Estrella WarBirds Museum

Fredrick Thacker

Fredrick Clarence Thacker, 66 from San Miguel, died suddenly on Tuesday, December 27, 2011. He was born in Hemet, California to Dick and Dixie Thacker. Fred grew up in San Miguel, attended Pleasant Valley School and graduated from North High School in Bakersfield in 1964. While in high school, he worked at a pack station during the summers. After graduation, he worked as ranch foreman for Floyd Grigory in San Ardo, then as a farm mechanic in Visalia and Redding.

Fred married Judith Carlson in Petaluma in 1975. For the next eight years, they lived in Grass Valley, where he was a mechanic for a gold mine, repaired equipment for a logging company, and started his own business in 1979. Fred moved his family to Petaluma in 1983, becoming truck shop foreman for Cal Egg Farms and Sunrise Chicken Ranch.

In 1997, the family moved to San Miguel, where Fred continued his business, Oak Leaf Equipment. He was active with the Estrella War Birds and the Native Sons of the Golden West. He was a founding member of the Pleasant Valley Community Foundation and served several terms on the San Miguel Advisory Council.

Fred is survived by his wife of 36 years, Judi, his son Daniel of Sunnyvale, Calif.; daughter, Amanda Gonzalez (Alex); mother, Dixie Thacker; sisters Jean Hoffmann (Dick) of San Miguel, Terry Rossetta (Dan) of Oroville, Calif., and Pennie Fulton (Wally) of Walla Walla, Wash.; 3 nieces, 3 nephews; and 10 great nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his father Dickerson Thacker in 2004.






















Photography by Michael Levine

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Pleasant Valley Community Foundation to help preserve the old school house, c/o Jean Hoffmann, PO Box 475, San Miguel, 93451.

A celebration of Fred’s life was held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012, at the Estrella Warbird Museum, 4251 Dry Creek Road in Paso Robles. For more information, call (805) 467-0194.