Alice Eloise Gunnerson

1929 - 2021

Alice Eloise Gunnerson

Born June 25, 1929 in her parents farm house near Marquette, Nebraska. She resided there until September 1934. Her mother and father, John and Mable Gunnerson were forced to move to California because of the drought and depression. After arriving in California they lived on the Daly ranch just south of Red Crest at Inglewood. She started school at Helms Flat School. She was a grade A student and skipped the second grade.
Alice was very musically inclined. She learned to play the harmonica and the piano before starting school. She played a solo on the harmonica at the Christmas party when in the third grade. She loved to entertain.
The family moved to Rio Dell in 1939 where she learned to play a tonet and then the clarinet. The Rio Dell Schoof started teaching music at that time. She excelled in all subjects, an A student. When she was in the 6th grade she was ahead of her class and finished the 7th grade that year. She was a book worm and loved to read. She could read a book and listen to the radio at the same time. She graduated in 1942 at 12 years of age.
She attended Fortuna High School. She was awarded three letters. She loved to play in the band. She also was the first women to play in the Scotia Band, never missing an event.
In sports she played in the tennis tournament and was on track team in High School. She belonged to a roller skating club at the Scotia Roller Skating rink she took a fall injuring her left arm making sports a thing of the past for several years. She graduated with honors being the youngest in her class at 16 years of age.
In the fall at the age of 17 she went to work for the Pacific Lumber Co. in Scotia working in the main office operating an IBM tabulator in the payroll department.
Alice played with two small dance bands that played at the Saturday night Grange Hall dances and other functions such as the Wool Growers annual BBQ celebration at Mattolle Grange Hall.
Alice at the age of 21 joined the United States Marine Corps for a 3 year enhstment. She was the first woman in Humboldt County to join the Marines.
She was stationed at Arlington, Virginia. Sgt. Alice Gunnerson was selected to play Saxophone in the "Chevrons", a foursome combo of US Marines.
After completing her 3 year enlistment she retumed to Rio Dell briefly. Correspondtng with one of her Marine Corps chums she moved to San Jose and worked for the Santa C1ara Unified School District for 3 years.
In 1957 she was accepted and appointed to the United States of America, Department of State. She was assigned to the state department in Germany and served there for her entire time. She took advantage of the opportunity to travel.
She bought a VW Karmann Ghia and toured many of the European countries, from Sweden to Italy. She also bought a kayak and kayaked down the Rhine River. She stated "It was very swift."
Returning to Rio Dell briefly she moved to Santa Clara, where she started working for the Santa Clara Unified School District. A short time later she bought a house that she lived in for the rest of her life. She was a loyal employee making many life long friends. She retired after 32 years of uninterrupted service to the district. She did the hiring for the entire district. She is a lifetime member of the Santa Clara School Retirees.
When someone had a problem to solve they simply just asked Alice.
During her life in Santa Clara she was a member of the Sierra Club and in 1971 She kayaked down the Missouri River in Montana with a group of 23 members. A 70 mile trip in 7 days.
She was also a member of the "Nostalgics", an orchestra that played for dances and other events. Loving music she bought an organ and joined a club of organ players.
She was very active in the Marine Veteran Memorial and was a patriotic loyal contributor to the Memorial for many years. She was one of the main designers for the Memorial.
Loving to travel, she and her best friend took several cruises, Alaska and the Bahamas. A music cruise was one of her favorites.
She and her chum liked to spend weekends at Lake Tahoe, Reno and Las Vegas. Alice liked the shows.
During the last few years before she retired she put together a state of the art wood craft shop. The shop was attached to her house. She spent many hours designing artistic and very useful unique articles that she had no problem marketing. To see these items would make you smile.
When her brother Arman passed away in July 2011 in Crescent City, she drove there non stop to attend his funeral at the age of 83.
Tragedy struck in January 2017 disabling her. After spending a short time in the hospital she was placed in a convalescent hospital in San Jose.
She spent her last 5 years in a convalescent home and passed away on Febuary 17, 2021, she will be laid to rest April 23rd in Santa Clara Calif.
She is seurvived by her brother Eldon Gunnerson, the last servivor of John and Mable's family.
Trustee: John Lococo
(408) 205-6922
Eldon Gunnerson
P.O. Box 196
Dobbins, CA 95935
(530) 632-4188