Meet Your New Neighbors

Gene and Pat Coker moved into their mountaintop home in Bear Valley Springs last November. They had spent the last five years living in Ojai, a little town about 10 miles inland from Ventura. Before that they lived in Santa Paula and other areas of Ventura County. They thought that Ojai and the coastal areas of the county had become too crowded, so when they retired they began to search for a new place to live. Gene said that he had always wanted a cabin in the mountains. They had once had a house in the mountains near Weldon which they owned for about eight years. Now with their entire family still in Ventura, Tehachapi seemed an ideal choice.

Pat had worked for Ford Motor Credit for thirty years and Gene had spent his last several years working as a truck driver and electrician.

Gene was born in Evansville, Indiana. He had one brother and his family moved to California in 1951. He grew up in Meiners Oaks, in the Ojai Valley, where his dad worked as a mailman. He said he still has a friend there that he has known since kindergarten. He spent 24 years in the Navy. Following that he worked for seven years working on oil rigs in Venezuela and Singapore but that kept him too far from his family.

Pat was born in Libertyville, Illinois. Her family moved to Iowa when she was six months old. She says that her parents were gypsies and, growing up, she was always the new kid in town. She and Gene have three grown children, Gary, Kenny and Stephani, who live in Ventura County. With them now are their two rescue mutts Missy and Maggie.

Gene and Pat say that they are a little like hermits in their lifestyle. Gene likes to tinker in the yard and Pat admits to having a collection of nine garden gnomes. However, they do like to travel around the country with their RV. Gene said that they have crossed the country two times with it so far.

Welcome to Tehachapi, Gene and Pat and enjoy your mountain cabin.

Cindy Ferrell arrived in Bear Valley from Sedalia, Colorado in January accompanied by two horses, two dogs and a cat. She had recently retired from her position as an engineer for United Launch Alliance in Denver. Cindy loves the mountains and she wanted to retire in a place that was close to her family and also have the space to do what she loves to do best, riding and working with her horses. Her parents live in Signal Hill, California and she has other family in Long Beach where she grew up. She said that she had considered Tehachapi as a place to live years ago. Also, she found that the winters in Colorado were "becoming troublesome".

Cindy was born in the little town of Swickley, Pennsylvania. Her dad was in the Air Force and they moved to the South Bay area of Los Angeles when she was around four or five. She said that she went to Long Beach Junior High, Long Beach High and CSU Long Beach graduating in Mechanical Engineering. She has a brother who at one time was a reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

For many years she worked as an engineer for Boeing in Los Angeles and Huntington Beach. When she became interested in horses and riding, she bought a house in Norco, a horse community in Riverside County and commuted daily to Boeing. However, when Boeing joined forces with Lockheed Martin Space Systems to form United Launch Alliance, Cindy was transferred "lock, stock, and barrel" to Colorado.

Norco was great horse country and so was Sedalia. Cindy had been training her horses with Natural Horsemanship techniques for years. Stormy, her Spotted Saddle Horse, went with her to clinics and on the trail until he started to have hoof problems. Now over 20, he is retired. About four years ago she acquired Jessie, a Percheron cross who is about 15 years old. Jessie is her current training project and Cindy can't wait for warmer weather to get out on the trails of Bear Valley after she puts the finishing touches on her equine facilities at home.

Cindy is a believer in animal rescue. She adopted Benson, a flat-coated Retriever but thought he needed a friend. She ended up adopting his cell-mate from the shelter since they were already friends and so Chip, a Border Collie, joined the family. Reno (14-15 years old) is her tortoise shell cat and she is the friendliest cat I have ever met. She would lick my face like a dog, nuzzle under my chin and then lie down on my notes on the table in front of me. Cindy said that Reno was one of two cats. Sadly she lost Vegas.

To Cindy and her household, a big Tehachapi welcome.

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.