Since we will be leaving California soon, I feel it important to document how our family came to settle in Lancaster. Our marriage began in San Francisco, where we lived for three years while Alan attended dental school. At the end of dental school, Alan owed the Navy three years of military service for putting him through dental school. We ended up being assigned to and living in Twenty-nine Palms CA for those three years where Alan worked as a Navy 1st Lieutenant performing dentistry at the Marine Corps Base there. When those three years were up, we had to decide where we wanted to settle so Alan could start his own dental practice. We decided to drive up to Northern California and then back down to Southern California stopping at many cities along the way to see what felt right for us.
Interestingly, the town that felt right for us was near the end of our travels. We stopped in a town called Lancaster for the night. As we approached the town, it was nighttime so it was dark and we couldn't really even see the city, but it felt like we were "returning home" even though we had never been there before. Alan met with a Dr. Douglas Pulsipher the next day who offered him the use of some operatories in his office so Alan could start building his own practice. After five years working there, he was able to build out and rent his own office space in a brand new building on 17th Street West and Ave. J. He was the first occupant of that medical office building.
Our first home in Lancaster was actually in the unincorporated town of Quartz Hill. It was located 4701 West Ave. M-6. We bought the home in June of 1981 and lived there for about 13 years. Just a few days ago, Ryan took me for a ride in his Tesla and we drove out to Quartz Hill to see the old home. Many cars were parked around it so it was hard to get a good picture. This is the best we could get:
The trees in the front yard are really overgrown so the view of the home is blocked.
As our family grew, that home became too small for us so we began to search for a larger one in the same area, but couldn't find what we wanted so we decided to build the home in Lancaster that we have lived in for the past 28 years.
Lancaster has been good to us. Alan's practice has thrived and each of our children grew up, left the home, and started lives and families of their own. They have produced 6 grandchildren for us so far. We are hoping for more. Fingers crossed!
We have enjoyed being members of the Lancaster California Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints here in this part of the Lord's vineyard. We have served in many callings including Bishop and other leadership callings for Alan and many auxiliary presidencies for Joan. These callings have given us opportunities for personal growth and have helped to created many fond memories, especially of people we have gotten to know and love and serve with here. I will always cherish every memory created here.
The story/joke about Lancaster how it was founded is that there was a group of pioneers crossing the California desert in search of the ocean. As darkness started to settle in they pitched their tents for the night. The next morning it was windy so they decided to stay a little while longer......just until the wind stopped. Since that never happened, Lancaster became the city it is today. Haha! Yes, it's windy in Lancaster much of the year, but there are benefits to the wind -- it blows the mosquitos away so we don't have a mosquito problem here. We were grateful for that!
