Meet Your New Neighbors

Kay Ford and her husband lived in California City for almost 50 years. They raised a family there. However, it was when she was finally there alone at the end of last year, that her grandson, Josh, and his wife, DeVerie, asked her if she would move to Tehachapi to be closer to them. She always found Tehachapi to be a very unique place so she said, “Find me a place and I’ll be there.” It took them a couple of months to find the right house and Kay made the move to Tehachapi in January, although she said for now she still attends her church in California City when she can.

Kay said that she was born in her mom and dad’s bed on a farm in Atwood, Ill., not too far from Champagne. He aunt, who was in nursing school, delivered her. She has one brother who now lives in Portland, Ore. Her father served in World War II where he flew a transport for the Army Air Corps. He returned to the farm but then moved the family to California where he could continue aircraft work.

She met her husband at Junior College in Riverside. He went on to finish college at Cal Poly and then went into the Air Force ending up at Edwards Air Force Base as an aeronautical engineer. He went on to get his Master’s Degree in Business from USC. He and Kay raised a daughter in California City.

Kay said that she is beginning to learn where everything is in Tehachapi and she is looking forward to getting to know her new community. She said that she is delighted to have Josh and DeVerie who are helping her adjust to her new surroundings.

Welcome to Tehachapi, Kay. We know you will enjoy the great sense of community that exists here.

We also want to welcome back to Tehachapi Nicole and TJ Gockel. They left Tehachapi almost six years ago when TJ went to work as a composites technician for GFMI Aerospace and Defense in Orange County and then Space X in Hawthorne , near Los Angeles. Nicole said that they had to move their family several times when the houses they were renting were sold out from under them and the rents became unmanagable. The house in Chino was the last straw. They remembered Tehachapi, its better cost of living and what a great place it is to raise kids, so they moved back in January. TJ still commutes to Hawthorne for now.

Both Nicole and TJ are originally from the Antelope Valley. Nicole was raised in California City and Lancaster; TJ was raised in Palmdale. They met at Palmdale High School. They dated for about one month and then broke up,building separate lives. Ten years later they reconnected online. Nicole said that TJ became her best friend. They got married in Tehachapi – at the BeeKay Theater where they both had performed in several plays and musicals. Some may remember TJ as George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Their rehearsal dinner was held at Triassic Vineyard.

Nicole has always loved history. At one time she was a volunteer at Manzanar, the site of the Japanese internment camp during World War II and now a National Historic Site along Highway 395. While they were living in Orange County, she got her degree in History at Cal State Fullerton. She shares her love of history and our nation’s national parks with TJ and their three kids, Riley (14), Darren (13) and Katelyn (10). Together, the family has visited approximately 17 national parks and monuments and Nicole said they have plans to eventually host a podcast on national parks called “Adventures in Parking”. All of them are passionate about preserving the parks.

The kids love the outdoors. Katelyn says she wants to be a wildlife biologist and the boys want to hike the John Muir Trail in Northern California. Riley and Darren want to be aerospace engineers and are both involved in robotics at school. At home they help to take care of the family pets, a cat named Loki and a bearded dragon named Stark.

Nicole’s interest in music has not waned either. She will be appearing this spring in the BeeKay Theater production “The Best of Broadway” and has been recently hired by the Tehachapi School District as a music paraprofessional.

I suspect that Tehachapi will be hearing much more from this very active family.

Welcome back Gockel 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.