Lonnie Gordon Guin

Lonnie Gordon Guin passed away at his home in Aptos on February 10, 2011, with his wife Lois Rae, daughter Stephanie of Aromas, and sister-in-law and brother-in-law Shirley Ann and William F. Manor, of San Jose, California at his bedside. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Lois Rae Guin, his daughter Stephanie Ellen Tapia son-in-law Samuel George Tapia and his granddaughter Sarah Ellen Tapia, of Aromas, California, his brother Richard L. Guin and wife Bunny, of Warren, Ohio, his sister Noma Lee Shahan and niece Wilma Shahan of Corona, California and his nephew Larry Shahan and wife Jeanie and two sons Larry, Jr and Craig, and two nieces Trudy and Nicole from his deceased nephew Lonnie, all of Bakersfield. His beloved son, Jeffrey Gordon Guin preceded him in death in 1982.

Lonnie grew up in Bell Gardens, California; at the age of 9, he sadly lost his mother in childbirth. He spoke of living in a large tent adjacent to the home site while his father built their home. He talked of selling newspapers as a teenager on the busy main street of Bell, California, and reminisced about playing in the orange groves, and raising rabbits and of his pet rabbit Gordo.

After graduating from Bell Gardens High School, he and his boyhood friend, Bill West, enlisted in the US Navy, hoping to become Seabees, but Lonnie was assigned to corps school and became a medical corpsman. After serving in San Diego, he was assigned to duty on the USS Hospital Ship Haven where he met and worked with his wife, a navy nurse, Lt[jg] Lois Rae Miller. They served together in the Korean War in Inchon Harbor and Japan, and when they returned to the States with POWs after the peace pact was signed, they continued a friendship that culminated in a deep and lasting love. They were married in Long Beach, California, on October 13, 1953.

After leaving the Navy, Lonnie attended college and graduated with a degree in Accounting with a 4.0 average. He joined the California Franchise Tax Board briefly before being employed at the Employment Development Department of California as an entry level auditor in 1958, traveling to his work from Long Beach to Los Angeles by the red car'. He rose quickly through the ranks to become the Regional Tax Administrator of the thirteen coastal offices with about 300 employees. He cared about his associates and employees, and worked to enable them to be the best that they could be, setting up training sessions and mock interviews, etc. His wife traveled with him on his many visits to his various offices, where after business hours, they loved exploring many older, picturesque and historic small towns of California. Lonnie retired in 1992 after 34 years of dedicated service to the state.

They purchased their first home in Long Beach, California where he welcomed his daughter, Stephanie Ellen in 1956, and his son, Jeffrey Gordon in 1962. They moved to North Hollywood in 1966, where both of their children attended Victory Blvd Elementary, Walter Reed Jr High, and North Hollywood High. Lonnie was active as a den leader in the Boy Scouts, and in other youth activities and fund raisers at the schools. The family moved to Woodland Hills, California in December 1982, and later came to reside in Aptos, California in 1990 when Lonnie's father and step-mother became ill.

Lonnie enjoyed long walks at the beach with his wife, watching the sunrise in the early morning hours, and seeing all the changing sea life, and he loved hiking in Nisene Marks Forest. He was a voracious reader and an inveterate seeker of knowledge, in books, several newspapers, the internet and TV. He had a wry sense of humor and was known by all for his jokes. He was kind and considerate, always thinking of others before himself.

He tended the house and did the errands that allowed his wife to volunteer for many years in the public schools; during the last two years he assisted her in home schooling his granddaughter, he was jokingly referred to as the principal hearing oral reports, discussing history and other subjects. He and Sarah were frequently working on the computer together. He talked daily with his daughter, and was a great resource and comfort for her in relating his experiences and management skills, and providing counsel. The loss of his son, Jeff, in an auto accident at the age of 20 in 1982, was agonizing and almost crippling.

Lonnie suffered many medical adversities, beginning with his diagnosis and lengthy surgery at Stanford University Hospital in 1990 for Renal Cell Cancer that had extended into his inferior vena cava. Many medical crises and surgeries occurred over the next 20 years but he faced and fought them all successfully with perseverance and dignity. His doctors called him their miracle man'. He learned to pace himself in times of diminished energies in order to achieve his needs for an active life style, and to enable him to provide the support for his family and home that he loved so much.

He suffered an extensive brain hemorrhage on December 30, 2010 and was recuperating very well after his surgery to remove the clot, talking and eating and recovering from the slight weakness on his left side. But he was not able to withstand the rigorous regime of rehab and began to have some medical issues unrelated to the brain surgery, that required medical intervention and surgery. He began to recover once again, but slowly lost ground. He was desperately homesick and came home on Sunday, January 30, where he was surrounded and cared for by his family, in a last attempt to turn things around, with the aid of VNA and his own trusted friend and family physician, Dr. Fratianni and wife, Patrice.

He loved life and his family and home above all else, and was the heartbeat of his family; he tried fiercely and valiantly to overcome all that befell him right up until his last few hours.

Life seems unimaginable and unbearable without his physical presence, but he will be here with us with his deep and enduring love, his strong guidance and influence, his great sense of humor and silly jokes, his selflessness, his strong sense of loyalty. He remains close to us in our hearts and thoughts forever. Memorial services will be held privately. Donations can be made to a favorite charity in Lonnie's memory.