DONALD STEVENS, FUHS 1941

Stevens, Donald, longtime Orange County resident, passed away 6/16/15 in Costa Mesa. Born 10/4/23 in La Habra Heights, having been a graduate of Fullerton High School, and serving in the USAAF during WWII as a B-17 Navigator, after which he attended Cal State Berkeley with a Civil Engineering Degree, and owner of Stevens Engineering. Don is survived by his sons, Eric Stevens, Tyler Stevens; daughter, Wendie Stevens; and grandchildren, Kelsey Stevens, Hayley Stevens, Julie Stevens and Tyler Stevens. A graveside service will be held on Thursday, 6/25/15 at 11:00 AM at Loma Vista Memorial Park, Fullerton. McAulay & Wallace Mortuary 
 

Published in Orange County Register on June 23, 2015 - See more at: http://obits.ocregister.com/obituaries/orangecounty/obituary.aspx?n=donald-stevens&pid=175139608#sthash.T0WZq244.dpuf  

Gutierrez, Johnny Paul, FUHS 1971?

There is no info in the FUHS database. Please let me know if he did not graduate in 1971.

Gutierrez, Johnny Paul "Fatman", passed away on June 3, 2015 in Brea, CA. He was born in Orange, CA and lived in Fullerton for 61 years. He attended Maple Elementary School, Wilshire Junior High, and Fullerton High School. He worked for Santa Fe Railroad for 35 years. Johnny is survived by his sister, Linda Jenkins; brother, Ruben Gutierrez; and uncle, Jose Gutierrez. A memorial service will be held at McAulay & Wallace Mortuary, 902 N. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton, CA 92832 on Saturday, June 20, 2015 at 1:00 P.M. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the . McAulay & Wallace Mortuary 
 

Published in Orange County Register on June 17, 2015 - See more at: http://obits.ocregister.com/obituaries/orangecounty/obituary.aspx?n=johnny-paul-gutierrez-fatman&pid=175098229&fhid=2216#sthash.AyDnpEfC.dpuf  

OLD HILLSIDE DRIVE-IN MENU

See the following link to view the Hillside Drive-in menu that Bill Curren provided.
You may need to copy and paste the link into the URL.
Or you can look for his original post on May 27, 2015.

Click on each picture of the menu to enlarge it.

http://fuhs-all-alumni.blogspot.com/2015/05/bill-curren-ford-school-grades-2-5.html

LOUISE E (WHITTEMORE) LINN, FUHS 1940

LOUISE E (WHITTEMORE) LINN, FUHS 1940

Linn, Louise E. was born in 1923 in Montebello, California. Her parents Albert and Pearl moved to California from Arkansas during The Great Depression. Louise went to school in Fullerton and received her AA degree from Fullerton Junior College. She worked as an Administrative Assistant for the Pentagon in Washington DC during WWII. After the war she was transferred to Hamilton Field in Marin County where she met her husband of 63 years, Howard Linn. Louise spent the next 30 years as a military wife, traveling with her husband and making a home for her family. In 1972 she and Howard retired to her native Orange County. In retirement the Linns continued their adventures, traveling the world and raising their children and grandchildren. Mrs. Linn is survived by her adoring daughters, Cheryl, Elizabeth, Alison, Darcy, Valerie and her grandchildren. We have been blessed by her love, strength and courage. Funeral services will be held Friday June 12th at 1 pm at the McAulay and Wallace Chapel. Pastor James Elmore of Trinity Lutheran Church will officiate. Burial will follow at Loma Vista Memorial Park. McAulay & Wallace Mortuary 

Published in Orange County Register on June 11, 2015 - See more at: http://obits.ocregister.com/obituaries/orangecounty/obituary.aspx?n=louise-e-linn&pid=175057239&fhid=2216#sthash.rVjaBLpJ.dpuf

ROJAS, FERNANDO, FUHS 2015 SCHOLARSHIP

 ROSE PALMISANO, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

slide show on story:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rojas-664830-fullerton-yale.html

LEONARD ORTIZ, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

By LOU PONSI/ STAFF WRITER

FULLERTON – The first call came from Yale in February.

Within weeks, calls, e-mails and letters followed from Dartmouth, Brown, Penn, Cornell, Columbia, Harvard and Princeton.

Every Ivy League school told Fullerton High senior Fernando Rojas, the youngest of four children to Mexican immigrant parents, they wanted him.

Stanford, UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton did, too.

The 17-year-old is among a reported half-dozen or so accepted this year to the entire Ivy League.

“I didn’t think I would get into any,” Rojas said. “When I got all eight it was a blessing and a curse because I had to choose. I was excited and scared and everything at the same time.”

A national speech and debate champion with a 4.8 GPA, Rojas spent his winter break applying. If he applied to all eight Ivy League schools, he figure perhaps he might get into one.

He visited Princeton, Yale, Stanford and Harvard. Rojas went by himself, as the universities picked up the tab.

“I loved Princeton,” Rojas said. “It was a beautiful campus, but it felt very stressful. Stanford was too big and overwhelming.”

It came down to Harvard and Yale.

“The (incoming) Yale kids were a little bit more enthused to get started and get going,” Rojas said.

Yale costs $64,000 a year with room and board. He is responsible for $6,000 of that; Yale scholarships and some federal grant money cover the rest.

He had similar offers from other schools.

“We are looking forward to welcoming him and all his classmates,” said Tom Conroy, a Yale spokesman. “We hope they will bring a great deal of talent and curiosity to the school.”

Sal Tinajero, Rojas’ speech and debate coach at Fullerton, said Rojas is a tenacious self-starter who thrives on competition. During his junior year, Rojas became a National Speech & Debate Association National Champion in poetry reading.

“His biggest motivation was his parents to know that their hard work meant something,” Tinajero said.

Raul Rojas, 59, and his wife, Maria, 56, moved to Fullerton from Jalisco, Mexico, in the early 1980s. Both work full time: Raul as a machine operator, and Maria as a seamstress.

Neither is educated beyond the eighth grade.

With Fernando translating, Maria said she didn’t initially realize the magnitude of her son’s accomplishment, but once the media outlets started calling, she knew it was a big deal.

“I’m grateful that he took the work ethic and all of our struggles (and) that he repaid us through his accomplishments,” she said.

It started early: Rojas was on the honor role at Valencia Park Elementary and began taking honors classes at Parks Junior High School.

“I just felt like I was around really smart people and I said, ‘I have to step up my game,’” he said. “So I started studying more.”

His three older siblings, all Fullerton High School graduates, laid the groundwork, providing guidance.

“I went into high school knowing what I was supposed to do,” he said. “Once you have had three siblings going through the same high school, you sort of have the reputation by the time you get there. ... My brother had already taken AP classes, so I had to take AP classes.”

At Fullerton, Rojas spent three to four hours a day on homework and studying.

Free time is mostly hanging out with cousins, having movie nights and sleepovers. “Nothing too crazy,” he said.

As a freshman, Rojas joined Fullerton’s accomplished speech and debate team. As a junior, he had former teammates who were at top universities.

Why not him?

He’ll mostly take it easy during the summer before moving into the Yale dorms in late August. Classes begin Sept. 2.

Baylee Rogers, 17, Rojas’ friend and speech and debate teammate since freshman year, said Rojas will probably adjust to the Ivy League life just fine.

“He’s very dedicated,” said Rogers, who will attend UCLA. “Whenever he needs to get something done, he gets it done.”

He’s considering majoring in Latin American studies and perhaps a career as a lawyer or in international affairs.

Of course, his parents will feel the void when their youngest child is gone for months at a time.

“I feel sad but at the same time, it’s worth the couple of years that he’ll be gone, because it’s for the future,” his mom said.

Rojas plans on plugging in immediately with his new classmates.

“I knew I was going to leave my family here, so I knew I had to find another one right away,” he said.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3730 or lponsi@ocregister.com

SILVA, LUIS ENRIQUE, FUHS 1987

Silva, Luis Enrique, FUHS 1987

In Loving Memory of Luis Enrique Silva
Our beloved son, brother and friend passed away on Saturday, May 16, 2015 in Anaheim, CA.
Luis was born on December 16, 1967 to the proud parents, Enrique and Ana Maria Silva in Los Reyes Michoacán, Mexico. He was the firstborn of 6 children and the first child among the Silva family clan. Luis was 1 year old when the family moved to California for the promise of a better and brighter future. 
Luis graduated from Fullerton Union High School in 1987. He enlisted in the US Marine Corps and served from November 1989 through April 1994 where Luis received an honorable discharge as a Lance Corporal USMC-11. Luis's primary specialty during his service was as a 0431 Logistics/Embarkation Specialist and served the majority of his deployment in Okinawa, Japan. During his service he was recognized for the following:
* Certificate of Commendation for Exceptional Performance of Duty
* Received the Rifle Expert & Sharpshooter Badge
* Letter of Appreciation and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon
Luis was married to Lea Muto on September 5, 1999 in Detroit, Michigan among family and friends. Luis was beloved by his in-laws and made many friends during his marital state in Michigan where his primary job was as a computer assisted designer for Ford Motor Company. From Lea's words, "Luis was an incredibly special man who was loving, caring, thoughtful, intelligent, humorous, respectful, brave and so beautiful. He loved his family more than anything and made all our lives richer in knowing him." It was difficult for Luis to leave his second family and friends after the mutual dissolution of his marriage in 2009. Still, Luis returned to his hometown of Fullerton, California on December 1, 2011 where he stayed close to his family until his aforementioned passing.
Luis had various academic accomplishments during his lifetime, listed below are a few of many:
* 1998 Certificate of Completion for Computer Networking Technology, United Ed. Institute 
* 1998 Director's Award for achieving a GPA of 100%, United Education Institute
* 2001 SDRC Basic New User certificate from Wayne County Community College District Workforce & Economic Development.
* 2001 Catia V5 Basic Training from Global Technology Associates, Ltd.
* 2004 Keith Childress' Practical Catia V5 Training Achievement Award
* 2014 Certificate of Completion - New CSP S2W Knowledge Check
* 2014 Certificate of Acknowledgement for Delivering Front Desk Excellence, H&R Block
* 2015 District recognition for Outstanding Service & Taking Care of Clients, H&R Block
Luis liked to travel and going on adventures with an appreciation of nature's beauty. His favorite music groups were Depeche Mode, Rush, Journey, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd and Queensryche, but his music collection included a variety of artists. He liked to read science fiction, enjoyed art, watching movies and was a fan of the early Kung Fu TV movie series. His favorite sports teams were the Lakers, Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions and Chicago Redwings from his time in Michigan. Overall, his enjoyment of sports was more about the opportunity to get together with friends and family. He was really happy during these social gatherings where he exhibited a natural charisma and aura that made him well liked and admired by all that met him.
Luis is survived by his parents, Enrique and Ana Maria Silva; 2 younger sisters, Ana Guzman and Claudia Villar; and 3 younger brothers, Victor Silva, Miguel Silva and Marco Silva. To his siblings he was known as Henry, to other family members Quique, by close friends Louie, Lou & Luis. He will always be remembered by the love, affection and protective spirit he always shared with his family and friends. 
The family shared in a private memorial service held on Saturday May 30, 2015 but friends and family are invited to share in his Military Memorial service to be held on Wednesday June 10, 2015 at 11:00 am at the Riverside National Cemetery located at 22495 Van Buren Blvd, Riverside, California 92518.

Published in Orange County Register on June 7, 2015- See more at: http://obits.ocregister.com/obituaries/orangecounty/obituary.aspx?n=luis-enrique-silva&pid=175016420#sthash.iE7oYGzZ.dpuf