It is always difficult to announce the death of yet another member of the Noon family. Edward Luther Minney, husband of Harriette Ramona (Brown) Minney, passed away April 6th at the Country Villas Rest Home here in San Diego, San Diego County, California at the age of 94. Harriette preceded him in death having died on June 7th of last year. She was a daughter of Lloyd Lourdes Brown and Clara Edna (Noon) Brown, and a granddaughter of Alonzo Edward Noon, eldest child of Dr. Adolphus Henry Noon. Ed was cremated and a small ceremony for the immediate family was held on Sunday, the 30th of April, at Harriette's grave site, Glen Abbey Memorial Park Cemetery, Bonita, San Diego County, California.
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This obituary is published in todays (30 April 2005) edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego, California - section J (obituaries) page 8:
Edward L. Minney died April 6, at 94 years of age. Born in Jerome, Idaho on July 23, 1911, he was a resident of California since the age of 9 months. He was active in Scouting and Business Men's Clubs. As the owner of Sportline Boats in San Francisco for 15 years, he was a successful businessman. He worked for the Soil Conservation Service and the Foods Administration Service in Arizona and the American Building Maintenance Co. In San Francisco. He is survived by 3 sons: Lloyd in Tucson, AZ, Bob in San Diego and Larry in San Francisco; 4 grandchildren and 3 great-grandsons. Please send contributions to the Blind Center on Upas St. In San Diego.
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A biography was written by his son Robert Roy Minney and read by the minister at grave side:
"Ed was born on July 23, 1911, in Jerome, Idaho. His father, Jacob Luther Minney, was a Methodist minister. Ed's early memories are of moving every 2 or 3 years to different communities depending on Reverend Minney's church assignment. The family was very poor, relying on parishioners to invite them to their homes for meals. He remembered being the only child in his class who didn't have shoes to wear.
As a teenager, Ed was very industrious and held a variety of part time jobs including lug box assembler for a raisin farmer, packing house worker, and assistant to a medicine man. He occasionally had 2 or 3 of these jobs at one time.
Ed attended Coronado High School where he met his future wife of 72 years, Harriette Brown, who passed away last June. They were married in 1933 after attending San Diego State University for 2 years. This was the height of the depression and prospects were bleak. In a marital property declaration dated December 16, 1933 he listed his possessions as a 1931 Ford Deluxe Roadster valued at $300, clothing worth $50 and a typewriter worth $50. A month before the wedding he changed jobs. But after only one day at his new position, he came down with appendicitis. Upon recovery, he learned that he had been replaced. Despite being unemployed in the heart of the depression, Ed and Harriette went ahead with their wedding anyway.
Ed eventually found employment and for several years worked in a variety of clerical positions. In 1936, he went to work for the U. S. Government in the civil service. During that time, the family moved to Arizona and New Mexico before finally settling in San Francisco. In 1952, Ed became the first boat dealer in that city when he established Sportline Boats, Inc. Soon after opening the business, the boat boom swept the country and his business became a huge success. It allowed him to retire at the age of 55 in a very secure financial position.
During retirement, Ed and Harriette bought an Airstream trailer and traveled extensively throughout the country, visiting every state except Alaska and Hawaii. They also bought a unit in a retirement community in Mesa, Arizona, where they spent their winters. They enjoyed square dancing as well as various crafts including jewelry making.
At some point in the 1980's, Ed became blind due to a rare eye condition. He remained totally blind for the rest of his life. Despite this handicap, he enjoyed making others laugh by telling jokes that he remembered from the audible version of Readers Digest.
Ed is succeeded by his 3 sons, Lloyd, Bob and Larry; grandchildren Robin, Paul, Dale and Dana; and great grandchildren Lorenzo, Johannes and Jakob. "
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Granddaughter Dana Minney Becker wrote this eulogy which was read at the service by her father, Bob Minney:
"DANA REMEMBERS GRANDPA
My memories of Grampa start from way back when I was a little girl. We would go over to Harriette & Ed's house as a family. As we were visiting with the whole family sitting in the main living room, often Grampa would go off into his 'den' to listen to music, or work on something. Many times, I would sidle off to join him. He would offer me a sweet (he often had a private 'stash' somewhere) and would say 'don't tell mom I gave this to you!' Then, we would have short talks about all kinds of things, one time I showed him a card game that I had just learned. He might tell me stories about his travels or about when he was a boy. I might tell him about books I was reading or things that happened at school. What I cherished about this time, was that I knew I had a captive audience in Grampa. He would listen as long as I wanted to talk once in awhile letting out a dry chuckle. a humble soft-spoken person. a listening ear.this is how I remember him from my childhood.
When Grampa lost his sight, I was a young adult. As a way to earn extra money, I had been hired by Gramma and Grampa to do some yard work and help around the house. Even though Grampa was blind, he was very active during my working time. One time, he pointed to a spot in the middle of the driveway where he insisted I plant the tomatoes. He did not believe me when I told him that was the driveway until he literally got down on his hands and knees and felt the concrete. Then, he was quite surprised that he had become so disoriented.
Other times, he was incredibly astute, even without his sight. I remember the story of when Grampa was selling his car. The potential purchaser had fiddled with something in underneath the hood and tried to negotiate a lower price because of a 'faulty' engine. Grampa immediately detected exactly what had happened and told the buyer to 'get lost. I don't deal with crooks'! At least that's how I think the story went.
He also loved a joke. Later in his life, he often started jokes and forgot the punch line. This was just as entertaining if not more so than the actual joke. He seemed to grow more humble with age and to lose his concern for what people thought about him. His sense of humor and his jokes (when he actually remembered them) became racier. One time, when he was holding one of my sons in his lap, he suddenly shouted 'someone better take this baby away or I might just bite him!' He then let out a dry chuckle. This was a new side of Grampa that made me very curious. I will remember him as a soft-spoken, sometimes outrageous, kindly grampa.
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The photo of Ed on the motorcycle was probably taken sometime between 1935 and 1940. For a e recent picture of Ed and Harriette please see Harriette's blog entry of last year.
Basically there are two segments which are actually two separate projects. The one to the left is the original and can be climbed via steps to the top. However, be forewarned that this is not all that easy for someone who may have knee problems, such as myself. It can also be a bit dangerous as the steps are ill defined and a misstep would be easy - - it is a long way to the bottom of the "mountain".
The other segment is intended to be a building and is quite amazing. Leonard uses mostly items which he has been able to gather from the desert over the years. These are then incorporated into the structure with various retaining devices and a liberal use of adobe which he mixes on site. He also uses old tires, many hay bales, telephone poles, dead trees etc. People used to bring paint when they made a visit but he now prefers a small donation to the effort. The whole area is open for exploring so take your time to enjoy.
He has received many awards for this work and this is one he actually framed into the building. There is a coffee table book published by Leaf and would be a good way to get a handle on the entire project.
Dana and I with Leonard (and our dog Georgie) in the "building" project. You will see many "flowers" all over both efforts and he makes these by throwing a hunk of wet adobe on the wall and then hits it with his fist. He really likes to do this so there are many, many flowers made in this manner. Leonard also likes to talk and will give you a guided tour if he is available. Take one if you can as well worth the insight into this remarkable individual and his project.
