Betsy Frazee - 2S

Mrs. Frazee Succumbs At Laguna Beach

Funeral services for Mrs. Betsy Frazee, 92, pioneer resident of Moosa Canyon who died Saturday at the home in Laguna Beach, were conducted Tuesday from South Laguna Mortuary. Internment followed at Loma Vista Cemetery in Fullerton.

Mrs. Frazee and her husband, Isaac, moved to Moosa Canyon in 1890 and built Frazee Castle, which is still standing. Mr. and Mrs. Frazee were married in Bonsall June 25, 1885.

The Frazees produced a play, “The Indian Peace Pageant” for several years at a natural amphitheater near their Moosa Canyon home. The play, with musical background, attracted visitors from thruout the Southland.

She was born in Louisville, Ky. Nov. 21, 1863 and resided in the southern part of Oceanside before she and Mr. Frazee moved to Moosa Canyon.

The Frazees left their Moosa Canyon home in 1930, moving to Laguna Beach where they built their studio. Mr. Frazee succumbed there in 1942.

Mrs. Frazee wrote a book entitled “Journeying Thru the Years.” She had completed a manuscript on another book at the time of her death.

William C. Frazee, last surviving son of Mrs. Frazee, died six days before his mother’s death. He succumbed in his home at Fairfield.

Four daughters, Mrs. Elizabeth Worsley of Laguna Beach, Mrs. Betty Moses of Ontario, Mrs. Edith Eckhart of Pasadena, and Mrs. Helen Bowers of Los Angeles, survive. In addition to 38 grandchildren, including Mrs. Jean Trussell of San Marcos, and 35 great grandchildren.

Escondido Times Advocate  March 21, 1956, page 1.

Oceanside : Gateway of All San Diego County - 1888

from the Oct. 24, 1891 issue of the South Oceanside Diamond

W. D. Frazee had a great many talents, mostly for promotion.  He had a couple of farms in Indiana, a couple of stores in Indianapolis as well as a publishing house, came west to California in the Gold Rush, and attempted to win one of the first state senate seats after statehood on the Republican ticket.  He worked as a circuit minister for the Christian Church, and he wrote several books in his lifetime. 

Every place he moved to, he seemed to believe was the best place in the world.  Oceanside, California should make a strong case, but although four family members owned property there, and his fourth son's family remain in the Oceanside area to this day, by measure of his length of stay in any town, Oceanside ranks well down the list. Still, he has a convincing way with words in his book Oceanside: Gateway to All San Diego County. 

If you'd like to read his glowing words, please click on the link and, thanks to the good works of the Oceanside Historical Society , you'll have the chance.  Also, consider supporting the society with a cash donation.

Reminiscences and Sermons by W.D. Frazee

Reminiscences and sermons [digitized from microform]

by Frazee, W. D. (William Doniphan), 1822-1902

Dr. Donald E. Rickabaugh - 11A3

Dr. Donald E. Rickabaugh

October 24, 1922 - October 23, 2010

Obituary

Dr. Donald E. Rickabaugh was the middle of five children, with two older brothers, and twin younger sisters. He was born October 24,1922. Max, the oldest, was a pilot and instructor in Big Springs, Texas for many years. He survived one crash by a student, but not the second, many years later. Al was a builder for many years and lived in Corona del Mar in his latter years until he died of cancer in his 70s. Betty Harmer and May Frazee are identical twins and both became nurses taking their training in Boulder, Colorado. May currently resides in Wildwood, GA and Betty in Witt Springs, AR.

Don graduated from the Loma Linda Medical School in 1945 as Physician and Surgeon and joined his father, H.B. Rickabaugh in his medical practice in Alhambra for many years. HB used to say that Don was his favorite partner! They loved working together. Don continued the medical practice after his father died until he retired in 2004, in Newport Beach.

While in medical school, Don became very good friends with a classmate, Alan Harmer. He told the twins that one of them needed to marry this man, he just didn't know which one! Betty did, and was very blessed.

Since Willeta May Rickabaugh, Don's mother, had 5 children in 5 years she came up with the bright idea of having a family orchestra. The children loved playing together and became well known in the Alhambra community, playing for churches, country clubs and many other places. Both parents played musical instruments with them. When they got older and went their separate ways they often reminisced of the orchestra times and thought of these as some of their most pleasant childhood memories.

Don had a spark of mischief. He was not above teasing his younger sisters. It really is a wonder they survived him. Yes, they loved him dearly. He even visited them during their nurses training in Boulder, Colorado, and comforted them in their homesickness. As he matured he developed the attitude of complimenting and praising people for their accomplishments or their thoughtfulness. He was a cheer leader in that sense.

Don lived a very active life and enjoyed running, swimming and lifting weights. He loved music and played piano, and cello in his youth. He was a member of Oxford Club, Los Angeles Griffith Observatory, The Performance Art Center in Orange County, the National Rifle Association and the 552 club at Hoag Hospital. He was a conservative Republican. He was a Mormon at heart.

He had a passion for reading, and his last book was Moby-Dick. He did not finish it, but read 435 of 851 pages.

He knew the names of many stars and constellations, and loved everything about the Universe. He could tell you all about the Stars and Planets and their names and places. Saturday, October 23rd was a full moon.

Don loved listening to music, and was especially fond of Classical Music. His favorite composer was Mozart. The day of his death he was listening to Piano Concerto No 21. in C Major.

Don will be greatly missed by his wife Mireya, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, sisters and brother, nieces, nephews and loving friends.

Arrangements under the direction of Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary FD1176, Corona Del Mar, CA.

Dignitymemorial.com 

Laguna Federal Highlights

A MAN CALLED ISAAC

By Mildred Yorba MacArthur

Isaac Jenkinson Frazee could have been the first artist to make a sketch of Laguna Beach, according to his widow, who has just written her memoirs which she calls, “Journeying Through The Years.” She signs herself Mrs. Isaac J. Frazee, which she was, for 57 devoted years. Publication date has not yet been set.

Isaac first say Laguna in 1873, as a boy of 15 when he came with his parents, and they camped in the beach. He was entranced by the sun, the sand and the hills that rolled down to the sea., It was in Laguna that he made his first sketch, which he kept and later gave to his bride, a native of Louisville, Kentucky. She has kept it ever since. Isaac went on the become one of California’s finest and most collected artists.

The Frazees built a life for themselves in the back country of San Diego County, near Bonsall, where they reared their seven children.  It was there in 1915 that he wrote and produced his Indian Pageant called “Kitshi Manido.” The entire village helped him build a 500-seat amphitheater near his home. The cast was made up of neighbors, and his daughter Arlitta (sic)* has a lead part, as Majella the Wood Dove.

Musicians were brought in from Los Angeles and they were trained and directed by W. M. Bower, a noted violinist and composer. The production was a sellout. People came in buggies, hay wagons, on horseback or on foot, and some even ventured in by car, churning up the dust in their wake.

“In 1921,” writes Mrs. Frazee, “We loaned our pageant to the Art Association of Laguna Beach and all that summer the artists dropped their work and joined with us to produce it for six nights, with great success. It was given in a magnificent eucalyptus grove and over $3,600 was taken in at the gate.

“After the overhead was paid, a nice little sum of nearly $1,000 was given to the Art Association to help build the beautiful Art Gallery which now adorns Laguna Hills.  The Art Association presented us with a life membership and a lot in Laguna.  Again in 1927, the Pageant was produced for 21 nights, by this same community group.”

That certainly was a great success in the days when many artists made their homes in tents. Cows were tethered on empty adjoining lots, and bawled vociferously when ready to be milked and their owner had overslept. Streets were short and ran in all directions, coming to dead ends, much as they still do. There was evidence of much visiting among artists where they left their paths through the green grass of spring or the dust of summer. There were no street lights so most people carried lanterns. There was no highway.

On Saturday nights the artists gathered at a little art gallery to admire or criticize their fellow painters. There was a small dance hall, Mrs. Frazee recalls, with a sign over it that said, “Clean Dancing Every Night Except Sunday.”  J. N. Isch owned the village grocery store and one corner of the room was reserved for the post office, over which Mrs. Isch presided.  Long lines of people gathered each day for the mail to be brought in, via stage.  The waits were long, but the visiting was most enjoyable.

Nell Gail Moulton told me that her happiest memories were of her horse-driven carriage, with her two tiny daughters, Charlotte and Louise. She took lessons from that great teacher and artist Anna Hills, while the children romped on the beach.

The Frazees finally settled in Laguna for good in 1927. By then it was a haven for artists from everywhere, including William Wendt, Julia Bracken Wendt, Edgar Payne, William Griffith, Joseph Kleitch, Frank Coprien, Alice Fullerton, David Criesbach, Donna Schuster, Clarence Hinkle, Mary Sherer, Charles Patridge Adams, Thomas Hunt, Gail Moulton, Irving Manoir, Anna Hills and Karl Yens.

Most were friendly, but I like the story that is told of the young artist on his first day in Laguna, who came upon a fellow artisan and he said, “Hello there, brother. I’m an artist too, just in from Chicago yesterday. My name is . . .” The old-Laguna-hand said, “What of it?” and he picked up his canvas and walked off.

Another visitor, a plump little person, fared better. She sided p to an artist and stood so close that he could barely move his brush as she overshadowed his canvas. Finally the artist glanced up and said, “What do you think of it?” Without hesitation she replied, “Oh, I guess maybe it will look better when it dries, won’t it?”

In 1968 one of Isaac’s earliest paintings was given to the Santa Barbara Mission. It was painted in 1898, of a Franciscan Friar, Joseph O’Keefe, of Mission San Luis Rey at Oceanside, where the Frazees then resided.  They and all the other families thereabouts helped with the restoration of the Mission. An interested onlooker was a duck that swam in a small nearby pond and became very attached to Father O’Keefe. Artist Frazee sketched the scene, which he later painted.

I shall now turn to Elizabeth Frazee Worsley’s final communication in 1968. She was the eldest daughter of the Frazees. She and her husband, Christian, delivered the painting to Padre-historian, Rev. Maynard Gieger at Santa Barbara Mission. She said, “I had a distinct feeling that all is well, and that my ‘Padre With a Duck’ had at last come to his right resting place.”

She continued, “You can see many of Father’s paintings at Chapman College at Orange, Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Bowers Museum at Santa Ana, Laguna Federal Savings and Loan Association’s home office, and the Serra Museum at San Diego. The latter also has two big scrapbooks about him, and his old desk. Shipped around the Horn in 1849, it was once the property of California’s renowned Circuit Court Judge Benjamin B. Hayes. His history-laden scrap books I gave to the Huntington Library at San Marino. He and Mother lived a full life among their friends in Laguna, he with his painting and Mother with her writing.”

Isaac Jenkinson Frazee, the gentle man of many and varied talents, left his lasting imprint upon his beloved California where he came as a youth in 1873. He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 3, 1858. (sic)** He died in Laguna Beach on June 23, 1942. Lest we forget, he brought Laguna its first Festival in 1921.

* His daughter, Helen Frazee Bower, had the same role as Arlitta a famous opera singer who performed in the 1927 edition of the pageant.

** Isaac's birth date was November 30th, 1858 His place of birth isn't clearly identified in the records. I have Winchester, Indiana - which is near the Ohio border. Google also mentions an obsolete location called "New Winchester" which was 18 miles west of Indianapolis. Isaac's grandmother, uncle, and cousins were all living near Rushville, Indiana about 30 miles south east of Indianapolis. They are listed in the 1860 Census as living in Decatur, which is also near the Ohio border, but up near Fort Wayne.  His father did, just before moving to San Bernardino in 1873, own a book and stationary store near the center of Indianapolis.

Huell Howser's California Gold - The Ranunculus Field Episode

I can't tell you why Mr. Howser only interviews Mike Mellano and Paul Ecke Jr. back when this was filmed in Spring of 1994 as both Ed and Bob Frazee were alive at the time, but because of that, he doesn't get any of the history or the production of the flowers.  Our loss.

The segment on the Flower Fields begins after 11:30.

To open the page click on the photo of the ranunculus.

Michael O'Bannon Bower - 2421

Bower, Michael O'Bannon

Michael O'Bannon Bower, 68 years old of Fountain Valley, formerly of Buena Park, passed away on Sunday, June 18, 2017, after several years of battling diabetes, congestive heart failure and dementia. He was the loving husband of Jennifer Louise (Robison) Bower who passed away on March 11, 2016.

Mike was born on June 13, 1949 in Los Angeles, California to the late David and Barbara (O'Bannon) Bower. Mike grew up in Norwalk, California, and attended Anna M. Glazier School, Los Alisos Intermediate School and graduated in 1967 from Norwalk High School. At that time, he continued his education getting his A.A. at Cerritos Community College, his B.A. from California State University, Fullerton, and his M.A. from the University of Southern California. All of his degrees were in the fields of communications and public relations.

Mike was employed by the American Cancer Society, Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District and Walnut Valley School District as a public relations officer. He also spent 19 years owning his own public relations and marketing company, Bower Communications, Inc. He also spent several years as a professor at Vanguard University, Pepperdine University, and Biola University and as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, Rio Hondo College and California State University, Fullerton and Dominguez Hills campuses. In the 1970s he had a television program called Sports Mike in Orange County as well as a Sports Mike column in local newspapers. He won many awards for his work in journalism and public relations.

Mike was an avid sports fan especially for all USC teams, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Lakers and Rams. He spent many hours collecting baseball cards and other memorabilia and eventually opened his own sports shop, Sports Mike, in Cypress, CA. If possible, he never missed a game whether he could attend or watch on television. Mike also coached his son's baseball teams in Buena Park for many years.

Mike loved musical theatre and spent many years acting in musical productions held throughout Orange County including Curtain Call Dinner Theater, Huntington Beach Playhouse, La Habra Depot and Vanguard University. Some of his favorite roles included Jacob in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Arvide in Guys and Dolls, and Lazar Wolf and the Rabbi in Fidder on the Roof. Mike was well known as Santa Claus throughout Southern California where he spent each Christmas season being Santa Claus to many children with Definitely Dickens and Clowning Around. You could find him at corporate parties, South Coast Plaza, Macy's and many other venues.

Mike was a devoted Christian who was very involved in the churches he attended throughout his life. He sang in the choirs, was a soloist and taught Sunday School. He attended St. John's Presbyterian Church in Compton as a child. He and his wife raised their children at New Life Community Church in Artesia and attended Christ Community Church in Buena Park in their later years.

Mike is survived by his three children and their spouses, Timothy and Mariah Bower, Jonathan and Erin Bower, and Kimberly and Jonathan Proctor. He was blessed to have been able to enjoy his four grandsons, Isaac, Elias, Miles and Jude. He was looking forward to the birth of his 5th grandchild this fall. He is also survived by his two sisters and their husbands, Jennifer and William Collins, Debi and Hector Garcia, nephews Christopher Robison and Cody Garcia, and niece Katina Robison.

A memorial service will be held at 12:00 Noon on Thursday, June 29, 2017, at Christ Community Church at 6575 Crescent Avenue, Buena Park, CA. Luncheon following at the church. Donations may be made to The Izzy Foundation, P.O. Box 2326, Providence, RI 02906 in memory of his great-niece, Isabelle Wohlrab who lost her battle with cancer at 3 years of age.

Published in Orange County Register on June 25, 2017