Denise Ann Ferraro, 59, of Rio Dell, passed away tragically in a trucking accident on Sept. 20, 2019, near Laytonville.

Denise was born in Pasadena to Leslie Beatrice Bacon and Alan Leon Champagne on Sept 15, 1960. She never had the opportunity to meet her birth father, but was raised by her mother and her dad, Harold Dean, in Orange County. She went to school in Garden Grove, California, and married John Samuel Ferraro II at the age of 18.

Together, the couple welcomed their firstborn son, John Samuel Ferraro III, on July 21, 1979. Not long after, with Denise pregnant with their second child, the marriage had dissolved. Denise, still pregnant with Tracy, met Gary L Johnson, a young truck driver from Three Rivers, California, when Tracy Lynne Ferraro was welcomed into the world on December 8, 1981.

Never married, but together for 15 years, she and Gary welcomed one child together, Jerrad Ryan Johnson, born Aug. 22, 1983.

Four years later, the family moved far from “city life” of the central valley, into the rural area of Eel Rock, California, outside of Myers Flat, onto the Johnson family homestead. Growing up in Orange County, the move to Eel Rock (with no electricity and water coming straight from a creek), Denise struggled to call it home. However, this place eventually took such a big piece of her heart, she had told her daughter this is the place she would want to be her final resting place one day.

Denise was introduced into trucking as a truckers’ mate, a life she knew from the inside out — long nights away from home, thousands of miles, and every kind of beautiful sites there were to see. In the past few years, she was especially drawn to the beautiful cloud formations she’d see, and would say, “with my head in the clouds.” First becoming a school bus driver for Southern Humboldt Unified School District in the early ‘90s, Denise obtained her Class B license, and her own love for driving big rigs was discovered.

Her first trucking job was for Larry and Lola Davis in Rio Dell. She began driving a dump truck for them and loved every second of it. After the separation of she and Gary, she moved to Rio Dell to be closer to this work, and eventually, proudly became a member of the Rio Dell Volunteer Fire Department for several years. Nothing in the world made Denise as proud as her family, especially her three children and five grandchildren.

Denise continued her love for trucking, albeit a hard business for a woman, for over 20 years, into the last moments of her life.

She is survived by her mother, Leslie Wallace (Bacon) of Arkansas; her dad, Harold Dean of Rio Dell/Bell, Ca; her half brothers, Harold Dean of Orange County, Ca, and most recently was finally connected to her siblings shared by their birth father; Bruce Champagne; sister DeeDee Hahs (Champagne); Brad Champagne, Brian Champagne (all of Utah) and Barry Champagne (of Bakersfield, Ca); her children John Ferraro (Olivia Kerr) of Rio Dell, Ca; Tracy (Ferraro) Craig (Brandon Craig) of Hydesville, Ca; Jerrad Johnson (Kris Johnson) of Loleta, Ca. She also leaves behind her “reasons for life”, her  grandchildren, Izzy Sol Ferraro (Evansville, Indiana), Cory Johnson (Loleta, Ca), Dylan Johnson (Loleta), Haylie Craig (Hydesville), Colby Craig (Hydesville), Laura and Sierra Kerr. We’d fail her for not mentioning her closest friends: Jennifer Barnhart, Shirley Stevens, Ladonna Avera, DeAnn Teasley, the entire trucker and RDVFD community, her three beloved german shepherds and her cat, Jak Jak; as well as many other countless friends and family.

Denise’s Celebration of Life will be held Sunday, September 29th, at 1 p.m. at the Rio Dell Volunteer Fire Dept, 50 Center St, in Rio Dell. Her ashes will be spread in Eel Rock amongst family at a future date.

Our family wishes to thank the outpour of love and care from our community and friends, including the RDVFD for their donation of the space for her celebration.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Denise’s 5 grandchildren, of whom she always wanted to open a Grandparents Savings account for, in order to provide them a better future; contribution details can be made through Tracy, via email, at tracycraigrn@hotmail.com until a bank account can be set up.

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The obituary above was submitted by Denise’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.