Meet Your New Neighbors

Brandon and Katie Westley had lived in Rosamond for a while. However, after visiting Tehachapi they decided that this is where they wanted to live. Since they both work for The Spaceship Company in Mojave, it seemed like a natural move. They found a home in Bear Valley and finally moved in February along with their Black Lab, Oreo.

Brandon is the Lead Production Technician for TSC. He was born in Huntsville, Texas, a small town near Houston. The town was Sam Houston’s home and Brandon told me that Houston is buried there. Brandon has two older brothers with six years between each of the boys. He has always loved engines, particularly automotive engines. They are still his hobby and he said that he has always felt that “if you own something, you should be able to work on it”. Brandon got his college degree at Texas State Technical College. Following college, he went to work as a military contractor for L3 Communications in their Platform Integration Division which specializes in aircraft modification.

Katie was raised in Galt, California. She has three brothers, two older and one younger. She has always been a horsewoman. Katie is a champion barrel racer and professional horse trainer. She went to college at the University of Dallas and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. She then worked as a marketing specialist, training employees for franchises. It was while she was in Texas that she met and married Brandon. He told me that he actually proposed to Katie while on horseback.

At The Spaceship Company, Katie’s official title is Business Support Specialist – Engineering; however, she is also Galactic Unite Community Coordinator. Galactic Unite is a nonprofit focused on supporting the local community and particularly future astronauts. Katie arranges programs for school children to visit the company, tour the facilities and actually build and launch a “space ship”. Katie said it is the mission of Galactic Unite to encourage and inspire students to study science and technology and to make them aware of the varied careers available in this field. Volunteers for the program are all TSC employees and many local businesses have also offered support to the project.

At home, Katie is an artist and photographer and Brandon is looking forward to riding the local trails on his mountain bike. It seems they are a perfect match for Tehachapi. Welcome Brandon and Katie!

Clark and Jan Francisco are slowly settling into their new Tehachapi home. Shortly before their move here from Quartz Hill, a rear-end accident in the Antelope Valley slowed the moving and unpacking process to a crawl. However, they are delighted to be here and close to their son, Terry and his family who moved to Bear Valley Springs last fall.

Jan was born in Pensacola, Florida; one of six girls. She married at 16 and moved to California at 17. Jan has three sons Rick, Dave and Jon from her first marriage. They are now in Palmdale, Laguna Hills (CA), and Oklahoma. In 1964, she went to visit a friend in Idaho and that is when she met Clark.

Clark was raised in Paul, Idaho, a small town in Minidoka County with a population of about 900 residents. He has a brother, Steve, who lives in Spring Valley, California. Clark said that he fell in love in three days and, all of a sudden he had a wife and three children. He told me that he was in a daze for the first couple of months until he got the hang of being a parent. They settled in the Antelope Valley and Terry came along soon after. Clark said that with love and discipline, the family thrived. Clark went to work for Crystalaire Country Club in Llano, California as a handy-man.

The couple opened a Farmers Insurance office in the Antelope Valley in 1969. Jan worked in the office for a while. Clark stayed with Farmers until the 1980s when he became an insurance broker. He added that he still likes being a handy-man. He grew up hunting and fishing and, while he doesn’t hunt any more, he can’t wait to put a line in our local lakes. Jan said that she is very happy being a bookworm and is an avid non-fiction reader.

The couple has six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Terry’s son, Logan is studying at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona and daughter Megan will be headed to college in Oregon in the fall.

A big “Tehachapi Welcome” to the entire Francisco family.

If you have moved to the Greater Tehachapi Area within the last six months and would like to know more about your new community, call 661-822-8188. We will be happy to make an appointment for a hostess to come by and give you lots of helpful information, some valuable coupons, gifts and much more. Many families and individuals who come to the area are pleasantly surprised with the amount of knowledge they gather about their new home. Publishing your welcome article is completely voluntary and is not a requirement of being welcomed.