trees were owned by the government, this could be quite dangerous.
 
In the early morning of May 17, 1943, the British bombed the nearby Möhnesee Dam. As the floodwaters rose, Siegfried hung onto the tail of a large goat while a neighbor pulled him to safety up a hill to a church.
 
As a young man, Siegfried served with the first postwar German army. When the soldiers marched through the streets, little old ladies hung from the windows and shouted, “Go home, boys. No more war!”
 
After graduating from business school and working in the cold-rolled steel business, he decided to see the world.

In 1963, Siegfried said goodbye to his family and sailed from Bremen to New York City. Eventually, he hitchhiked to the West Coast.

With limited English, he found jobs in San Francisco. He was a Fuller Brush and a Collier Encyclopedia salesman. In addition, he spent 10 years working for King-American Ambulance as an EMT. Later on, he was an EMT in Los Angeles during the Watts riots.

While living in San Francisco, he had the chance to play a paramedic in the Clint Eastwood film “Dirty Harry.” He also spent 26 years as a pear and walnut farmer in Lake County.
 
He and his wife, Christie Morrison Otto, were happily married for 47 years. He was a wonderful husband, father and Opa.

He is survived by his wife, Christie; his children, Miriam and Jeremy; the Alois Otto family; his grandchildren, Ben and Vaughn; and many, many friends and relatives. 
 
Before he died, Siegfried said he was going to the mountains. Did that mean that he was going to climb the Passion Play hill, travel to his son’s cabin at Letts Lake or ascend to heaven? One thing we know for sure: His next great adventure lies ahead. God bless him!
 
A Catholic Mass and a celebration of life will be held at St. Peter’s Church in Kelseyville on July 22 at 10 a.m. A reception will follow. Please join us!
 
Donations in his name can be made to the Lake County Passion Play in which he participated for 25 years. Please send them to P.O. Box 386, Lakeport, CA 95435. Donations can also be made to Donor Network West Services at 888-570-9400.

Arrangements by Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary, 707-263-0357 or 707-994-5611, or visit www.chapelofthelakes.com .

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Written by: Editor

Published: 17 June 2017

Barbara Ann Graves
Sept. 10, 1941 - June 13, 2017

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Barbara Ann Graves was born Barbara Ann Scott on Sept. 10, 1941, in San Francisco to parents Harold Scott and Dorothy Mae LeBounger (m).

She grew up in Oakland, Calif., with her sister Joan Mae Scott and brother Harold Scott Jr. Unfortunately Barbara would lose her beloved Mother when she was only 9 years old. At a young age Barbara took the place of her Mother as the “Lady of the House,” and was instrumental in helping to raise her two younger siblings.

When Barbara, was 20 years old her Father brought home his younger friend from work, Robert Joseph Graves (b. 1925 d. 1983), originally from Poteau, Okla. He proposed to Barbara, during a trip together in Clearlake, Calif., when it was still called “Clearlake Highlands.”

They were married on Sept. 30, 1961, in Carson City, Nev. She would give birth to three children: Robert Joseph Graves Jr., Sept. 16, 1963, in Oakland, Michael Scott Graves, July 18, 1965, in Oakland, and Patrick Neil Graves, Oct. 22, in Fayetteville, Ark. (d. Jan. 13, 2013).

In 1969 the couple made the decision to raise their young family in Clearlake. She would live in Clearlake, until the death of her husband on Dec. 14, 1983. In January 1984, she started over in Oakland, with her youngest son Patrick.

She began working in “Law Offices” and soon began to run the operations. In the late 1990s she, along with her “brother-in-law” James Owen Rush, opened their own office in Oakland on Edgewater Drive.

Along with her sister Joan Rush she worked it as a family business until the evening of June 18, 1998. On that night Barbara suffered a severe stroke while locked in a bathroom of the office building. It took over an hour for her to be found and the damage was done.

Not expected to live the weekend, she would prove the doctors wrong and survive. However she lost the use of the right side of her body, lost the ability to speak, had to learn how to walk and eat, and only had a vocabulary of about four words. She was always alert, understood everything that was being told to her, and continued to make her own decisions.

Over the next 19 years she was selflessly cared for by her sister Joan and brother-in-law James Rush.

In time she was preceded in death by her brother, Harold Jr. (Sonny); brother-in-law, James Owen Rush; son, Patrick; and sister, Joan.

In her last years she was cared for by her nephew, Daniel Rush, and his wife Pam, of Oakland, and by her son, Michael.

In that last three years she became a resident of Elmwood Rehabilitation and Care Facility in Berkeley. This was the place she considered home. They treated her wonderfully, and she often blew kisses to the faculty and fellow residents. She loved the people of Elmwood, and they gave her the same in return.

In early March 2017 she was diagnosed with Melanoma. It was discovered too late, and had spread.

Barbara Graves had a zest for life, and a strong will to live, but was given a prognosis of just a few months to live. She choose to spend the remainder of her days at Elmwood.

On June 13 at 4:31 a.m., with her son Michael at her side, Barbara left this world for the peace of another.

She is survived by her oldest son, Robert Graves, and daughter-in-law, Dawn, of Middletown, Calif.; son, Michael, of Clearlake; grandchildren, Jason and Jordan Graves, Sammi Butler and Taylor Graves, all of Virginia; along with several great-grandchildren.

On the final wishes of Barbara Graves their will be no services. Please remember her as you knew and loved her.

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Written by: Editor

Published: 17 June 2017

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Maxeen Owens passed away on Sunday, June 4, 2017, at the age of 96.

Born in Klamath Falls, Ore., on Oct. 17, 1920, and formerly of San Jose, Maxeen lived in Lake County for eight years.

Her father, Warren, died in Reno, Nevada, in 1929 of anemia. She lived with her mother, Bertha, and other relatives for several years in many different places, finally settling back in Klamath Falls.

Her mother had very poor eyesight so Maxeen applied for, and received, a driver's license at the age of 12. She had a drivers license for 77 years without a ticket or a wreck!

In 1938, while still in high school, she met and fell in love with a young Robert Owens. There were wed on Sept. 6, 1939, in Macdoel, Calif. Maxeen was a bank teller and Bob was a logger. They bought their first home in Dorris, Calif., for $800.

After traveling around the Western states and driving all the way down to Mexico City, they eventually moved to San Jose, Calif., in 1946, purchasing a motel and selling and buying several more until 1951 when they purchased the California Motel at 1706 S. First St. in San Jose.

After being married 14 years, they had a son, Don, on Sept. 18, 1953. The motel was sold in 1974 and Bob and Maxeen retired, bought a fifth wheel trailer and again traveled around the Western US.

In 1980 they built a second home in Wisdom, Montana, where they divided their time between Wisdom and San Jose.

Bob passed away on Sept. 14, 1995. After that, Maxeen traveled with her friends and family, taking numerous cruises to Mexico, Alaska, the Caribbean and Europe (she loved to travel!).

In 2009, Maxeen moved to Kelseyville to be near her son and his family as she grew older.

Maxeen passed away peacefully at Meadowood Nursing Center in Clearlake on Sunday, June 4. She was loved by all and will be missed. GO GIANTS!!!

Maxeen is survived by her son, Don Owens, and his wife, Joy, and grandson, Robert Owens, and his wife, Kiley, all of Kelseyville; granddaughter, Amanda Bolla and her husband, Greg, of Hidden Valley Lake.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Warren E. Kandy and Bertha Bule Kandy; sister, Josephine Auran Moresi; and brother, Delbert Fay Anderson.

Maxeen is inurned at Oak Hill Memorial Park in San Jose.

Our gratitude goes out to the Salamida Family for all their years of love and support for Maxeen. “She was truly blessed by you.”

Arrangements under the care of Jones & Lewis Clear Lake Memorial Chapel.

Please share your loving memories of Maxeen Owens by signing her online guestbook at www.jonesandlewis.com .

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Written by: Editor

Published: 13 June 2017