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Virginia Elizabeth Steward, the daughter of Arthur Neal and Ella Cora Bill Steward was born July 7, 1906 in Ashton Virginia. Her mother died and her father brought her to Los Angeles in 1907. When she graduated from UCLA, she came to Shasta County to see Arthur who had moved to Happy Valley. Virginia taught school and Ray courted her at Grange Meetings; both families were loyal members. They were married May 15, 1932 and lived on the Happy Hollow Ranch. The couple had four children:
Charles Lee William Wayne Marjorie EllenDaryl Eugene
Roy finally managed to return to Fort Reading Ranch; in 1940, they moved to a house on Dersh Road. This house flooded three times before Shasta Dam was completed in 1946. In 1957 they moved into a new cement block house where they remained the rest of their lives.
They were active in Grange, IOOF, Rebekahs and the Methodist Church. A favorite hobby was rock collecting; they hunted rocks in several states and were members of the Shasta Gem and Mineral Society. One of their real pleasures was having their large family gathered around, but a few days after having the family for New Years dinner, Virginia had an aneurysm rupture in her brain. She was recovering--getting around with a walker when she fell, struck her head and died, December 3, 1976.
Roy was devastated since he had expected to precede her, being five years her senior. However a mere seven weeks later, January 25, 1977 a fishing boat he was in capsized. His companion made it to shore and saw Roy clinging to the boat as it raced down the Sacramento River. Several weeks passed before his body was recovered near the Bend Bridge in Tehama County. They are buried side by side in the Anderson Cemetery near Roy's parents.
Source: Shasta Historical Society - Nov. 2001
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