Wedding Bells

Duane Martin

Sr. passed away on Wednesday, Aug. 17 at his home in Ione at the age of 82. He was born on March 6, 1940 in Hayward to Inez and Frank Martin. Duane grew up on his father’s dairy in San Jose, where he learned the value of hard work and perseverance. Growing up. "Senior," as he was called later in life, had a love of cool cars and regularly talked about his '57 Chevy two door hard top he had. He then attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo for a whole quarter as a dairy science major until he decided he “knew more than the teachers did.” After returning home Duane joined the army for a brief period of time.

Finally, at the age of 24, Duane got his start in the cattle business. While driving a Redi-mix truck, he purchased 20 cows from his father and never looked back. Duane had such a passion for the cattle industry, any “vacation” he took over the next 58 years had to involve cattle, or it wasn’t really a vacation for him.

Duane started with ranching in the bay area. He then relocated to Acampo in 1971 and began trading cattle as well. He then moved to Ione in 1997. From then on, there was no slowing down for Duane. He accumulated numerous ranches, leased many others and owned several red cattle trucks. Through years of hard work and determination he grew his operation with the help of his son to become one of the top 25 largest cow-calf producers in the United States, while running a large stocker operation and feeding cattle.

Duane took great pride in his cattle, his business and his family. He couldn’t have been happier starting to bring the third generation into the family business. He enjoyed meeting all the new people in this industry and sharing his knowledge wherever he went. He always said that the cattle business “isn’t an exact science,” and he always encouraged people to give things a try and when things got tough to “stay with it, don’t weaken!”

Duane is survived by his wife Penny Martin; children, Duane, Jr. (Lynette) Martin and Lisa (Tom) Hopley; stepchildren, Dallas (Laura) Welch and Whitney (Nic) Evans; and grandchildren Brooke and Brittany Martin, Thomas Hopley; Nixon, Greyson and Crew Evans; and Harper, Ensley and Taytum Welch. He is preceded in death by his parents and his first wife Marlene Martin.

A celebration of life was scheduled for Oct. 3 at Duane’s home ranch in Ione. John Paul Spencer of Etna, passed away peacefully in his sleep Sunday, July 31 at the Hearthstone Rehabilitation center in Medford, Ore. John was born on May 8, 1941, the youngest of three children to Harold and Pauline Spencer of Whittier. The family enjoyed showing horses and from a young age John had an undying love for his horses. He was also in Boy Scouts, played football in high school, and was active in the FFA.

He graduated from La Habra High school in 1959 and then attended UC Davis where he majored in Animal Science. John played football and was a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity where he made many lifelong friends. It was also during this time that he spent summers working for Glen Barnes on a work study program and he was introduced to Scott Valley. At that time John knew he wanted to make the beautiful valley his home.

After graduating from UC Davis in 1964, he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard and headed across the country to Yorktown, Virginia for Officer Candidate School. After completing his training, John was deployed to Vietnam and served there in 1966-1967.

Soon after returning from Vietnam and being honorably discharged from the Coast Guard, John met Carol Ann White at a cousin’s wedding. They were married one year later, on Sept 7, 1968. The Spencer family had purchased a ranch in Scott Valley and the newlyweds started their life on the new enterprise. John was passionate about showing horses and traveled to Nebraska that same year to purchase his foundation stud horse Johnny Pine. Together they traveled far and wide to horse shows, earning points to make Johnny Pine an American Quarter Horse Association champion and put the Spencer Ranch on the map. People from all around sent their mares to be bred to Johnny Pine and he was very well regarded.

John also developed a well-known commercial cow herd. His scientific approach utilized performance testing and artificial insemination in a planned cross breeding program. His cattle were high performing and excelled in the feedlot earning him the California Beef Cattle Improvement Association commercial beef cattle producer of the year in 1983.

John and Carol had two children, Jerry was born in 1972 and Jennifer in 1975. The family worked on the ranch and were very active in the 4-H and FFA. John served many years as a 4-H leader and FFA booster. He was also active in the local cattlemen’s association and was honored as the Cattleman of the Year in 2005.

John never wavered in his love of his family, horses, and his ranch. He attended as many ball games and kid events as possible supporting his kids and grandkids. He enjoyed fishing and spending time in the mountains. He passed on his love of horses and ranching to his kids and grandkids to continue his legacy.

John is survived by his wife Carol and children Jerry Spencer (Anne Spencer) and Jennifer Thackeray (Sam Thackeray), his eight grandchildren, Jack, Calvin, Mae, Jane and Blair Thackeray, and Elizabeth, Audrey and Charlotte Spencer. In addition, John had two older siblings, Florence Wilkins of Yreka and Art Spencer of Fort Jones. A grave side service was held August 6th at the Fort Jones cemetery. Donations in memorandum for John Spencer can be made to Scott Valley Scholarships PO Box 352, Etna, CA 96027.