Downey memories

Dear Editor:Recently we attended several local events, each of which evoked, for my husband, memories of life in Downey from his preschool years until the present. The first was a filmed aviation history presentation at the Aerospace Legacy Foundation meeting; the second was a home movie of Downey and various popular Southern California sites shown at the meeting of the Downey Historical Society. We had nostalgic fun recognizing the places which have changed much over the years. In his young adulthood my husband, Audie, was introduced to the Downey chapter of the Christian Businessmen's Club (CBMC), which met then at the Silver Saddle restaurant on Florence. He met some older men who modeled Christian values and community involvement. A few of these were Earl Wintz, George Cade, Gordon Madru, Victor Pearce, Don Johnston and Norm Sipple (not to slight anyone he has forgotten!). Also among these men was award-winning space shuttle designer Royal Castle (Cas) Englehart, recently deceased. They had fellowship, shared and organized the mayor's prayer breakfasts, as well as participating in the Values campaign. This was before Character Counts, and character did count with these men. They served their community, their country and their churches. The third recent event my husband attended was a funeral for Norm Sipple, past president of the CBMC, beloved by his family, neighbors and friends, including those in the CBMC. While a loss to many left behind, for Norm this was a great reunion with his precious Lord and Savior, whom he himself met through the witness of yet another older CBMC mentor. Bill Wallace, James Van Lengan and others from CBMC were at the service, with James being the young current president of the group. So the legacy lives on. Norm, with whom God blessed our lives, will be missed, but now he can rest and let others do their part to make our lives, churches and communities what they were meant to be, and at times to stand in for missing fathers. Glory Derryberry Downey

********** Published: January 31, 2013 - Volume 11 - Issue 42