Looking back: There were many notable departures in 2022
Jan. 1—HE BUILT WORLD'S COSTLIEST GUITAR AMP
Sometimes it's not until an individual dies that the world awakens to the gift of his genius and the true extent of the loss.
Such may be the case for Bakersfield native Howard Alexander Dumble, who fused his extensive knowledge of music and the nature of sound with his long history of experimentation and innovation involving the building, modification and invention of his own line of electric guitar amplifiers.
Dumble, a 1962 graduate of East Bakersfield High School who went on to build custom amplifiers for some of the most famous guitarists in the history of recorded music, died Jan. 16 at his home in Turlock. He was 77.
TEACHER BECAME LEGEND IN LOCAL AG COMMINITY
He grew up with ranching in his blood, and throughout his long life, Kenneth Whitney shared his passion and vast knowledge with countless FFA students and their families in Kern County and beyond.
But as he shared his skills in animal husbandry, his habits of hard work and his love and respect for California's agricultural heritage, Whitney was teaching students more than the ABCs of ag. He was teaching them to be good humans.
"It's beyond me how one individual can have so much influence on so many people," longtime rancher RL Freeborn said of Whitney.
He remains astonished to this day that hundreds, maybe thousands of students, generation after generation, decade after decade, kept in touch with Whitney — and he knew them all by name — not just at Bakersfield High School, but years afterward through Whitney's long involvement with Bakersfield FFA and the Kern County Fair.
Whitney died Jan. 13 at his ranch in southwest Bakersfield. He was 93.
HE HELPED RETIRE CONFEDERATE FLAG AT SOUTH HIGH
He was the "original consensus-builder," a teacher-turned-principal-turned-district superintendent who combined a quiet, calm, almost shy demeanor with a steely-eyed determination to get things done — on local school campuses and in every corner of his community.
Don Murfin, whose respectful brand of local leadership brought great change to the Kern High School District, prompted the retirement of the Confederate flag at South High and helped develop the county's flagship library, died March 25 from complications of heart disease. He was 92.
"Maybe his defining characteristic was his ability to get community consensus on sometimes very contentious issues," said Joel Heinrichs, a former student at South who would become a lifelong Murfin family friend.
"He was often able to get a diverse group of people to agree on a plan that would work," Heinrichs said. "As a leader, he was really quite remarkable."
VIRTUOSO COLLAPSES, DIES ON STAGE
Some described it as the performance of a lifetime.
Kern County's music community is in mourning this week after one of their own collapsed and died during a performance at the Bakersfield Jazz Workshop on the evening of June 14.
Held at the Petroleum Club at Sundale Country Club in southwest Bakersfield, organizers of the weekly workshop had invited Mark Infante, 69, a well-liked and talented harmonica player and singer to provide an educational and entertaining clinic on the tiny musical instrument that had been his obsession and companion since he was a boy.
"Mark was the featured guest artist at the workshop that night," said longtime drummer Zanne Zarow. "He was a virtuoso on the harmonica. He played like a full rhythm section, while simultaneously playing the melody."
Halfway through his show, Infante smiled and fell over backwards from his stool onto the floor, Zarow said. "He was given CPR until paramedics showed up, but he was already on the wings of a song."
THROUGH EDUCATION, GRIT AND TALENT, HE ROSE
He worked from the age of 12 with his father in the farming industry. He labored as a dishwasher, served in the U.S. Air Force in his early 20s, and later at the Bakersfield Police Department and the California Highway Patrol.
Archible Wendell Sherman Jr. would go on to earn an associate degree, a bachelor's degree, a master's in business administration and, finally, a doctorate in education as he built a 22-year career at Bakersfield College in the 1970s, '80s and '90s.
Devoted to his church, devoted to his family and intent on helping others rise to their potential, Sherman died May 31 after a bout with pneumonia. He was 85.
FANS IN SHOCK OVER DEATH OF LOCAL STEEL GUITARIST
It wasn't supposed to end like this for local steel guitar master and Bakersfield Sound legend Larry Petree and his wife of 60 years, Betty Petree.
Lawrence "Larry" Petree, 88, was found in his vehicle by authorities on a blazing-hot August day in an open desert area east of California City. Betty Petree was with him. There were no signs of foul play.
The couple were loved by friends and music fans across Kern County. But many of those friends had a hard time making sense of what happened after news began to spread of the deaths.
"To say I'm devastated ... is an understatement," said Carol Donnelly, who met Larry Petree when she started working at the former Trout's Nightclub in Oildale, where Petree performed for a number of years.
Country music singer-songwriter Mario Carboni lauded Petree for his contributions not only as a great steel player, but for his kindness and good heart as a person.
"Larry worked extensively with Red Simpson at Trout's and his playing can be heard on Red's stellar recordings of 'Lucky Old Colorado'" and other selections, Carboni told The Californian.
AVID CYCLIST JIM LACKEY BEAT CANCER, INSPIRED OTHERS
Cancer survivor Jim Lackey believed cycling saved his life, and gave him a life worth saving. But Lackey also knew that cycling could kill him, and when he broke his collarbone in a fall last June, his told his wife he would hang up his bike if he suffered another accident.
That accident came at 8:04 a.m. Aug. 31 in the 5200 block of Panorama Drive in northeast Bakersfield. No one is sure exactly what happened, but the husband and father came off his bike hard after approaching a temporary road sign placed in his path that read, "Right lane closed ahead."
Lackey had beat throat cancer. He had survived radiation damage that forced him to take liquids and nutrients through a feeding tube for the rest of his life. He was intubated in a hospital for 53 days in 2012 and lived to tell about it. And last year, he logged an astonishing 10,000 miles on his road bike, and planned to beat that goal this year.
But on the morning of Sept. 11, the Kern County native, U.S. Army veteran, retired pipe fitter, father of three and grandfather of six succumbed to traumatic brain injury and its complications. He was 72.
"He went out doing what he wanted to do," said Frankie Lackey, Jim's wife of 25 years.
ART APPRAISER, GALLERY OWNER, LEE CLARK LIVED ART
When Lee Clark came to Bakersfield in the 1970s, the city wasn't exactly known as a center of art and culture. Slowly but surely, Clark began working to change that perception.
"He demystified art. He demystified music," said longtime San Francisco artist, watercolorist and Clark friend, Gary Bukovnik.
Clark could talk to anybody about art and win them over, Bukovnik said. And in doing so, he helped open the door in Bakersfield to art, culture and the benefits that spring from those virtues.
A longtime senior art appraiser and local patron of the arts who was probably best known as the owner of the former C.L. Clark Galleries on 18th and V streets in Bakersfield, Clark died Aug. 1 after a long illness. He was 87.
EDUCATOR, COACH, ADMINISTRATOR BOB MARTIN LIVED LIFE BIG
It was just a fact of life for the children of veteran educator, coach and administrator Bob Martin that when the family went out to dinner, one of their father's students from years past would often approach their table.
"Coach, do you remember me," they might start out. Or "Mr. Martin, I was in your English class during my senior year at EB ... ."
It was all part of growing up with a larger-than-life dad, who taught innumerable life lessons during his career, even as he was teaching students how to structure a sentence in an essay, or tackle a fullback on the gridiron.
Robert "Bob" Edward Martin, family man, mentor and member of his own Bakersfield Rat Pack, died July 21 after a long and fruitful life. He was 89.
DECORATED IN WAR, A SKILLED ENGINEER AT HOME
A son of Greek immigrants, Bakersfield High graduate Gregory Fotis turned 19 on the bloody beaches of D-Day, June 6, 1944, as bullets and shrapnel rained down on Allied forces in Normandy, France. But Fotis survived the fierce fighting in France and the long, muddy trek into Nazi-controlled Germany, and he would return home after World War II and use the GI Bill to study at Bakersfield College and UC Berkeley, where he earned two degrees in chemical and electrical engineering.
Fotis, a husband, father and grandfather, a plant manager and superintendent for Pacific Gas and Electric for 35 years, and a rescuer of hungry and injured animals, died Feb. 26 after living a long and fruitful life. He was 96.
"He believed, with your mind, you can pretty much overcome anything," said Fotis' daughter, Gigi Fotis-Smith. "You write it down and work it out, and with prayer and God's guidance, you will find a solution."
BAKERSFIELD CITY COUNCIL
Harold Hanson, a beloved 16-year member of the Bakersfield City Council, died June surrounded by family and friends.
He was 85, and fondly remembered for returning constituents' calls while collaborating with his fellow elected officials.
Bakersfield council members recalled he believed in small government and fiscal conservatism.
"He always had an opinion," said former council member Jacquie Sullivan in an obituary published by The Californian. "You didn't have to wonder how he felt about something."
His family fondly said he repeatedly gave back to the community through donating blood and loved to travel the world.
Hanson represented Ward 5 from 2000 to 2016.
CORRECTIONS COUNSELOR DEATH
The death seemed unfair and shocking.
It was a simple act — Benny Alcala Jr., had gone to charge his car at the electric charging stations at the Target on Stockdale Highway when he was shot and killed. It was an unfair and heart-wrenching ending for the man who "always did the right thing." Alcala listened to his parents, worked hard and was always rewarded for his achievements, Alcala's brother recalled to The Californian.
Alcala's impact spread far and wide throughout the community as a counselor working at Wasco State Prison. The Delano native was affectionately known as "Gordy" in this family, short for gordo, which means fat in Spanish.
But Alcala's main focus was his family. He prided in raising his two sons with his wife and always wanted to make a better life for them.
KERN COUNTY FIREFIGHTER DEATHS
A rare three deaths rocked the Kern County Fire Department this year.
Two on-duty deaths struck the department over the summer within the same week. Aiden Angor, 18, just recently graduated from high school and signed up to be a seasonal firefighter with the KCFD. Agnor, who would have been a fourth generation firefighter, died weeks after getting into a car crash while driving to work.
Brian Falk, a Bakersfield native, died while on duty at the station in Fellows, a small community near Taft.
Chief Aaron Duncan recalled his dry humor and the stocky build that granted him great strength. Falk, 47, advanced through the ranks and became captain within six years — practically "unheard of," Duncan said previously.
Firefighter Mark Schmidt, 61, died after a long battle with cancer. He was remembered as a person who always put others before himself despite battling excruciating pain.
Schmidt didn't become a firefighter until 41, but still put the average 20-something-year-old recruit to shame, according to Duncan.
LONGTIME BUSINESSMAN
Local scion David Harrison Urner, whose family founded appliance store Urner's, died in his sleep.
Urner's father, David E. Urner, founded the store in about 1919 after selling pots and pans.
It grew to have multiple locations because of David Harrison Urner's good will in a competitive industry. He built relationships with local developers and customers which kept then coming back.
LOCAL PHILANTHROPIST
Her radiant personality was outmatched only by her giving heart.
Beverly Camp died after a battle with breast cancer in February. She was 52.
Her many projects included revitalizing Catholic Charities, donating $1 million to the Grossman Burn Project and shepherding a tower expansion at Mercy Southwest.
Camp's Catholic faith guided her throughout life.
