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People we remember
Biographies are where we share about family & friends to connect with others who remember them.
Daniel Pinna:
"11/10 - 11/11/19 was a great new experience for me. I was in Bakersfield at a recording studio called River Theatre at 1213 North Chester Ave in Oildale (Bakersfield) CA working on a new company with new business partners. The River Theatre opened in September 1939 and then closed around 1964/1965. It became a recording studio for Buck Owens from 1968 until 1992 when a number of artists like Johnny Cash recorded. It then became an independent recording studio from 1992 until it closed in April 2008. Since that time a new friend of mine has utilized the location for him and his band.
It was my 1st time to Bakersfield and one of my longer drives. I've only driven once longer than that and that was the time my father and I drove from San Jose to Los Angeles over to Phoenix Arizona to visit my grandmother in Sun City."
Daniel Pinna:
Founder & CEO, AncientFaces - I began AncientFaces in 2000 while a sophomore in college attending Santa Clara University in Santa Clara California.
The original concept of AncientFaces was a genealogy photo sharing site - the 1st of it's kind dedicated to sharing old family photos to add a face to the names in our family tree. A number of months were spent developing AncientFaces before the original launch of the website. We mapped out & designed the website, built the code and scanned then uploaded hundreds of our own family photos to 'seed' the database. I recall vividly when we launched and knew we'd be around a while when new photos were added by our first few visitors. In 2000 it wasn't a simple process to preserve old photos. The only way to digitize them were to physically scan them in. After a few months we even did some give-aways of scanners to some of our early members.
As of September 2020 marks officially 20 years of AncientFaces. Over the last twenty years AncientFaces has grown from a few hundred old photos to over 1 million containing 200 million biographies maintained by a community of 285k+ members.
This initial concept has grown into a cause shared by many; we firmly believe that everyone deserves to be remembered. AncientFaces has become a place to share the stories about who our loved ones really were through biographies. Bios include all of the basic details (birth/death location & dates and family trees), but also include photos, memories & stories that have been passed down.
When we create these profiles of our loved ones we give them an online footprint which we all have for ourselves today. Other people add their stories, recollections and photos, and through our collaborative efforts we work together to paint a portrait of the people that matter most.
Barbara Penrod:
Ambrose Hairston - My great-grandfather was the captain of a crew of workers, who installed "new- fangled" electric lines and gas lines to Sparta, and other southern cities. Therefore, the family moved from Georgia, to Tennessee, and to Alabama.
He had a second job delivering ice to homes about the time of the outbreak of the Spanish Flu (1918-1919). His daughter, Anne, saw bodies stacked like cordwood outside their window.
He married his sixth cousin, Martha Hairston, who was three years older, and they had 11 children (one died in early childhood).
While he was frail in his nineties, he had a good mind and a sense of humor.
Carolyn Davidson:
Patricia (PattiPooh) was my sweet baby sister! - I held baby Patti when she was born. I was 13 years old at the time. About eighteen months earlier my younger sister, Becky, had been born. The two of them were best buddies. I would sit on the floor and let the girls divide my hair in half and they each got to put in curlers, bows and barrettes. I looked so silly, but they were entertained while mom fixed dinner. Lol
Jo-Ann Wisniewski:
Memories - My grandmother 🥰:). German food…still the best I’ve ever had! Gram’s desserts… especially her raspberry turnovers and cinnamon/sugar swirls with leftover dough…chocolate chip cookies and rum balls at Christmas! Playing cards at night… and the song while getting our tea and treats ready…” I love coffee, I love tea… I love Jo-Ann and she loves me!”
🥰🙏🥰
M. Montana:
Ketan - You Are Never Forgotten - I met Ketan when I was 10 years old, having to spend summers with my father. I was riding my bike past his home and he wiped out on his BMX. I asked if he was okay and he said yes. Then I met him a few days later through a mutual friend, who always talked about Ketan. We never introduced ourselves when we first met but then were formally introduced by chance a few days later. I spent all my summers as a kid with Ketan who served to give me much needed escape being trapped in a home that was very unwelcoming. He brought love and solace with him but more so it was his ability to make people laugh hysterically that was his true gift. I think about him often and had a dream about him many years ago where he was in an elevator with me and told me something but I just can't remember what he told me. The dream felt so very real, and it was years after he passed away. Lots of Love & Light Ketan - Give Yash a huge hug from me and say hello to your dad for me too.
Tammy Sue:
Grandpa’s garden - If you ever knew my grandpa he was a very hard worker, his garden was his passion he loved to fish as well. He was always a jokester but loved to tease grandma all the time. I miss laying on his clothes from work every morning he wore. That smell I absolutely love to this day! I miss him so much. Until we meet again grandpa.
Love Always,
Jimmy/paddlefoot
(Tammy)
Virginia Daire:
Mae was my aunt. She was married to Edward Daire and she had a daughter, Janet. - Interestingly enough, Mae was born the same year as Juliet Low, founder of The Girl Scouts of America. Mae was a girl scout leader. She helped me and my sisters earn our Girl Scout and Brownie Badges. She was the official who "graduated" me from Brownies to Girl Scouts. When Mae was a little girl she thought the smell of vanilla extract was so good that it had to taste good too. So she drank it hidden in a closet in her parents' home. It taste horrid, of course. But I'll never forget her telling me the story. She was a wonderful aunt.
Thelma Timinski:
Calvin “Ted” Wedge was my Uncle by marriage to my mom’s sister “Kaye” - “Uncle Ted” was my favorite uncle for specific reasons…he was funny and he was a friend to everyone he met. Uncle Ted, whenever I slept over at Aunt Kaye and Uncle Ted’s house, would wake me up, calling “Morning Glory”. And he and Aunt Kaye would take me dancing at the Aragon Ballroom on occasion, and Uncle Ted would dance with me at those times. He was a jokester, saying things like “Spell ‘wow’ backwards.” And when I was baptized, even though he was quite ill at the time, he and Aunt Kaye came from some distance to be in attendance and support. He was a good man and I loved him. I miss him too.
Ramon Garcia:
Happy Mother’s Day!!! - Kanella was like a grandmother to me. She would pick me up after school, take care of me while my parents were working. I will never forget her being there at every single life event, even when my own biological grandparents couldn’t be there.
She would help with my homework as much as she could. If not she would have her daughter Lorraine assist with the day’s assignment.
One thing I will always remember her by will be by her cooking and how she would make me help her in the kitchen. It was so much fun and therapeutic.
You see this is not something that I could share with my own biological grandmothers, so I treasure to this day those special moments. She was to me, what you call in the Italian-American culture, my nonna.
Although my life had a different path in store for me, there has always been a passion for the kitchen and the art of creating a meal from scratch no matter how many dishes nor utensils are involved in the process. Cooking with passion and for the reward of a potpourri of rich aromas seeping out of her 2nd story apartment and into the hallway and stairs of the 5 story tenement building in Washington Heights.
Thank you for all the great memories.
Your favorite kerata (colloquial Greek term loosely meaning ‘rascal’),
Ramon L Garcia
Richard Domagalski:
Richard Beyer - Educator in St. Mary's College, Moraga, Ca. Master's Program in Confluent Education. - Brillant man always stretching his thirst for knowledge and his students. He had a Fullbright Scholarship to study in India and was a Trainer for Werner Erhart in EST called the Training for many years. His wife Carol also an Educator together had two sons Neil who was one of my students at Synergy Independent Studies School in Walnut Creek, Ca. The first of its kind in California with many schools to follow and still educating children by building a curriculum around the student. Neil while still in school at age 12 got Cancer and was gone in 3 weeks. Neil was focused on time left and organized his favorite things in life and gave them to his friends while still here. His parents Carol & Richard organized a Celebration of Life for Neal and his follow students & parents lead the way to acknowledge the incredible life and contributions Neal had made and the Difference his life made. This event left an indelible mark on me as an educator and not yet parent in life. Jeff the other son was not interested in education per se but life experiences tugged on him. After Neil passed Jeff took the family BMW 320i car apart in the garage and rebuilt it bolt by bolt. His sense of sound was remarkable as upon completion of rebuilding the entire car. He drove it too Concord BMW Dealership and met with the service manager and owner for several hours and was hired on the spot. Afterwards they paid for him to attend BMW School and graduated top of class and was soon head mechanic for many years to come.
Richard & Carol parted as unfortunately lots of couples do even brilliant conscious one's struggle with loss of a child so deeply loved.
Richard Beyer was drawn to more self-discovery looking for support of losing Neil. He decided living on the land was drawing on him and soon was living on 125 ac in Alder Point, Ca. he bought with partner Richard Evans. A very talented artist who he met and was looking to commune with the land also. In the past I would take my younger son Joel - who I took into the wilderness most of his young life - to visit and he would walk downhill through the very wooded forest about a mile to fish in the Eel River. Of course, coming back was another story.
This man was my Master Teacher when I was getting my Teaching Credential in Secondary Education and afterwards my Master's in Confluent Education. I learned more about life/passion/forgiveness from this exceptional human being. He would always say... Know You Are Loved.
Thank you - Friend
Alfred Naigle:
Alfred James Naigle is my father. He is retired USAF Lt Col with service in WW2 as a B-25 Pilot with the 500th Bomb Squadron, 345th Bombardment Group operating in the Pacific AO. After military service he worked for the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation in Central Washington. He was married to Erika A. (Hoins) Naigle and there are 7 children. They both lived and passed away in Quincy, Washington. They are buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Section 60.
