Obituaries - V

Valentine, Dale ~ Saturday, October 30, 1999. Dale Cleveland Valentine, 90, of Gardnerville died Oct. 29 at Carson-Tahoe Hospital in Carson City. He was born in Wauseon, Ohio, Aug. 26, 1909, to William J. and Grace M. Cleveland Valentine. Mr. Valentine married Rose E. Eversole April 5, 1946, in Berkeley, Calif. He was an electrical engineer for Westinghouse Electric for 42 years. He was preceded in death by a brother, Howard Valentine. He came to Gardnerville from Auburn, Calif., 1-1/2 years ago. Survivors include his wife Rose, son Matt D. Valentine and grandchildren Kristen E. and Rhys M. Valentine, all of Gardnerville.

VanFleet, Ruthie ~ Saturday, January 1, 2000. Ruthie N. Van Fleet, 74, died on Dec. 26 at Carson Health Care in Carson City. Mrs. Van Fleet was born on Sept. 2, 1925, in Kingsville, Texas, to Paul and Maggie Simmons Dunn. She and Haymond A. Van Fleet were married on July 15, 1946 in San Antonio, Texas. A homemaker, she enjoyed gardening, sewing and interior decorating. She had resided in Minden since 1978, coming from Thelba, Ariz., where she lived for 10 years. Mrs. Van Fleet was predeceased by her parents and sister. Survivors include her husband Haymond Van Fleet of Minden; daughter Sherry Toland of Huntington Beach, Calif.; brothers Ken Dunn of San Antonio and Derick Sheldon of Los Angeles; and two grandchildren.

Vassar, Roscoe ~ Saturday, November 20, 1999. Services for Roscoe Kay Vassar, 70, will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 23, at 12:10 p.m. at St. Gall Catholic Church in Gardnerville. Mr. Vassar died at his Genoa home on Nov. 15. He was born on July 1, 1929, in Los Angeles to Roscoe Kelsey and Elisabeth Barndt Vassar, and grew up in several central Nevada towns, including Tybo, Tonopah, Imly and Mill City. The family moved to Genoa in 1944. Mr. Vassar graduated from Douglas County High School in 1946. He received his bachelor of science degree in geological engineering in 1952 from the Mackay School of Mines at the University of Nevada, Reno. His great-grandmother, Sophie Williams, a prominent rancher in Central Nevada, was the university's first female regent. Mr. Vassar was a registered nuclear engineer and received a certificate in general management from the University of Santa Clara Graduate School of Business and Administration. He married Marian Bujalski in Kalispell, Mont., in 1954. Mr. Vassar's career took the family all over the globe, from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Gaithersburg, Md. At the time of his retirement, he was vice president and power operations manager for Bechtel Canada Inc. He loved reading, was an avid gardener and enjoyed trying to outsmart Wall Street. Most of all, he was famous for his honesty and sense of humor. Preceding him in death were his father, Roscoe Kelsey Vassar; his mother, Elisabeth Barndt Vassar Crouse, a long-time teacher of foreign languages at Douglas High School; his stepfather, Ralph Crouse; and his sister, Hope Vassar Falcke. Mr. Vassar is survived by his wife of 45 years, Marian Vassar; son, David Roscoe Vassar of Douglas County; daughter Mary Gayle Vassar Melvin of Pleasant Hill, Calif.; daughter and son-in-law Erin and Jim Gaston of Richland, Wash.; grandchildren Kaylin, Ben, Jacob and Zachary Gaston, David, Michael, Steve and Andrew Melvin, Shannan and Devin Roscoe Vassar; and his nephews Rocky, Randy and Roger Falcke, all of Genoa.

Contributed 26 Apr 2007 by James C. Ferrall, extracted from the Record Courier, Gardnerville