|
Wednesday, 09 April 2008 |
Luvon Richard Messer
1938-2008
Graveside services will be held at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9 at the Shoshone Cemetery for 53-year Shoshone (Chicago Valley) resident Luvon Richard Messer. A viewing will be held at 1 p.m. at the Shoshone Flower Building.
Born on Feb. 17, 1938 in Shamrock, Okla., Luvon died on April 2, 2008 in Las Vegas.
Luvon came to California with his family as a small child and was raised in Clovis. As a teen he went to work as a cowboy for the local ranchers. At 16, he began work as a packer in the High Sierra before coming to Tecopa/Shoshone, still working as a wrangler and cowboy. Luvon worked in Shoshone for a time and then for the Inyo County Road Department as a heavy equipment operator. From the early 1960s until the present, he owned and operated, along with his wife and father-in-law, Rook and Messer Excavating, doing road building, mining and site preparation work. When Luvon wed Ethel Rook in 1958 in the Tecopa Community Church, theirs was the first marriage performed at the church.
Luvon volunteered many hours to the communities of Shoshone and Tecopa. His deep- pit barbecue beef served at the annual community celebration is still talked about to this day. Luvon, along with his wife, Ethel, was named Citizen of the Year in 1984, and was given the Community Service Award in 1997 by the Death Valley Chamber of Commerce. Above all else, Luvon was known for his excellent work and honesty, and his love of children and family.
Luvon was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and two sisters.
Luvon is survived by his wife, Ethel; sons and daughters-in-law, Russel and Lorie of Redding; Donald and Gabriele of Mannheim, Germany, Nathan and Samantha of Pahrump, Nev., Arthur and Jodie of Point Mugu, Hank and Debbie of Kyle, Texas, and Brian and Machelle of Point Mugu; daughter, MiAe of Shoshone; three brothers; five sisters; numerous grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. |
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 July 2008 )
|
