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James Daniel ‘Jim’ Downs
August 1, 1931 – May 25, 2016
Oceanside — James Daniel (Jim) Downs, 85, of Oceanside, California, lost his two and a half year battle with cancer on May 25, 2016 with Patsy at his side. They would have celebrated 62 years of marriage on June 18. Jim was predeceased by his sister, Ruth Ramos. Also surviving are his son, Mike, (Adele), grandchildren, Bram & Delaney, son, David, (Kim), grandchildren, Elyse & Sally.
Jim was born in Long Beach on August 1, 1931 to parents, Rose Wilkerson Downs and Ralph Edmund Downs. The family traded land in Long Beach for acreage in the Fire Mountain area of Oceanside and in Carlsbad (site of the present day Valley Middle School). It was the depression era and the family initially lived in a barn on the Oceanside property while Ralph was building a farmhouse for the family on the hilltop (now Crestridge Drive). Jim attended grade school in Oceanside until the middle of the 4th grade when the family moved to Cardiff.
During high school Jim excelled in journalism, writing for both the school paper and the local Del Mar Citizen. He played football and basketball but distinguished himself in track and field as a pole vaulter, winning the league championship in his senior year.
Upon graduation he hitchhiked to Missouri to attend the University of Missouri and major in journalism. Once again, he wrote for the student newspaper. He loved the university although expenses resulted in Jim returning to California to attend UCLA where he was a sports writer for the Daily Bruin. Money soon ran out and Jim came home to attend Oceanside-Carlsbad Junior College (Mira Costa College now). After graduation Jim moved on to San Jose State University to obtain his BA. At San Jose he became a sports writer for the Spartan Daily, wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, and joined the powerhouse boxing team. Soon he realized a love for history and changed his major to social science/history.
Jim met Patricia (Patsy) Liefrinck at a college dance and at the end of her senior year and his graduate year they became engaged. He was drafted by the army while Patsy taught in Coronado. After completion of basic training at Fort Ord Jim was selected for the counter intelligence corps at Fort Holabird, Maryland where he and Patsy were married. The following year, while living in Washington D.C., he conducted backgrounds checks for the army. Finally, as a civilian, Jim was employed as an intelligence officer and sent to Germany where he was an interrogator and German linguist in the refugee program.Their first son, Mike, was born shortly after their arrival in Germany and spent many hours in the back seat of the car as Jim and Patsy traveled throughout Europe.
After two years in Germany the family asked Jim to return to California to care for the property. Before returning to Oceanside/Carlsbad Jim continued his education at San Jose State University where he finished his M. A. Son, David, was born at this time.Jim and family returned to Oceanside/Carlsbad where he was hired by the Vista Unified School District. He taught history in the International Baccalaureate program, was year book editor for many years, and coached track and field, cross country, and tennis. A technician as a coach, he had picked the brains of many top coaches to learn successful training methods. Four of his athletes from the 70’s still hold records at Vista High and his teams, including individual athletes, have won many CIF championship titles.A quote from a former student sums up the impact Jim had as a teacher on so many. “Mr. Downs continually challenged every student to refine and defend their thinking to make us intellectuals, no matter what side of the aisle we would land on. I am so grateful for his intellect, devotion to excellence, and his demand that we could all be better”.
Jim never saw a challenge he couldn’t meet. In the 80’s he joined Jim Bush (UCLA track coach) and Bob Larsen (now an Olympic coach) and selected a group of young Southern California track athletes and named them “Southern California All Stars”. They arranged competitions with young athletes in several European countries. The stories from these trips led to some humorous moments!
Writing was a passion for Jim. As a columnist for the North County Times during the 90’s he focused on provocative and controversial topics. From this time until his death he became a grader of papers written by International Baccalaureate students from around the world.
In addition to his school duties Jim obtained his real estate broker’s license and managed the family’s apartment house holdings.Jim was a charter member of the San Luis Rey Rotary Club. His creative mind sparked a program for veterans to share their stories with students at El Camino High School. The Veterans’ Day event continues to the present under the sponsorship of the San Luis Rey Rotary Club and faculty members at El Camino High School.
Upon retirement from teaching in 1991 Jim authored “World War II: Tragedy in Slovakia”, which received critical acclaim. It is now on the required reading list of all state department foreign state officers assigned to Slovakia, the scene of the OSS rescue mission. In 2004 the state department published his book in the Slovak language and sent Jim to Slovakia to make six presentations to the Slovak Academic Community. The ambassador arranged for Jim to present signed copies of the book to both the president and premier of the Republic of Slovakia.
Throughout Jim’s teaching years the family set aside time for yearly ski and backpacking trips in the sierras and throughout the United States. Later Jim and Patsy joined Wilderness Travels to hike with small groups. Great adventures were had hiking in the Pyrenees, around Mont Banc, New Zealand, Norway, Indonesia, and Maine. A favorite trip was a safari to Africa and the wildest was floating down the Amazon on a homemade raft.
Never ones to sit still, Jim and Patsy joined the El Camino Tennis Club in the 70’s and have enjoyed many happy hours on the courts, dancing, and socializing with friends.
Jim was commissioned by the San Luis Rey Historical Foundation to write the history of San Luis Rey Mission. What he thought he could accomplish in six months took five years of interviews and research culminating in “The Real World of Mission San Luis Rey”. This was Jim’s last endeavor. Three weeks before he passed, he participated on a panel with two professors from U.C. Riverside at Mira Costa College discussing the California Indians and the Missions. Jim was never one to give up. He was determined to make that date, and he did.
Jim always said he had a wonderful life and his choice was to have a happy Celebration of his Life. It will take place on August 26 (Friday) at 5:00 P.M. at the El Camino Country Club. Please contact the family if plan to attend.Donations in his name can be made to the Hospice of North Coast, 2525 Pio Pico Drive, Carlsbad, CA 92008.
Published in The San Diego Union Tribune on June 12, 2016
Glenn ‘Bud’ Hare, 68 inventor of medical devices
Medical emergencies were part of Glenn “Bud” Hare’s beat in the 1960s, when he shared ambulance-driving duties with fellow members of the San Diego Police Department.
“I gained more experience in first aid than I cared to know,” he later said.
But the assignment inspired an invention: a leg splint designed to quickly immobilize long-bone fractures of the lower extremities, while simultaneously placing the leg in traction.
His Hare Traction Splint, as he called it, became the signature product of Dyna Med, an emergency medical care products company he founded 32 years ago in Carlsbad.
Mr. Hare, who marketed his emergency care products to more than 100 countries before retiring in January, died Saturday at Alvarado Hospital Medical Center. He was 68.
The cause of death was complications from a heart attack, said his wife, Florence.
Originally fashioned from bicycle parts, a toilet seat cover, a ratchet and gears from a washing machine, the traction splint became the most successful of several devices Mr. Hare invented. They ranged from a plastic collar for whiplash victims to a fog detection device for motorists.
“When he would go around the country to sell his splints, clients would say, ‘I’ll take six, and what else do you have?’ ” said his wife. “He thought he’d better develop more products.”
As he added more devices to his inventory, Mr. Hare began publishing a catalog featuring products and advice on providing emergency care. It evolved over the years from eight pages to more than 300.
In 1969, Mr. Hare began publishing a magazine, Emergency, featuring products and articles for those in the medical emergency field. He launched another magazine, Police, in 1978, targeting public safety employees who must respond to medical emergencies.
Tired of paying printers to print his publications, Mr. Hare founded a printing division of his company, Dyna Graphics, specializing in the heat-set web procedure whereby the ink is dried by heat.
In addition to his magazines, Mr. Hare published dozens of local and national publications for the commercial market.
With its various divisions, Mr. Hare’s company evolved into Dyna Corp. and grew to include 225 employees and two buildings across from McClellan-Palomar Airport. During Operation Desert Storm, the business operated around the clock to address escalating medical needs.
In January, Mr. Hare sold Dyna Med to Gall’s, a division of Aramark Inc. But the company retained the Dyna Med name and markets more than 3,500 emergency medical service products, about 10 percent of which it manufactures itself.
There are more than 40 distributors of Dyna Med products throughout the world.
“The Hare Traction Splint is still one of our best-selling products, a standard in the industry,” said Larry Leupold, Dyna Med’s senior vice president and Mr. Hare’s son-in-law.
After Mr. Hare’s patent on the splint expired, the market was inundated with similar products, marketed as Hare-type traction splints, Leupold said.
Mr. Hare, a longtime Carlsbad resident, was born in Ravenswood, W.Va. In 1943, he moved with his family from Detroit to Encinitas, where his father bought a pool hall and motel.
One of Mr. Hare’s first jobs was frying hamburgers at Moonlight Beach, where his family operated concessions. He graduated in 1948 from San Dieguito High School and served in the Army before working at a variety of jobs in North County.
As a barber in 1957, Mr. Hare operated a shop in downtown Encinitas. Two years later he opened a bar, The Tiki, in Leucadia.
From 1962 until 1967, Mr. Hare was a San Diego police officer. “A rewarding and exciting experience,” he later recalled. “But as I aged it became less rewarding and more difficult to fight drunks for $28 a day.”
In April 1965, he was one of about 70 police officers who responded to one of the biggest shootouts in San Diego history, which began with an armed robbery at a downtown pawnshop.
An estimated 1,000 shots were exchanged between the bandit and officers at the Hub Jewelry & Loan Co. at Fifth Avenue and F Street. The store owner was shot to death and an officer was grazed before San Diego police Sgt. Allen Brown felled the gunman with three shotgun blasts.
Mr. Hare, poised behind a Coca-Cola delivery truck, never fired a shot in the incident. “In my 5 1/2 years (on the force) I only fired my weapon on one occasion, when I killed a monster, 5 1/2 -foot-long rattlesnake in Del Cerro,” he later wrote.
Before undergoing carotid artery surgery, Mr. Hare worked out three days a week in his home gym with a personal trainer. He also enjoyed playing on the pitch-and-putt golf course in his back yard.
He is survived by his wife, Florence; a daughter, Leslie Leupold of Vista; a son, Dan of Encinitas; a brother, Bill of Vista; and three grandchildren.
A viewing is scheduled from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Eternal Hills Mortuary, Oceanside. Services are scheduled for 11 a.m. tomorrow at First Presbyterian Church, Oceanside.
by Jack Williams, San Diego Union-Tribune, published October 8, 1999
“Skip Darwin passed away Feb 24, 2016. She always loved getting together with her friends. Oh, how we miss her.”
Submitted by her son, Dorsey Darwin.
TUCKNESS, Rev. James C. (Age 83) James was born in Chino, CA on December 31, 1929 to James C. Tuckness and Mildred Freitas Tuckness. He passed away October 18, 2013 In Spokane, WA. He married Mary Elizabeth Thompson on April 16, 1949. James graduated from Life Bible College in 1953 and was a Minister, Missionary and Evangelist for the Foursquare Gospel Church. He loved traveling, golf, playing pranks and chess with his grandchildren. He was a great story teller. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Mary Tuckness; and five daughters, Sharon (David) Eisfelder, Karon (Kevin) Atkinson, Kathron Tuckness, Tamaron (John) Phipps, Sandron Huff; 13 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. The family would like to thank Hospice of Spokane, 509-456-0438 and Elder Services, 509-458-7450 for all the wonderful services and care they provided. A time of visitation will be held at Heritage Funeral Home on Wednesday, October 23, 2013 from 10 am to 5 pm. A funeral service will be held at Heritage Funeral Home on Thursday, October 24, 2013 at 11 am.
Published in Spokesman-Review from Oct. 20 to Oct. 23, 2013.
William H. Whitten Sr., 79, of Twin Falls, passed away Tuesday May 13, 2008, at St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center after a brief illness with his devoted family at his side.
He was born May 4, 1929, in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif., to Ralph and Bernice Whitten. He graduated from San Dieguito High School in 1948. Upon graduation, he was drafted in the United States Army, serving two years in Korea and, upon returning to the United States, he was honorably discharged. He then worked for Convair in San Diego, Calif. In 1953, he married Carol A. Hekelaar in Yuma, Ariz., moving to Twin Falls the following year. To this union were born four children, Bill, Linda, Talyn and Cynthia.
Bill was employed for 35 years by the Twin Falls Highway District. When he retired, he chose to spend his time wintering in Arizona.
He enjoyed fishing, traveling, hunting, camping, motorcycles, making nostalgic bird houses with Carol, feeding the birds and training the squirrels to take peanuts from his hand. He always tried to grow the first tomato of the season to share with his friends. He was a member of the VFW and Idaho Motorcycle Club.
He is survived by his wife, Carol; children, Bill (Karen) Whitten Jr. of Burley, Talyn (Kris) Klemmetson of Twin Falls and Cynthia A. (Dennis) West of Twin Falls; grandchildren, Travis Whitten, Sierra (Shane) Koyle, Matthew West and Ethan Whitten; great-grandchildren, Tristan Whitten, Kolter Whitten and Annika Koyle. He was preceded in death by his parents; daughter, Linda Diane; and 10 siblings.
A memorial service will be held 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at Parke’s Magic Valley Funeral Home, 2551 Kimberly Road in Twin Falls. Cremation and private inurnment is under the direction of Parke’s Magic Valley Funeral Home of Twin Falls.
We will miss you, Poppy!
—The Times-News (Twin Falls, Idaho) published May 16, 2008