Edward Thomas Kreger passed away suddenly of natural causes on February 27, 2008 at the age of 75. He was born in Iron River, Mich. on March 4, 1932. It was love at first sight when Bonnie Lou met Ed while on a summer vacation, starting a love story lasting 53 years. He is survived by his children, Vincent C. Kreger (Laurie) of Gualala; Dean G. Kreger (Theresa) of Syracuse, Utah; Denise Stovall (Kevin) Glen Ellen; and Edward Royal Kreger (Heidi Tatum) of Glen Ellen CA. He is the brother of Victoria Benson (Russ) of South Lyon, Mich., and grandfather of Seldon and Ryley Kreger, Katie Clark, and Allison and Jessica Ruork.
Ed was raised in a small mining town, which offered endless hunting, fishing and many adventures. Upon graduating from Iron River H.S. he traveled to Chicago to study and became an apprentice with the bricklayers union. He mastered the trade and became known as a walking encyclopedia of masonry. The family is now continuing his masonry contracting business. In 1957 they moved from Michigan to California, where Bonnie had been born and raised, to start their family and business. Ed was fondly known as “Big Ed” by the many friends and buddies whom he greeted daily on his post office and grocery store runs to Glen Ellen. His hobby of growing tomatoes and sharing them will be missed by many. His favorite food was the original Iron River Cornish pasties, which his wife and daughter made for him on special occasions.
Ed requested that his funeral service be held at the LDS Church, which he held in the highest regard. Although not a member, some of his family are. The funeral will be held on Thursday, March 6, 2008, at 12:30 p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at 16280 La Grama Drive, Aqua Caliente. Arrangements under the direction of Duggan’s Mission Chapel, 525 W. Napa St., Sonoma. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his memory to Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue, P.O. Box 448, Cotati CA 94931, or Wildlife Fawn Rescue, P.O. 5, Kenwood CA 95452 or to your favorite charity.
Klavdia Yvonne Shevkuta, 101, passed away peacefully in Sonoma on March 3, 2008. She was born on September 28, 1906 to Ivan and Elena Boronion, a fisherman and a homemaker, in the small village of Boktamir, Russia and between the Volga River and the Caspian Sea. She was the eldest of eight children. As the revolution rippled through Russia, her family lost most of their possessions then she lost her mother and siblings to typhoid, cholera and small pox. Her father was overseas and she did not know even if he was alive. She lived with various relatives for years and finally with the village priest and his family.
When Klavdia was sixteen, she received a letter from her father, who was living in the U.S. and wanted her to come live with him. On her eighteenth birthday, she boarded the Trans Siberian Railway for a four-month ride, the first train she had ever seen. Reaching Harbin, China, she met two sisters also traveling to the U.S. Together, they proceeded by train across the China, then by boat to Japan, then sailed eighteen days to San Francisco, arriving May 25, 1925. Three days later, she surprised her father in Roseville, where she was soon introduced to her future husband, John Shevkuta, by her father. She was married within a year and gave birth to her only child, daughter Riya, on her twenty-first birthday.
Klavdia lived most of her life in San Francisco and worked in the garment industry as a presser. She was exceptionally proud to have become a U.S. citizen in 1937. Klavdia was an excellent seamstress who loved to garden and grow vegetables, and to hunt down a bargain at a nearby garage sale. On Russian holidays, she cooked and baked Russian foods and pastries in the old fashioned way; her recipes will go with her as her ways of measuring ingredients were her own. She was a huge49er fan when “Joe” (Montana) was on the team. She was always there to take care of her four grandchildren, six great grandchildren and two great, great grandchildren.
A graveside service was held previously at the Serbian Cemetery in Colma. Memorial Donations in her honor can be made to the charity of one’s choice. The family wishes to extend sincere thanks to the entire staff at the London House Health Care Center for their exemplary care of Klavdia in the twilight of her life. Arrangements under the direction of Duggan’s Mission Chapel.
Helen Agnes Gilman, 76, a native of Woodland California and longtime resident of Sonoma, died peacefully on March 4, 2008, in Sonoma.
An office assistant for many years, Helen was a very detailed oriented person. She was a master at needle work and loved doing embroidery and knitting. She was a gifted crafts person and was famous for her very creative Collage’s.
Helen is survived by her loving sister, Dannye A. DeLorenzo and by her brother–in-law Mario De Lorenzo. She is also survived by her nephew Matthew Gilman, as well as several other nieces and nephews and numerous friends. She is preceded in death by her loving brother Edward Rodger Gilman.
She will be remembered for her warm and loving smile and by her sweet and gentle manner. She will be dearly missed.
Friends are invited to attend a Celebration of Life and Funeral Service on Saturday, March 8, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. at Duggan’s Mission Chapel, 525 West Napa Street, Sonoma, CA 95476.
Interment will follow the service at Oak Hill Memorial Park, 300 Curtner Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125.
Arrangements under the direction of Duggan’s Mission Chapel, Sonoma, 707.996.3655
