Earline Rogers Ferrell, 88, of Atascadero, died peacefully at home on Oct. 21, 2019. Earline was born on Sept. 22, 1931, in Ashland, Ore.
She lived in Ashland until she was in high school, when her family moved to Medford, Ore. After graduating from Medford High School, Earline attended Ashland Jr. College for one year and then attended Northwest Christian College the following year. Earline met her future husband, Charles Ferrell, at church during her senior year of high school. Charles visited her church while speaking as the President of the Southern Oregon Christian Endeavor Convention. Earline and Charles dated for two years before marrying on Aug. 19, 1951, in Medford, Ore. They celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary just two months ago.
Earline and Charles have three children, Laura Ferrell of Sparks, Nevada, Christine Allen of Santa Clara, and Tom Ferrell of Templeton. They have five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Earline and Charles resided in Eugene, Ore., for the first 13 years of their marriage, where Earline worked for the local school district. It was also while living in Eugene that their three children were born. They moved their family to Santa Clara, in 1964, where they resided for the next 28 years. Earline worked for Sylvania and Lockheed as an executive secretary while living in Santa Clara. Earline and Charles moved to Atascadero in 1992.
During Earline’s retirement years, she pursued her passion of the outdoors by hiking and serving as a docent for the California parks system, most notably at Montana de Oro, where she often participated in monthly reenactments of local history. Earline was also a docent in San Simeon, where she enjoyed educating the public about sea lions and other marine mammals.
Another passion of Earline’s was corresponding with friends and family, sending hundreds of notes and cards through the years, many of which contained clippings and comics. She also enjoyed traveling with Charles on numerous bus tours, where they had the opportunity to visit and explore many different areas of the United States.
In addition to the bus tours, they took a memorable cruise through the Panama Canal with a group of close friends. Earline has been a member of Atascadero Bible Church since 1992, where she enjoyed the active senior group, home Bible study groups and the women’s Bible study and prayer groups.
There will be a celebration of Earline’s life on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 1 p.m. at Atascadero Bible Church, Room 102.
