THOMAS H. DAVIS, III was on the Social Science faculty from 1965 to 1996.  He passed away on Sunday, Nov. 13^th.  Tom was always ready to jump into a debate, particularly in regard to government (including campus government.)  He had suffered from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.  With his partner’s help, Tom was able to live at home until the last three days.

NANCY EDWARDS taught English at BC from 1968 to 2009 and has been a leader in poetry circles in Kern County and beyond.   Nancy and Howard Quilling, also now deceased, collaborated on many performances of original poetry set to music.  An on-campus memorial is being planned.  We will announce it when a date is confirmed.

RALPH KRAFVE, who died January 16, was the successful, well liked BC basketball coach from 1973 to 1985.  Ralph coached the 1977-1978 team that won BC’s only basketball state championship.  Previously he was the championship coach at East High for 12 years.  He was inducted into the Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.  Dolly, his wife and survivor, was active in the Faculty Wives and Women group.

CAROL MARSHALL passed away December 22 in Seattle, WA.  Carol was a tutor in the Learning Center helping recent immigrants, mainly Vietnamese, learn to read English.  She and her husband Rod Marshall, now deceased, came in 1968 when he joined the BC faculty in Supportive Services, after a career in the Armed Services which took them to Germany and The Pentagon.

DAN NYSTROM, 88, died on December 12.  He was a BC Zoology teacher from 1958 until 1984.  He and Arleen were married for 47 years and raised three children.  After Arleen died in 1998, Dan married Mary Horst in 2000 and they had 16 years together before she passed away earlier in 2016.

DALENE OSTERKAMP, 84, passed away on December 27^th.  Dalene was a distinguished BC art teacher (listed in Who’s Who of American Women and, in 1989, given the First Annual Service to Women Award from the American Association of Women in Community and Junior Colleges.)  Primarily a print maker, she retired to Glennville and worked in prints, stained glass, mosaics, etching, pottery, and jewelry making.  At BC she was also a counselor and worked with the Women’s Studies Department.

RONDA VALDEZ died December 8.  A member of the classified staff, Ronda served in several different departments on the BC campus in her years at BC from 1969 to 1997, ending in the Public Information Office.

CLYDE VERHINE died on December 12 in Oregon at age 95.   A Social Studies and Economics professor, Clyde was active in campus activities, served as the Academic Senate President, and was known for his cheerful greetings and demeanor.

EDDIE WARD passed away on January 1 in Arizona.  He retired in 2008 after 34 years as Grounds Supervisor at Bakersfield College.

ALEJANDRA “Nicki” WILKERSON lived with many years of dialysis and passed on shortly after finally receiving a kidney and liver transplant.  She served 25 years in M&O first at BC and then at the District,

1986-2011.

Information supplied by the BC Archives