Life Tributes for the week of 3/18/20

Debra “Debbie” Jane Baer

Debra “Debbie” Jane Baer, born Debra Jane Prewett, passed away March 5, 2020, after a sudden attack of acute pancreatitis.

Debbie was born in Bakersfield, on Jan. 30, 1954. She was the first of three children born to Orel and Jane Prewett.

Debbie grew up in the Bakersfield suburbs and developed a great love of horses, photography and railroad trains. She rode with friends as much as possible in the sands of the Kern Riverbed through Bakersfield and started a life-long passion for photography.

Through family vacations she became familiar with the Plumas county area and chose to leave Bakersfield behind as a young adult and move to Portola She met more friends who loved riding horses as much as she.

Debbie gave birth to her only daughter, Ida Prewett, in 1994.

Debbie started dating her husband, Kirk Baer, in 1997 and married June 3, 2000.

She was always involved in the Portola community with activities like Railroad Days and the Western Pacific Railroad Museum. Debbie’s mother told her she was a Mayflower descendant, which started her journey into genealogy. She discovered other passions as well such as gardening and travel. She loved to explore the desert, Alaska and take train trips with Kirk. She was seldom without her Nikon and recorded her adventures. She often made memory books which she gifted her friends.

Debbie is survived by her husband, Kirk Baer; daughter, Ida Prewett; her mother, Jane Prewett; two sisters, Diane Prewett and Denise (Prewett) DeMattei and two grandchildren, Robbie and Tamma Milby.

A memorial and celebration of life will be held for Debbie on Saturday, March 21, 1 p.m. at the New Life Christian Center, 72690 Highway 70, Portola. All those who knew and loved Debbie are welcome to attend.

Neil Alan Beck

Neil Alan Beck, 67, passed away peacefully listening to his favorite music and surrounded by an abundance of love on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020.

He was born in Sacramento on Feb. 19, 1953, to Alan and Iris Beck and lived in Rio Vista for a short period while his father was in the U.S. Coast Guard. The family moved to the ranch that had been homesteaded by his grandfather on the Carrisa Plains in San Luis Obispo County. When Neil was 12, his father’s family purchased a second ranch near Winnemucca, Nevada, and the family relocated. Neil was a 1971 graduate of Lowry High School where he was voted “Most Independent,” not surprising to those who know him even a little! He remained in Winnemucca until his early 20s and ultimately settled in Reno, Nevada.

At a home in Reno, affectionately called “The Zoo,” Neil met and eventually married Karen Kellison on May 25, 1984. Together they raised two children, Amy and Alan, who meant the world to him.

Neil worked in the automotive and tire industry, owning and operating Reno Tire Warehouse on the corner of 2nd and Keystone for 35 years. He built a large and diverse customer base, sometimes including several generations of families due to his honesty, fairness and straightforward attitude. Neil was always ready to debate politics, one of his favorite subjects and could definitely hold his own.

In 1995, the family moved to Clio and Neil served as Water master for the Clio Public Utilities District for several years and was also on their Board of Directors.

Neil’s passion was music and over the years he established a large circle of friends in the industry including TC & Friends, Bump and Grind, the Montana Band, Joyce Vetter and many more. He truly lived life to the fullest through simple pleasures, whether it was chatting it up with friends and family, taking the dog for a walk or playing music on the stereo out of the garage for the entire town of Clio to hear. He was a kind, caring and cheerful, but “independent” soul.

Neil is survived by his wife, Karen; children, Amy and Alan; siblings, Larry and Tricia; many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

A celebration of life will be held in Reno on April 11. For details, please visit NeilBeck.com.

Juanita Cervantes

Longtime Greenville resident, Juanita Cervantes, passed suddenly from this life Monday morning, March 9, 2020, to join her husband, Juan P. Cervantes, in heaven.

She was born Nov. 9, 1938, in San Ignacio Cerro Gordo, Jalisco, Mexico, where Juanita lived until emigrating to the United States in 1972. While residing in Mexico she met the love of her life, Juan, husband and father of her children. The couple was united in holy matrimony on Feb. 4, 1957, in San Ignacio Cerro Gordo, Jalisco, Mexico and through this holy union four sons and three daughters were born.

Juanita was a devout member of the Roman Catholic faith and a regular attendee of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Greenville. She enjoyed helping people, cooking and especially spending time with family.

In her passing Juanita leaves her sons, Gabriel Cervantes and wife Carmen, Jose Manuel Cervantes and wife, Maria, who reside in Greenville, Martin Cervantes and wife, Dina, and Rosendo Cervantes and wife, Mindy, who reside in Grangeville, Idaho; daughters, Ana Morales and husband, Rafael, of Los Angeles, Lucy Campa and husband, Antonio, of Portola and Lori Lozano and husband, Miguel, of Camino; brothers, Samuel, Juan Manuel, José Luis and sister, María Trinidad, who reside in Mexico; as well as being the proud grandmother to 23 and great-grandmother to 11.

Along with her husband, she joins three of her brothers and one sister in their eternal home.

A Vigil service to include recitation of the Holy Rosary will take place 7 p.m. Friday, March 20, with the celebration of Christian Mass to take place 11 a.m. Saturday, March 21, at her beloved St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church in Greenville. Interment will take place in the Panteón Municipal Cemetery in San Ignacio Cerro Gordo, Jalisco, Mexico.

Pat Bright

Celebration of Life for Pat Bright has been postponed. Services were originally scheduled for March 28. Due to health concerns surrounding the Coronavirus the family has decided to postpone this event until a future update.

Rodney Steele Turner

Rodney Turner, of Los Molinos, passed away Sunday, March 9, 2020, at the age of 79.

Rod was born June 8, 1940, in Merced to Alva (Dutch) and Mary Turner. His family moved to Quincy shortly thereafter.

He attended schools in Quincy grades one through 12 and graduated from Quincy High School in 1958, serving as Class President his senior year.

Rod was chosen “Most Athletic” by his graduating class and led the varsity basketball team in scoring and a league championship as a senior and also set a single game record during a winning football season by scoring five touchdowns in the team’s final game. Another honor he considered special was being selected to play for the North team in the Sacramento Valley All Star Football game played in Sacramento the summer following graduation.

After an active term with the California National Guard, Rod’s early working career included bookkeeping with Boss and Semer, Quincy public accountants, the position of title examiner for local title and escrow firms and office manager for the Plumas County Assessor. Later on he was a partner in a small real estate office that involved the purchase and sale of rural parcels of land including the harvest and delivery of merchantable timber to regional lumber mills.

After moving to Los Molinos in 1990, he worked as operations manager for a private water company in Gerber until its sale to the local services district in 1999.

Ron was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Mary Lynn Radford.

He is survived by sister, Ruth Salinas, of Red Bluff and five children: Tara, of Chile, South America, Jennifer, of San Francisco, Bradley, of Quincy, Joshua and Jamie both of Durham.

At Rod’s request no services will be held.