El Capitan High School Alumni
Lakeside, California (CA)
Ken Jones
El Capitan High School
Class of 1965
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KEN'S PROFILE
| First Name | Ken |
| Last Name | Jones |
| Graduation Year | Class of 1965 |
| Gender | Male |
| Current Location | Fresno |
| Hometown | DeMotte, Indiana |
| Relationship Status | Married |
| About Me | "In 1965, I was a senior going steady with Patricia Crocker. My favorite teacher, Mr. Beach, would write in Pat's yearbook — “Pat, The very best of everything in the future years. I hope you go through it with Ken, he’s the best.” She has and we are still together. The "now" picture I posted is of us celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2016 at the Rapunzel Castle in Trendelburg, Germany. I must admit I was not a great student at El Cap. Nevertheless, I somehow won the 11th grade US History award and the 12th grade Civics award. I wasn’t too surprised; those were my subjects! However, I was very surprised and honored when I won the Faculty Scholarship Award at graduation. I felt undeserving and have always felt that several of the teachers must have based their votes on the potential they thought they saw in me, it certainly wasn’t based on my overall grades. I was also somewhat of a latecomer to the school and never a member of the student leadership. I had started high school in Havelock, North Carolina, and then gone to Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach my sophomore year. I only went to El Cap for my final two years and certainly wasn't a member of the inner circle. I was simply too busy working at Jack In the Box to be heavily involved in school activities. About the only real involvement I had in school was being president of the fishing club. I left school politics to my good friend John Ferlin (Sr. Class President). My fondest memories of El Cap were probably meeting Pat in advanced senior math (where I was the dunce and she was the ace who would go on to win El Cap's 12th grade Math award), and the prom at Hotel del Coronado where Pat wore a dress she had made herself and looked, in my humble opinion, like the queen of the ball. But, we also had a small but very nice group of friends. After graduation, I began attending Grossmont College while Pat attended Palomar College. At Grossmont, John Ferlin would be elected ASB Vice President and he talked me into also running for office. Somehow I won and was elected Commissioner of Elections. John and I would both serve two terms in our offices and in the Student Senate. After one year of college, Pat and I were married at a church in Lakeside with Mr. Beach being my best man, Mr. Noble (math teacher) being our organist, and John Ferlin being the main usher. We both would then attend Grossmont College before I transferred to San Diego State. Three years later, in December 1969, we would have a beautiful little girl Kimberly. I had started working at the Jack in the Box in Santee during my senior year and during college I worked as an assistant manager at several different stores. Although planning to be a teacher, I was approached by JIB in 1970 with a financial offer I could not refuse. The result was a move north in April to be the manager of the Jack in the Box in Davis, just outside Sacramento. A few months later I was transferred to a larger store in Pinole in the East Bay as manager. While there we would have a handsome young son Michael. Two years later I was promoted to District Coordinator with nine stores and then just a little over a year later I was promoted to be the first Regional Training Coordinator in charge of northern California, Washington and Hawaii. I did this for nine years and then in 1979 we decided to move to the country. We moved north to the Redwood Empire and Boonville in the beautiful Anderson Valley in Mendocino County. In the small town (less than 1,000 people), we owned a coffee shop, the Horn of Zeese (meaning cup of coffee in Boontling). We loved the area and the many friends we made at the restaurant. During our years in Boonville, I would obtain a B.S. from the University of San Francisco and a M.S. from Dominican University of San Rafael. In 1987, after becoming very involved in the local schools (primarily coaching basketball), I got my teaching credential and that year began teaching US History, World History, Geography, Government (Civics) and Economics at Anderson Valley High School. It was a small school and I would be very involved as athletic director, coach, student body advisor, and many other things. When I went into teaching, Pat took over the management of our restaurant. It was during our years in Boonville that we would also have six foreign exchange students in our home—Marjaana from Finland, Martin from Denmark, Chris from Truk Island, Monika from Poland, Denisa from Slovakia, and Kimiko from Japan. These are our international children. By the late '90s, Kim and Mike had graduated and left home. Although having many friends in Anderson Valley, we felt increasingly isolated, a long distance away from family, and began to consider options. I gradually cut back on my duties and in 1999 I made the decision to quit teaching (a mistake) and buy a shoe store in Stockton. We would live nearby in the very nice town of Lodi, and things were great for a while but eventually the downturn in the economy and a number of new competitors cut into our sales and we decided to close the store. I would do some teaching for a period of time in Stockton, and also some mortgage sales, but eventually we decided to move to Fresno to be close to Kimberly, her husband Dave, and our grandchildren Adam and Katie. In Fresno, I taught for one year and then worked for several years at the Small Business Administration. I also had fun working in 2010 and 2020 as a census worker. Most of my current time is devoted to writing and to my web sites. My professional writing started in the early '90s. Initially it was just magazine articles but in time I also wrote and saw published two books, Pier Fishing in California and Pier Fishing in California, 2nd. Ed. Given the topic, in 1997 I started the website Pier Fishing In California (pierfishing.com) which is still going strong (after several updates). The website just celebrated its 25th anniversary and we have recently begun filming YouTube videos to strengthen the site. Later, I would also start a new site, kenjonesfishing.com and it is something we are going to be completely revising in the near future. Today I am still writing magazine articles and trying to decide what format to use for Pier Fishing in California, 3rd Ed. The world of publishing has seen considerable change and we may simply break it up into smaller parts and sell as eBooks. Over the years I also served in many different volunteer positions. I was on the board of directors of Unicorn Youth Services for 26 years and board chairman for 16 of those years. I was the president of the United Pier and Shore Anglers of California for 16 years. I would be a member of the board of directors of the Outdoor Writers Association of California for nine years (including a term as president). I would be a member of the Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp (BDSFES) Advisory Committee for five years and serve on the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) North Central Coast Stakeholders Committee . I would also serve on many different NOAA teams and committees. I would serve one year on the Mendocino County Grand Jury and have served four years and counting as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for youth. We have been here in Fresno now for about ten years and though retired, I have continued to have a number of different jobs over the years. Same with Pat who has been working the past few years as a teacher's aide in an elementary school. I find that much of our time today is spent in different activities with our grandchildren, Adam at his tennis matches, and Katie with her dance recitals. And, we stay very busy with a variety of duties and events at our church, First Presbyterian Fresno, Most recently, we've begun sponsoring a young child Setegn in Ethiopia. We've stayed bus...(read more) |
Class of 1965 Alumni
→ Reunite with 47 class of 1965 alumni that have joined.
Jan Stull
Class of 1976
Hannah Simmons
Class of 2015
Amelia Iverson
Class of 2009
Juan Caballero
Class of 1999
Marcia Wilkins
Class of 1985
Sarah Mcintosh
Class of 1986
Mary Caulfield
Class of 1997
Holly Zurcher
Class of 1982
Anjie Juarez
Class of 1990
Nicole Shull
Class of 2001
Linda Beathard
Class of 1969
Marti Butts
Class of 1981
Tanya Diaz
Class of 2000
Toni Silva
Class of 1969
Angela Kenniston
Class of 1989
Amber Smith
Class of 2010
Mike Secor
Class of 1970
Erick Vanderlee
Class of 1986
Recent Class of 1965 Reunions
Plan a Class of 1965 Reunion for Free
El Cap Band Reunion, Classes 1965-1970
Invited Classes: 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970
Date: Oct 11, 2014
Description: Remembering the Benton Minor Years!
End of the World Party
Invited Classes: All Classes
Date: Nov 08, 2012
Description: Has the supposed end of the world got you down? How about a little party to ease your troubled mind? How about no cove...(read more)
45th High School Reunion
Invited Classes: 1965
Date: Oct 01, 2010
Description: Break the Ice Party Friday, October 1st Dinner/Dance Saturday, October 2nd 6:00-12:00 Invitations will be mailed out by ...(read more)