Goss Family History, Part IV

November 2009

William Harold Jenkins (1949-2007)

11523. William Harold "Bill" Jenkins, was born March 8, 1949, in Merced, Merced County, California. He attended Coulterville Elementary School and graduated from Mariposa High School and California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). Afterward he served as park ranger and retired about the late 1990s.

He married Debra M. (Alvis) Sartin roughly around 2000.

Like his grandmother Ila Goss-Barrett, Bill loved researching family history and once he got connected to the Internet our infrequent exchange of letters on the topic bloomed into regular email exchanges as, in his retirement, he scoured the Merced and Mariposa libraries, newspapers, land records, and Odd Fellows and Mason membership records for information on our family.

In early June 2007, Bill broke his left foot and went in for surgery to put a screw into his fifth metatarsal, had his foot put in a cast, and began a six-week recovery period, during which he continued his genealogical search for information on Andrew Goss' immigration to America. Tragically, he collapsed and died a week later on July 21. At the time of his death it was suspected that a blod clot related to the injury had formed and killed him. Sadly, he was laid to rest just days before the first anniversary of the death of his grandmother.

The Union Democrat, July 26, 2007

"William Harold Bill' Jenkins
March 8, 1949 July 21, 2007"

“Don Pedro resident William Harold "Bill" Jenkins died July 21 at his home. He was 58.”

“Mr. Jenkins was born in Merced and was the fifth generation of the Jenkins and Barrett pioneer families in Coulterville. He attended Coulterville Elementary School and graduated from Mariposa High School, where he was president of the FFA and received the state farmer award.”

“He graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, on the Dean's List. He worked as a park ranger for Turlock Irrigation District for 30 years and was a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge No. 104. He was a former member of the Community Club and the Historical Society in Coulterville. He loved fly fishing, restoring furniture and baseball. He also enjoyed researching his ancestry.”

“He is survived by his wife, Debra Jenkins of Don Pedro; his mother, Billy Jenkins of Coulterville; his stepdaughter, Twilla Baker of Denair; his stepson, Erick Sartin of Turlock; grandchildren Kyler, Rebecca, Danielle, Cassandra and Kyla; brothers Tim and Tom Jenkins of Coulterville; nieces and nephews and their spouses, Jamie and Brandon Bertram of Coulterville, Ed and Melanie Jenkins of Raymond, Madera County, and Amy Jenkins; grandnieces and grandnephews Jack, Claire, Alisha, Kaitlynn and Hannah.”

“He was preceded in death by his father, Alfred Thomas Jenkins; his grandmother, Ila Barrett; and his nephew, Thomas Jenkins.”

“A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Dudley Cemetery in Greeley Hill. To be followed by a luncheon hosted by the Ladies Auxiliary at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Tom Jenkins Post No. 9454.”

Ray Albert Lemons (1932-1939)

1163. Ray Albert Lemons was born a twin with Roy Alvin Lemons on April 14, 1932. When he was seven years old, he stepped on a pitchfork and became ill with tetanus. He died on May 11, 1939, at Mercy Hospital in Merced, Merced County, California, and is buried at the Coulterville Cemetery in Mariposa County, California.

Roy Alvin Lemons (1932-1995)

1164. Roy Alvin Lemons was born on on April 14, 1932, in California. He married Ordie Parra in the 1950s and adopted her daughter. They later had a son.

Lemons Stepchildren
	Name	Birth	Death	Age
11641.	Merina (Collins) Lemons	--	--	--

11642.	Clabe Lemons	--	--	--

Ordie (Parra) Lemons, died on January 1, 1994.

Roy Alvin Lemons died a year and a half later on June 9, 1995, in Shell Beach, San Luis Obispo County, California, after a bout with lung cancer at the age of 63.