Obituaries

Johnnie Love Epstein Johnnie Love Epstein, nee Copeland, passed away December 2, 1999.Johnnie was born in Houston, Texas, and came to Santa Paula as a young child. She was the daughter of John Copeland and Claudia Love Copeland. Johnnie graduated from Santa Paula High School in 1932 and, after two years in junior college, attended and graduated from the Cottage Hospital nursing college in Santa Barbara.She married Jack Kirk of Santa Paula, and they had three children. Her life was an adventure of travel and work, including a motorcycle vacation trip to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico.Later in her life she married Victor Epstein. She and Vic shared many interests and were great traveling companions. They lived in San Pedro, where she passed away after a period of failing health.She is survived by her husband, Victor; her daughters, Nancy Shanks and Jimmie Fredericks; and son, Jene Kirk.Harold G. NewmanHarold G. Newman, age 99, passed away peacefully on December 12, 1999 with family close at hand.Born April 27, 1900 in Santa Paula, at the Briggs Ranch, he was the oldest of three children to Clara And Phillip Newman. Growing up in Santa Paula he graduated from Santa Paula High School in 1919, then went on to graduate from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in 1921, earning a degree in agriculture and farm mechanics.Returning to Santa Paula, Harold became the foreman at the Blanchard Ranch, where he worked for 10 years. He married Atha Mae Orinderff in Santa Paula on June 28, 1927.Harold was an active member of his church. In 1921 he became interested in scouting and helped start a Boy Scout troop in that year. His scouting involvement over the years earned him distinguished awards, including the Silver Beaver and Lutheran Lamb Award.In 1941 Harold, with his wife Mae and their two children, Kenneth and Anita, moved into a small house on Deodar Avenue in Oxnard, where he lived ever since.Harold and partner Tom Rader started an auto parts store, which they sold to Hubert Catlin in 1945. He remained with Catlin’s Auto Parts as foreman and manager until he retired in 1967.During his life Harold was very active in the American Red Cross, where for a long time he was in charge of all instructors and programs in the Oxnard-Port Hueneme-Camarillo area.Harold was active in the YMCA, and due to his life long love for the mountains and outdoors, the Sierra Club. His community involvement culminated in his election as Distinguished Citizen for Oxnard in 1971.