Press release from the Sequoia Park Zoo:

In partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (LTWC), the Sequoia Park Zoo is excited to announce that two non-releasable bear cubs, currently known as “Oak” and “Tule”, have officially moved into the Zoo’s new Bear and Coyote habitat. The cubs will not be visible to guests - but might be heard playing behind-the-scenes in the care quarters - while they become acclimated to their new home. Animal care staff will monitor the health and comfort of the cubs over the next month, a standard practice among zoos, before introducing them to visitors. Guests can expect to start seeing the cubs in late June.

Oak and Tule were rescued by Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care in Spring 2022 and have grown up and bonded together during their year-long rehabilitation. Oak weighed 6.5 lbs when she was found orphaned in Oak Run, California, in early May 2022. Unfortunately, Oak never displayed the appropriate fear response to humans, despite the best efforts of her care team to prepare her for life in the wild. 

Tule (pronounced Too-Lee) was only weeks old when he was found in April 2022 on the Tule River Nation Reservation. The local community spent several days searching for his mother but were unable to locate her, and the Tule River Tribal Police Department transported him to LTWC for rehabilitation. Tule’s initial exam revealed that he weighed only 3.7 lbs and had a variety of health issues. Veterinary staff consulted with specialists from around the world about his unique case. Although most of his health issues are resolved, tests and medical exams determined that Tule’s coat will not regrow, which is essential for him to survive in the wild. Due to their conditions, CDFW determined that both cubs were non-releasable.

Oak and Tule were the first orphaned bear cubs admitted to LTWC in the Spring 2022 season. On the LTWC webcam, they have often been seen wrestling, chasing, and socializing with each other. We thank Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care for their hard work and dedication to Oak and Tule, and we are deeply grateful to Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria for their generous support of the new habitat. The Sequoia Park Zoo looks forward to fostering Oak and Tule’s continued friendship and growth and sharing their stories with our guests.

Every year, the state of California must find homes for a small population of animals that are deemed non-releasable. Facilities like the Sequoia Park Zoo play an important role in providing permanent homes for non-releasable animals and creating educational opportunities to learn about conserving and living with wildlife.

Oak and Tule goofing around in their former home at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care.

Starting in 2021, California took more of an interest in constructing affordable student housing. Since then it’s been a roller coaster ride.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers last year agreed to distribute $4 billion to the state’s three higher education systems with a mix of loans and grants through 2024-25 — which would add at least 20,000 beds at affordable rents. Fast forward to January 2023 and California’s facing a then-$22.5 billion deficit, and his administration wanted to delay some of the money by at least a year.

Now, with his revised May budget, Newsom wants to restore some of the money he wanted delayed. But other housing funds would still be delayed. In that time, the state budget hole has grown to $31.5 billion.

Here’s the latest on what you need to know about a pot of $4 billion.

What is this pot of $4 billion?

Well technically it’s two pots, or two pots nested within one larger pot.

Pot one is roughly $2.2 billion in grants for University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges.

Pot two is $1.8 billion in loans for the same systems.

So what’s new?

Newsom this month found a new way to fund pot one, overruling his January plan to delay $250 million in state grants to build dorms with low rents.

The move would mean the University of California and California State University get all the grant money they were promised without delay in 2023-24, while community colleges would receive all but $95 million and the rest the following year.

But Newsom still wants to delay by a year $1.8 billion in affordable student housing loans for campuses — that’s pot two.

What were the original plans for the $4 billion?

The money is the total of two programs — pots one and two — that were birthed in the last two years of state budgets.

The state’s interest in student housing is new, a response to the hundreds of thousands of college students in desperate pursuit of affordable homes. The supersized down payment on more affordable beds underscores the changing attitudes about college affordability and what the government’s role should be in helping students cover not just tuition, but the total cost of attending school — including housing.

While the UC and CSU have historically self-financed their own student housing, this money is designed to help the campuses provide students less expensive housing.

So far, about $1.4 billion in grants has been doled out to the systems — all part of the 2022 state budget. Last year’s budget promised another $750 million in housing grants to the UC, CSU and community colleges in the spending plan due in June.

Annual rent for dorm beds built with these grant dollars will be 15% of a county’s “area median income” — so about $800 a month in Los Angeles.

Also in last year’s budget deal was a plan to distribute zero-interest loans to the UC, CSU and community colleges in 2023-24 and 2024-25 totaling $1.8 billion.

The idea is that the campuses take the money, build affordable dorms — though what affordable means isn’t yet defined — and then repay the debt over time with student rent. Eventually, the pot is refilled, allowing the state to underwrite future campus construction for student, staff and faculty housing.

What happened between January and May?

With a then-projected state deficit of $22.5 billion, Newsom started off the budget negotiating season in January by proposing to delay the timeline of the 2022-23 budget deal with lawmakers. Rather than issuing $750 million in grants for 2023-24, the governor wanted to instead send $500 million this fiscal year and the remaining $250 million next fiscal year.

He also proposed stalling the zero-interest loan program by sending the campuses no money in 2023-24 and instead distributing the loan dollars in the subsequent two years.

But in his May revision to the budget, Newsom pursued a different tack that simultaneously frees the state from $1.1 billion in immediate financial obligation and sends all the housing grant money to the UC and CSU that last year’s budget deal promised, without delay.

Under the new plan, the UC and CSU would issue bonds to cover their entire share of the housing grant — both the amount they got for 2022-23 and the sum they were promised for 2023-24 — for a total of $1.1 billion.

The final price tag will be 1.4 times the cost of the projects than had the state supplied the money upfront.

California would cover the debt the UC and CSU would absorb, which the governor’s administration estimates to be about $30 million annually for the UC and $45 million for the CSU. The UC told members of the Assembly May 16 that if interest rates on borrowing rise, the UC would need to come back to lawmakers to get more than $30 million a year.While the bond route gives the state fiscal breathing room now, an analyst with the Legislative Analyst’s Office told senators last week that the final price tag will be 1.4 times the cost of the projects than had the state supplied the money upfront. The added costs are due to ongoing interest payments, adjusted for inflation. More UC and Cal State debt also eats into their ability to borrow for other projects. Still, the analyst called the debt-finance approach “reasonable.”

Will the loan program be funded this coming year?

The governor still wants the revolving loan program delayed by a year, something repeatedly rejected by lawmakers, including Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, a Democrat from Sacramento and chairperson of the budget subcommittee on education.

“We know if we’re going to get to the number one issue we talked about earlier, enrollment growth, we need the student housing to get there,” he said May 16. “We’ll be working of course with the administration and hope to come to a conclusion that allows us to not delay the student housing revolving loan fund.”

Nothing about the grant program’s required ultra-low rents would change. Nor would this shift in financing delay construction projects for student housing, UC and Newsom administration officials have said.

Seija Virtanen, a UC government relations senior official, said at a May 16 Assembly hearing that the UC is on track to enroll 8,000 new California undergraduates this fall, nearly double the 4,200 the system projected in March. While that responds to lawmaker pressure to have the UC educate more Californians after it kept its in-state student population flat this year, the enrollment growth underscores the system’s need to generate more housing as it pursues an aggressive expansion plan.

Lack of consensus over community college housing grants

The governor’s May plan for the housing grants ensures the community colleges get 50% of total money disbursed between 2022 and 2024, while Cal State gets 30% and UC receives 20%.

That breakdown has privately frustrated UC officials, who’ve implied the system, not the community colleges, have the experience to build student housing, a point previously echoed by legislative analysts.

A UC official told lawmakers in May that because the system received $389 million out of the total $437 million promised, the UC can only afford to develop one of the six new construction projects it submitted to lawmakers for review. Lawmakers would likely pick the projects the UC and Cal State could fund with the remaining dollars in upcoming budget bill language, a Newsom finance official wrote to CalMatters.

Diminishing what community colleges receive in housing dollars has been a theme in this year’s budget talks.

Most recently, a legislative analyst recently told senators that she recommends no new money goes to the community colleges for student housing. “For the community college projects, we recommend not doing any projects at this time, revisiting down the road,” Jennifer Pacella, deputy legislative analyst at the Legislative Analyst’s Office, said at a Senate hearing May 17. She said the state could distribute housing vouchers or other aid to students in need instead.

The senators present weren’t persuaded.

“It’s a strain when we have students competing with families to try to get access to the very small percentage of affordable housing we have across the state and particularly in places like L.A.,” said Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, a Democrat from Los Angeles.

Pacella also cautioned that her team predicts less overall state revenue than the governor’s office, meaning steeper cuts may be on the horizon anyway.

The community college system, for its part, has defended the allocation as important for their students, who are generally poorer than UC and CSU students, and also in dire need of housing. The state enrolls more community college students than those at the UC and CSU combined.

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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

One of the joys of Dr. Sumana Reddy’s job as a family medicine doctor is seeing patients of all ages and walks of life.

Reddy runs a private practice with a couple of locations in Monterey County, and her patients include Salinas’ farmworkers, newborns, government workers, school teachers, and even some patients she delivered many years ago.

About 20% of her patients are covered by Medi-Cal, the state’s insurance program for low-income people. Ideally, she’d like to serve even more Medi-Cal patients, but the program’s low reimbursement rates have for many years limited how many of those patients she can see to break even. She enjoys treating patients, but she also has a business to run.

Now, recent investments in the state’s Medi-Cal program, including a newly proposed pay boost for primary care providers and others, is renewing Reddy’s excitement about the program. “It’s always been a juggle to accept the amount of Medi-Cal that will keep us solvent, basically,” Reddy said. “As the state makes commitments to support Medi-Cal, we can continue to expand the patients that we take.”

How much of an impact this particular reimbursement increase will actually have on patients’ access to care remains to be seen. But policy experts and providers say it’s a promising signal for a crucial program that provides health coverage for more than 15 million Californians.

Dr. Sumana Reddy demonstrates a Telehealth exam using Updox, a HIPPA-compliant video chat software, one of several programs her clinic relies on to meet with patients. During exams, Reddy will point to parts of her body to ensure she understands where her patients are experiencing discomfort. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Specifically, the state is looking to increase Medi-Cal reimbursement for providers in primary care, maternity care and non-specialty mental health care. This includes care provided by doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and doulas. The proposal would increase what Medi-Cal pays for services rendered by these providers to 87.5% of what Medicare — the federal health insurance program for seniors and people with disabilities — pays for the same service.

Currently, Medi-Cal’s reimbursement for primary care and non-specialty mental health services is anywhere from 70% to 100% of what Medicare pays, according to the state’s Department of Health Care Services.

For instance, in San Francisco, Medicare pays about $108 for a basic doctor’s office visit. Medi-Cal pays $68 for that same visit.

Maternity care services are reimbursed on average 60% to 70% of Medicare rates.

Among most providers, Medicare is often considered the standard when it comes to pay, although some say that program still reimburses under cost for some services. And Medi-Cal typically pays even less.

Physicians have long argued that low Medi-Cal reimbursement is a key reason for the difficulty in attracting more doctors to underserved communities, where a large percentage of the population is on government-paid care. Meanwhile, hospitals blame, at least in part, low Medi-Cal pay for the current financial distress of some rural and independent hospitals.

“It does seem important that the state and the Medi-Cal program are recognizing that the program has just grown since the ACA (Affordable Care Act),” said Shannon McConville, a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. “Medi-Cal is providing coverage to about 35% of the state’s population and as we continue to expand it and have it be the cornerstone of this idea that everyone has health coverage, it needs to be meaningful.”

How the department settled on the proposed rate increase was based on what the state found it could afford at this time, but rates may be further adjusted in future budgets, said Lindy Harrington, the assistant state Medicaid director at the Department of Health Care Services.

Harrington said these three areas of services — primary care, maternity and non-specialty mental health — were prioritized because of the state’s focus on prevention. If you can improve care on the front end, you have fewer people in need of acute, more expensive care.

Research shows that increasing funding in primary care results in better health and lower overall costs, yet the U.S. spends only about 5% to 7% of total health spending on primary care, with other countries spending twice as much.

“There is a specific focus on strengthening and supporting the (Medi-Cal) system,” Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s health secretary, said in a press call. And that support cannot be just about expanding eligibility, “but to also secure its foundation and financial bedrock.”

More money from health plan tax

Despite California’s projected deficit for 2023-24, the state’s health budget has remained mostly unscathed, with no major cuts or setbacks. The increased provider rates will be funded by revenue from a bigger tax on health insurance plans.

This tax on managed care plans, also known as the Managed Care Organization tax, allows the state to impose a per-member tax on Medi-Cal insurance plans and on commercial plans. Because Medi-Cal is jointly funded with state and federal money, California can then use that tax money to request matching federal dollars. The tax expired at the end of last year, and the state is looking to bring it back retroactively to April of this year.

That tax is expected to bring $19.4 billion to the state between April 2023 through the end of 2026. About $11 billion of those dollars will be used in part to pay for provider reimbursement increases.

Revenue from the managed care tax, and consequently the increased pay for providers, depends on the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approving the state’s proposal. The state must submit a formal request for the enhanced funding by the end of June.

“It’s always been a juggle to accept the amount of Medi-Cal that will keep us solvent, basically.”
— Dr. Sumana Reddy, family medicine doctor

But pouring more money into the Medi-Cal program comes with some caution. The independent Legislative Analyst’s Office warns that permanently increasing rates will add pressure to future budgets, especially if the proposed managed care tax arrangement doesn’t last beyond 2026.

“By committing a portion of the MCO tax for augmentations, the Legislature would have less flexibility to adjust spending priorities were the state’s budget situation to further deteriorate,” the Legislative Analyst’s Office wrote in its analysis of the proposal.

Rather than adopting permanent rate increases, the analyst’s office proposes temporary supplemental payments to Medi-Cal providers as a way to support the program but also provide a safety cushion in future budgets. Still, providers say a permanent rate increase has been long overdue, and they’d like to see more of it. This first step, securing more funding for the Medi-Cal program and its providers, at least allows these conversations to take place, said Erica Murray, president and CEO of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems. Health systems, which run hospitals and outpatient services through their clinics, are still analyzing what this increased reimbursement proposal would look like for them.

“There is no way, given the scope of how underfunded Medi-Cal is, that it’s going to be sufficient,” Murray said, “And it’s still necessary.”

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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Beverly Audine Carlson, born to Oscar and Marie Carlson on April 16, 1931, passed into her next life on April 25, 2023 at the age of 92.

Bev lived an extraordinary and rich life, and in doing so, enriched the lives many people on her journey. Her early years were spent in Prunedale, California, where she won honorable mention in the “Prize Baby Show” in Santa Cruz in April 1932, and graduated from Prunedale Elementary and High Schools. In high school she began developing her musical skills, playing violin in the orchestra. After graduating in 1948, she continued her education at Stanford University. She graduated at Stanford’s 62nd commencement with 2,262 other students, and 10,000 people in attendance.

At Stanford she continued making music, but of even greater importance, she developed the skills and knowledge that made her what most students from Ferndale High School call, “the best teacher I ever had.” “Miss Carlson” began teaching when she was 21 years old and taught at Ferndale High for thirty years: U.S. History, Civics, French, Chorus; and the girls’ softball coach. Decades later, one could still find former students arguing with her about a grade they received on a test, and so it may amuse those students to know that she received “C’s” in History in high school.

Perhaps her most visible teaching accomplishment was leading the class of 1977’s U.S. History course in learning history first-hand by researching and writing a comprehensive history of Ferndale, “Where the Ferns Grew Tall”. The excellence of the work turned out by those fortunate students displays in a tangible way the power of her teaching. She was a formidable teacher, yet many students became friends with Miss Carlson over the years and began to call her “Bev” as they enjoyed a glass of white Zin, golf trips, singing, and traveling together.

Bev made music in one way or another over her long lifetime. She sang with the Ferndale Community Choir, conducting one or two selections at concerts, of which her favorite was always, “No Man is an Island.” She sang with the Chameleon Singers, caroled on Christmas Day, and was an awesome Halloween Caroler (one year the back of her costume carried the sign “Carlson for School Board”). In later years she joined Deb Woods in singing at assisted living and care facilities. During her last week, members of the Ferndale Community Choir crowded into her home one evening to sing. Choir Gals and friends came to sit – and sing – with her right up to the very end. Bev’s last days were filled with music and love.

On retirement, Bev began painting houses. Her first partner was Mariette Dwight, followed by Missy and Annie, and then an entire female crew. At 75 years old Bev decided she needed a contractor’s license in her own right, so she studied under Mariette, and passed the test first try in a room full of young guys and no other women. Bev famously climbed ladders and walked around with paint on her hands and face into her 80s.

Bev was baptized in the United Presbyterian Church, confirmed in the Episcopal Church, and finally settled on being a Lutheran, devoting her time, energy, good sense, and humor at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, as leader and lay reader.

There are many people and organizations that benefitted from Bev’s experience and calm demeanor. She served on the Ferndale High School Board for twelve years, assisted with the launch of the Senior Resource Center, and gave behind-the-scenes guidance to any number of organizations and individuals. She was a woman whose friendship crossed any perceived boundaries of age, political persuasion, or world view, and she was the epitome of civil discourse.

Over her 93 years Bev made lifelong and storied friendships, including Mabel Lowry (where Bev would drive her motorcycle right inside Mabel’s cabin in Bear River); the Choir Gals (who gathered after rehearsals to talk about the tenors); her fellow teachers and friends (including Coach and Deanna Carlson); her partners in painting (the fabulous Chicks on Sticks and later Don Sanborn); her walking companion, Cheryl Etter (continuing her ongoing argument for a better grade on a French test); her many golfing friends (including Don Becker, one of the traveling golfing foursome); and Deb Woods, her great friend, who with her husband, Steve, was Bev’s caregiver over during her last years.

There is so much more that can be said about Bev – her meticulous prize-winning crewel embroidery work, her sense of humor and laughter, her holes-in-one, her graceful hands (and sometimes fists) as she directed music, her Pendleton jackets, her frightening Charlie McCarthy ventriloquist dummy, her love for her animals, her artichoke dip, her fateful move from alto to tenor, her faith, her civic and civil convictions, her quiet yet fierce defense of friends, her intelligence.

Beverly is survived by her cousins, Vee (Donald) Thomas, and Vee’s sons Larry (Mary Claire) and Chris (Mary Kay). She is also survived by sons of her cousin Hans “Slip” (Gwen) Slibsager, Mike (Wendy), David (Janet), Keith, and Dennis (Lorna). She was preceded in death by Scott Thomas, Slip Slibsager, and Scott Slibsager. She leaves behind a host of friends and students whose lives she touched, and in whom she lives on in memory.

The community is invited to celebrate Bev’s life well lived on Saturday, July 15. There will be a service at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (425 Shaw Avenue in Ferndale) at 11 a.m., followed by a further celebration at the Ferndale Community Center (100 Berding Street) at 12:30 p.m. There will be food, memories (please bring your stories to share), and, of course, music.

No man is an island; no man stands alone. Each man’s joy is joy to me; each man’s grief is my own. We need one another, so I will defend each man as my brother, each man as my friend.

Dennis Kyle Dodson
May 20, 1966 to May 3, 2023

Dennis Kyle Dodson was born in Huston Texas on May 20, 1966 and moved to California in July of 1970. He spent most of his childhood exploring the Arcata and Blue Lake area and traveling to Texas and Louisiana for the summer. He enjoyed playing football in the field by his his house and adventuring with his friends during the school year until he graduated from Arcata High School in 1985. After high school Dennis spent years working at mills before taking a job as a support worker, spending over twenty five years working with people with mental and physical disabilities, most of which were spent at HCAR, a job he loved and full of people he considered friends.

Dennis was an artist of all sorts. From drawing and painting to woodwork and cooking, building to papier-mâché, there were few things he couldn’t do once he put his mind to it, often without instructions. He was passionate about his crafts and put his heart into everything he did. He was skilled in many things, including hunting, fishing, and raising animals. His hobbies included camping, long drives through the woods and mountains, playing horseshoes, and target shooting. If it was an outdoor activity he’d love it. But one thing Dennis loved more than all of that was people.

Dennis had a big heart, he loved the people in his community and was happy to be a helping hand whenever one was needed, whether it was to a friend or a complete stranger. After an earthquake he could always be found driving around the town, looking for people who were unable to get to higher grounds on their own. But his favorite people was his family. Both by blood and by choice, Dennis was probably at his happiest when he was around his family. He tried to talk to his parents, Ann and Keven Stolpe, every day and always asked for updates on his siblings and extended family. Dennis loved and raised two daughters, Melissa and Kimberly Dodson, on his own and on 11-11-11 he married the love of his life, Dayna Dodson, and gained his bonus daughter, Bree Jallo, who he loved as his own. In June 2012 he got his first grandson, Blayze, who was the absolute joy of his heart. He would do anything and everything to make sure his family was happy, safe, and cared for no matter the cost.

Unfortunately Dennis couldn’t be kept forever, and on May 3, 2023, Dennis Kyle Dodson took his final breath, leaving behind a family and group of friends who will always love him and remember him for the brave, funny, smart, loving, wonderful man he was.

Dennis leaves behind: his loving mom, Ann Stolpe, and loving dad, Keven Stolpe; his beloved wife, Dayna Dodson; his three daughters, Melissa and Kimberly Dodson, Bree Jallo, and her son Blayze; his sister DaLana Martin, her son Justin Dean Martin, and her granddaughter Skylar Martin; his brother Daniel Dodson, Jackie Welch, and her daughter Isabella Hayes; his sister Darla Dodson, her son Kyle Allen, her daughter Kayla and Eli, and her grandson Aiden; his brother Antonio Avelar and Laynette; his brother Warren Crawford and his daughter Janessa Crawford and son George Crawford; his stepsister Karrie and Ray Blankenship, their son and daughter, and numerous nieces and nephews; his stepbrother Michael and Sarah Stolpe and his two daughters and two sons; his stepbrother Chris Stolpe and his son and two daughters; his stepsister Sarah and Jay Morgan, their two daughters and son, and their grandchildren; his Aunt Darlene and Aunt Dorothy; and many cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends so close they may as well be family.

Dennis Dodson was a great man who will not be easily forgotten by those who knew and loved him. He’s touched so many people and changed so many lives it’s simply impossible.

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Bob Sovereign was born April 16, 1956 in Eureka to Richard and Fran Sovereign. He passed away peacefully in his sleep on May 16, 2023 in Eureka.

Bob was a lifetime resident of Eureka and attended school there.

When he turned 18 he went right into the military and became a PFC for the United States Marine Corps and got a sharpshooter certificate as well.

After his discharge he worked in various industries in Eureka, some of which took him to the open seas as a commercial fisherman. He was a millworker for McNamara & Peep, and had a landscaping business where he met a host of friends in the clientele that he served.

Bob had a great sense of humor and used it on me (his sister) right after I watched a scary movie on TV (I was 13), I headed upstairs to my room and all of a sudden a “ghost” was standing at the top of the stairs waving its arms. Well I screamed, asked it who are you, what are you? I was genuinely terrified and then the ghost took off his costume and there stood Bob laughing like hell. I really wanted to choke him at that moment. He really loved his pranks and used them on many others.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents Richard and Fran Sovereign, brother Rick Sovereign and sister Nina Jacaway all of Eureka. He is survived by his remaining siblings and their children, Ronnie Sovereign of Eureka, and his son Chad, Tami Walsh (Pat) of Hermitage, Tenn. and their children Donnie Walsh of McKinleyville (Janna), Heather Ringwald (Ryan) of Florida, Patrick and Joseph Walsh of Lebanon and Hermitage, Tenn., Karen James (Dave) of Elma. Wash. , and their children Cheri Gellerstadt, Misty Astry, Amanda Astry, of Elma, Stacy James and Kimberly LeRoy of Eureka. Also survived by Rick’s children Ricky and Chris Sovereign of Tucson, Ariz., Shaunah Sovereign of Eureka, Nina’s children Lance and LeeAnn Jacaway of Phoenix, Lane Jacaway of Eureka and his buddy Lynden (Trobbit) Jacaway of Eureka, and his beloved dog Bumper whom he loved more than people.

He is also survived by his uncle Wayne Sovereign of Eureka and his aunt Mary (Aunt Lou Lou) of Eureka, and Aunt Donna Brunk (Sis) of Newport, Oregon, and dozens of cousins and friends too numerous to name. He is also survived by a very special friend Judy Dutra whom he entrusted enough to care for his beloved Bumper. He made lots of friends over the years and treated them like family.

A celebration of life service will be planned at a later date.

Donations to help family with burial expenses can be made directly to Ayers Funeral Home, 2620 Jacobs Avenue, Eureka .

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With sadness in our hearts, we announce the passing of Whitney Buck on May 13, 2023.

Whitney Wood Buck, Junior, was born on August 16, 1930 (Saturday’s child), in Detroit, Michigan, of Whitney Buck, Senior, and Mildred Mattsson. He attended public schools and Denison University in Ohio. In 1952, he was commissioned a line officer in the Navy and served in the Navy with the Marine Corps during the Korean War. After his military service he attended graduate school at the University of Michigan earning a doctorate degree. He taught English literature at Michigan, Wayne State University in Detroit, and at Humboldt State University in California. He was appointed Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Humboldt State University and retired in 1993.

An avid runner, he was a member of the Six Rivers Running Club and participated in numerous local races. He was a founding member of the board of the Morris Graves Museum of Art. He loved music, learning to play both the piano and cello later in life. He enjoyed traveling and took great pleasure in cooking for others.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Miriam, and is survived by his loving wife, Jean Santi, his sister Barbara Wolf (Phillip Wolf), and his beloved children: Jesse Buck (Mimi Nadya Buck), Jason Buck (Teri Buck), and Emily Armstrong Buck. He has five grandchildren: Ted, Perry, Alaina, Josh and Gabe Buck.

His family would like to thank Doctors Purtell and Abdali, Case Manager Julie, and Nurse Brieanne of St. Joseph Hospital. The Staff of Hospice of Humboldt and Timber Ridge for their care.

Family and friends will gather to celebrate Whitney’s life at his home on June 11th from 4 to 6 p.m. In lieu of flowers please donate to a worthy cause.

“Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality.” — Emily Dickinson

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