Page 2 - Mid Valley Times 11-26-20 E-edition

Obituaries
German Avendano Reyna German Avendano
Reyna of Orange Cove died Nov. 13 in Orange Cove. He was 83.
Mr. Reyna worked as a farmer.
He is survived by his wife, Eva Aven- dano, four sons, two daughters, 15 grand- children, 44 grand- children and 20 great- grandchildren.
A graveside service was held Nov. 24 at Smith Mountain Cem- etery in Dinuba.
Dopkins Reedley Funeral Chapel is handling the arrange- ments.
Maria Arabela Rodriguez
Maria Arabela Ro-
driguez of Sanger died Nov. 13. She was 89.
She is survived by her children, grand- children, great grand-
Thursday, November 26, 2020 | A2 | Mid Valley TiMes
Top county honor to SUSD teacher
children and great- great grandchildren.
Private services will be held.
Wallin’s Sanger Funeral Home is han- dling funeral arrange- ments.
Elena Claire Stone
Elena Claire Stone
of Selma died Nov. 18. She was 84.
Mrs. Stone worked as a teacher for the Fresno Unified School District.
She is survived by her son, Rodney Stone of Selma, three grand- children and five great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jerry Stone.
Private services will be held.
Wallin’s Sanger Funeral Home is han- dling funeral arrange- ments.
Catherine Cooper, elementary music instructor, named Fresno County's Teacher of the Year
MVT Staff Report
Catherine Cooper, elementary music teacher for three schools in the Sanger Unified School Dis- trict, was announced as the Fres- no County Teacher of the Year by the office of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools during an online event on Nov. 22.
Cooper, a teacher for 20 years, serves as the elementary music teacher for Quail Lake Environ- mental Charter School, Jefferson Elementary School and Madison Elementary School. She was paid a surprise visit at her residence from Jim Yovino, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, and SUSD Superintendent Adela Jones to announce the award.
Cooper expressed her grati- tude to Yovino and Jones for the honor, and particularly thanked Jones for her commitment by
Photo Contributed
Catherine Cooper, elementary mu- sic teacher for three schools in the Sanger Unified School District, was named Fresno County Teacher of the Year during an online program on Nov. 22.
SUSD to support music and the arts in schools.
Cooper said of her position, “I believe in the power of singing, dancing and playing to unlock the expressive and creative potential of all my students – grades kin- dergarten through sixth. Regard-
less of the grade level, I am com- mitted to using music as a lens through which my students can access a wider world filled with diverse perspectives.”
Also winning top educator honors were Annette J. Mon- tague, School Employee of the Year; and Aaron Bryan, Admin- istrator of the Year.
Montague is an administrative assistant II in the Fresno Uni- fied School District Office, and a 27-year veteran in education. Bryan is director of the Visual and Performing Arts department with FCSS, and has worked in ed- ucate for 18 years. The Educator of the Year application process began in March, when FCSS re- ceived the completed nomination packets from school districts. Each district has the opportunity to nominate one honoree for each of the three categories.
The judging process began with a committee pre-reading the nomination packets and ranking them. The top applications were given to the final selection com- mittee that narrowed the field to three finalists in each category. The winners were chosen by closed ballot.
REID
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because of Sarah and her creativity and inno- vation."
"I'm just so proud of my whole team, and their ability to modify and fig- ure out what their place is during a time like this. Many programs just went dormant," Reid said. "They
have been great just re- ally trying to embrace the public in a safe way, so that they feel comfort- able."
In its letter to Reid, Fresno State officials said "this year with the extraordinary circum- stances of the COVID-19 pandemic we believe it is especially important to honor those CHHS alumni who are at the forefront of caring for
CORRIDOR Continued from page A1
after the fact — leaving the city to seek bridge fi- nancing to begin devel- opment.
A second agenda item related to the annexation brought good news to the council and the city when it comes to for- mulating the reality of a commercial corridor on North Academy Avenue.
Sanger Community Development Director Tom Navarro advised the council that the city has an opportunity to apply for as much as $5 million in grant money through EDA (Economic Development Adminis- tration) funding.
With matching funds from the city totaling nearly $9 million, if ap- proved for EDA fund- ing, the city could pos- sibly begin adding new water and sewer lines to the entire area by the middle of next year. The entire project could take three to four years to complete.
“This is really a proj- ect that could pay for itself,” said Sanger City Manager Tim Chapa.
•••
In other council
news, it was reported that 20 local businesses were able to receive grant funding from the city of Sanger to assist them through hard fi- nancial times brought on by pandemic measures. Over $100,000 was made available to local busi- ness by the city.
Chapa also advised the council that numbers of COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Sanger, re- minding them that most counties in California, in-
our community and making a positive im- pact during these un- precedented times.
"Perhaps you don't consider yourself a hero, butwesuredo!"
Reid will be honored by the university in a scheduled virtual cere- mony in December. Reid and her family will be highlighted in the virtual ceremony, which will take place on Zoom.
cluding Fresno, are now back in the purple zone due to recent spikes.
He noted that No- vember’s positive cas- es for Sanger had al- ready eclipsed the en- tire month of October — midway through the month. Chapa mentioned the state mandate that took effect on Saturday, essentially establishing a curfew between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. for nonessential travels.
He also reported that so far there have been 18 COVID-19 death cas- es in the city.
During public com- ments of the pandemic update, some callers asked the city to take stricter measures to en- sure people in town are abiding by pandemic guidelines.
Vincent Wall, who addressed himself as an ‘at-large city council member’, suggested the city begin citing people in town for not wearing a face covering.
The comment was not received well by some citizens participating via teleconference due to pandemic guidelines.
“This is not Nazi Germany,” expressed Sanger citizen Mia Geil.
At the end of Thurs- day’s city council meet- ing, outgoing city Mayor Frank Gonzalez took the opportunity to congratu- late colleagues Eli Onti- veros, Daniel Martinez and Esmeralda Hurta- do on their successful election campaigns. Mayor-Elect Ontiveros, along with Martinez and Hurtado, will be sworn into office at the next city council meeting on Dec. 3.
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James Albert Peter
March 7, 1925 - November 18, 2020
James A “Jim” Peter passed away on Wednesday, November 18, 2020, at Dycora (Golden Living) Transitional Health-Reedley.
He was born on March 7, 1925, to George and Mae Peter in Minnesota. He was the second son and fourth child out of seven children. Jim’s older siblings at that time were Vernon, Violet
and Mavis. Three younger sisters followed him which were Darlene, LaVonne, and Darlys.
He served in the Army during WWII. Spent the end of the war in Korea. He was a very proud veteran and American.
He married Annabell McCapes on February 18, 1950. They made their home in Minnesota where Jim had been a farmer with his father and brother for many years. This is also where their rst child was born, Judy, on December 11,1951. They moved back to Cali- fornia in 1953. Where their second child a son, Larry, was born on October 13, 1954, in Sanger. They also lived in Reedley for a while before they built a home in Sanger where they lived till Annabell’s mother passed away.
Jim owned/operated a service station for many years starting with his brother, Vernon, with one in Selma. He then had several stations in Fresno with his son, Larry. The last station they owned was in Reedley on the corner of Reed and Manning Avenues, Campus Shell. After Annabell passed in November 1983, Jim married Betty Kohler in February 1988. Jim went to work at that time for the Reedley Exponent/Sanger Heard delivering the shopper and newspaper to Sanger, Reedley, Parlier, Orange Cove and the post of ce for those for mailing. He did this for about 22 years.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents George and Mae Peter, his sisters LaVonne Wyigul, Mavis Bartsch, brother in law, LuVern Fos- sen, brother Vernon Peter, nephew Jim Shaw, sister Darlys Britton, and sister in law Bonnie Peter. Also Jim’s rst wife, Annabell Peter, passed in November 1983. His second wife Betty Kohler passed in November 2013.
Jim is survived by his two children Judy Peter and Larry Peter. Also four grandsons, Jamie Peter, wife Erin, of Reedley, California; Jason Rivers, wife Nicole, of LaRue, Texas; Shaun Peter, wife Queen, of the Philippines and Justin Rivers of Fresno, California. Five great grand- children: Matthew and Chloe Rivers; Annabelle, Aliza and Zechariah Peter. His two sisters Violet Fossen and Darlene High ll and many nieces and nephews.
Funeral arrangements are through Dopkins Funeral Chapel at 2200 S Reed Avenue, Reedley, California.
Viewing will be Tuesday, December 1, 2020, from 4-7 pm, with graveside services on Wednesday, December 2, 2020, at 11 am at the Reedley Cemetery.
In place of owers, donations may be made to Full Gospel Taber- nacle, 518 East Avenue, Reedley, California 93654.
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