Gerry M. Hodges, 71, of Idyllwild, died Sunday, May 18, 2003, at Ramona Manor Convalescent Hospital after a long illness. He was born April 20, 1932, in Boise City, Okla., and lived in Idyllwild for 23 years. Mr. Hodges was a supervising probation officer for San Diego County for 25 years working with adult narcotic…

Elaine Ashcraft Holmes, widow of Robert Evans Holmes, died at home Tuesday morning at 8:57 of a heart attack. Mrs. Holmes was 85 and had been suffering from ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) for the past several months. Mrs. Holmes was born in York, Neb., in 1914. She attended Otterbein College to become a school teacher,…

Herman Garcia, 84, of Baxter Springs, Kan., died Monday, April 21, 2003, in Kansas. He was born Dec. 6, 1918, in El Paso and grew up in San Diego. Mr. Garcia attended Hoover High School with the famed Ted Williams and graduated in 1937. He joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Hawaii. He…

‘Granny’ Lavern Head, 85, died in her sleep Thursday, April 10, 2003, at Valley Christian Home in Hemet. Granny was born Oct. 20, 1917, in Barren County near Glasgow, Ky., the sixth of seven children, to James Elbert “Pap” and Flora Bailey Reed. When the great influenza epidemic of 1919 came, both her mother and…

Dorrit Jessie Oyen, 89, of Hemet, died Saturday, March 15, 2003, at Hemet Valley Medical Center. She was born Jan. 1, 1914, in New South Wales, Wales. Mrs. Oyen was wed to her husband, Richard “Scottie,” on Jan. 21, 1944. The couple were married 59 years and were Idyllwild residents 14 of those years. Mrs….

Norma Jeanne Wilson, 82, of Idyllwild, died of natural causes in Palm Desert Monday, March 10, 2003. She was born July 28, 1921, in Saginaw, Mich. Ms. Wilson was an occupational therapist working with children. She was a member of the Idyllwild Bible Church and was a volunteer of the children’s program at the Wycliffe…

James Edward Morrow, 80, formerly of Idyllwild, died from cancer of the throat Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003, at Pt. Loma Convalescent Hospital in San Diego. He was born June 28, 1922, in San Diego. He attended Florence Elementary, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. High and San Diego Sr. High schools. During his senior year of high school,…

Joan Plummer, 69, of Idyllwild, died of cancer Monday, Feb. 10, 2003, at Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Desert. She was born Jan. 4, 1934, in Detroit, Mich. Ms. Plummer traveled around the states for most of her young adult years working in various nightclubs as a dancer, model and showgirl. She settled in the…

Kimberly “Kim” Dayle Walters, 43, of Idyllwild, died Friday, Feb. 7, 2003, at home after a long illness of AIDS and complications of pneumonia. Mr. Walters was born Oct. 4, 1959, in Baton Rouge, La. He was a woodburning artist and volunteered at the Idyllwild HELP Center. He was best known for his hot sauce…

Michael Joseph Spehar, 53, of Thousand Oaks, died Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2003 at Los Robles Hospital, surrounded by his family after a six-year battle with cancer. Mr. Spehar was born April 2, 1949 in Hancock, Mich., to Joseph and Jean Spehar. He grew up in Van Nuys, attending St. Bridget of Sweden School, Crespi High…