JIM CORE (b. 1936): Jim Core, dubbed the “Bank of Mammoth” by the late Rick Blake and considered by many to be one of Mammoth’s three “icons” of the real estate and business communities (along with Dave McCoy and Tom Dempsey) passed away July 17.

Core, who co-owned the Inyo-Mono Title Company with his son Jerry, is survived by Jo, his wife of 57 years, Jerry, daughter Judy Markham, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Core was born in Paris, Arkansas in 1936. His family moved to the Ventura, Calif. area in the early 1940s. He was in the title insurance and escrow business for over fifty years, starting out in Ventura with stops in Concord and Merced before settling in the Eastern Sierra in 1983.

Soon after his arrival, son Jerry said that the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) determination that Mammoth had “volcanic issues” led to a tremendous amount of economic uncertainty and property foreclosures. No banks would lend on Mammoth property. So Core stepped forward with a group of fellow Rotarians to establish a funding source for builders and buyers. “I know we funded a lot of people’s payrolls in the ‘80s,” said Jerry.

As Jerry said, “He gave people a fuzzy feeling.” And he had a wonderful laugh. In a crowded room, you could identify where he was. Jo was her husband’s faithful caregiver from the time he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) in January, 2009 until his passing.

EDITH BUCHANAN (b. 1920s): Edith Buchanan, ageless wonder and longtime local florist, passed away on Tuesday, July 13. Her exact year of birth is omitted because daughter Marcia says she’d want it that way.

Edith was born in Jackson, Mich.and moved out to California in the late 1930s with her husband Walter, who had just received a PhD in music.

They followed Walter’s parents, who had moved to Santa Barbara after a stint as missionaries in Japan. Ross Mather sold Edith and Walter their first Mammoth condo in 1967. They moved up here permanently about 30 years ago.

Edith was an extremely hard worker, and in fact, worked up to the very minute she died. She was found on the floor of her in-home flower shop, Celebrations. It is believed she may have collapsed in the middle of making a floral arrangement.

In fact, Edith had just done the flowers for a wedding the previous weekend.

“She thought work was good for you, because that’s what you were supposed to do,” Mather said.

“It was typical of Mom not to let a day go by without hard work,” added her daughter Marcia, who credits Edith with passing on her artistic enthusiasm to her daughters.

Edith, who married a man 13 years her senior, was married for more than 60 years. She had both her daughters while she was in her teens.

In addition to her flower shop, during her time in Mammoth, Edith worked as a concierge and arranged  flowers at the Mammoth Mountain Inn. She also managed a haberdashery in the Mammoth Mall.

To the end, Edith was tough. In the past year, she’d had a few falls, including one where she broke her pelvis. Did she seek immediate medical treatment? No. She thought she’d stay at home and see if it got better. Her explanation to her daughter as to why she didn’t mention it to her for weeks. “Oh, I didn’t want to bother you.”

JOSH SOKOLOW (b. 1976): “Let’s see, I’m a 33 year old punk from Mammoth Lakes, Calif. originally the San Fernando Valley. I’ve been here for years and I can’t see myself leaving anytime soon. It is a small town but when you lived in Los Angeles for pretty much your whole life, a change of pace is damn nice.”-Josh Sokolow

Josh Sokolow, 33, died in January of complications from pneumonia at his home on Lupin St. He graduated from Trabuco Hills High in Mission Viejo, Calif. and made Mammoth Lakes his home starting in 2004. In town, Sokolow worked at Casa Diablo, A-Frame Liquor and Shell. You may have recognized him as the guy in the red and black hooded sweatshirt walking his Pit-Rottweiler Maggie through the ghetto. -penned by Randy Villarba

RHIANNON LYNN TAYLOR (b. 2009):

Rhiannon Lynn Taylor passed away Saturday morning, March 13, three days short of five months old. She was born on October 27, 2009 at Mammoth Hospital and flown to Renown hospital in Reno with complications. Testing revealed a terminal genetic disorder with severe heart complications.  –Gabe Taylor

CARY SHIBLEY (b. 1972): Cary, 38, who passed away on April 6, grew up in Crowley Lake, and loved the outdoors and sports, engaging in cycling and snowboarding, bonding with her dad and brother during all-day fishing excursions, and enjoying long hikes with her mom. Her love for dogs and their owners was immeasurable. She was entirely dedicated to her Spoiled Rotten Pet Grooming business in Mammoth, cared about her customers, could work with any animal’s temperament, and was able to connect with and four-legged friends.

ROGER MORRIS (b. 1934): Roger passed away on April 11 following a lengthy battle with cancer. He grew up in Los Angeles and would make frequent ski trips to Mammoth Mountain during his high school and college years and honeymooned there with his bride, Myra, in 1959. He retired from government service in 1995 and moved from Washington D.C. back to California to enjoy his golden years in Santa Cruz. Roger and Myra made frequent trips to Mammoth visit his son John’s family.

He could be found playing beach volleyball with John at the old Grumpy’s, loved hiking throughout the Eastern Sierra and in Yosemite, and often commented on how much his trips to Mammoth meant to him.                       –John Morris

KATHY McFEDRIES (b. 1942): Katherine Reed McFedries moved to Mammoth Lakes in the mid-1970s, and for 20 years worked as Supervisor of Field Maintenance with the Mammoth Community  Water District. She also served as a member of the Mammoth Lakes Hospital board. An accident in 1995 left Kathy a paraplegic, but she was one of the first participants in the Disabled Sports ski school. She designed and built her first wheelchair-accessible home in Crowley Lake, where she served on the local water board. In 2004, Kathy moved to Bishop, where during the summers she grew prize-winning zephyr squash. In recent years, she designed a series of greeting cards, which won numerous awards at the Bishop Tri-County Fair.

DAVE COX (b. 1938): State Senator Dave Cox, 72, represented the State Senate District 1, which includes the east side of California from the Oregon state border down to Inyo County. He spent two decades in public service and became a member of the legislature in 1998, and served as Assembly Republican Leader before his election to the Senate in 2004. Cox often made trips to the Eastern Sierra to speak one on one with local communities, including Mammoth Lakes. A fiscal conservative with a feisty wit, Cox’s family described him as, “A devoted man, who always found time to serve his community and constituents. He took great pride in public service and making government work for the people.”

PATTI INGLI REA (b. 1933): Patti Ingli was born in River Falls, Wisconsin but moved to California in 1940. She graduated from UCLA and married Ralph Rea the week after graduation. After marriage, Patti and Ralph lived in California. They also had stints in Arlington, Virginia, Tokyo, Japan and Sydney Australia. For the past eight years, they’ve called Mammoth home. Patti passed away the morning of Oct. 20 after the loss of her battle with internal injuries from an automobile accident. Patti was a Mammoth Mountain Lodge Host since the 1996. She was “Lodge Host of the Year” for the 2004/2005 ski season. In 2007 she received a Mammoth Mountain Black Diamond award.

Patti was a board member for Chamber Music Unbound and an ardent supporter of their music program. As a docent for the Valentine Reserve and the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory (SNARL), she continued to work to educate children.

JOHN NATHAN ADAMS: John Nathan Adams, a training and life coach and one of three SUV passengers who survived a horrific, fiery multiple-vehicle crash just south of Bishop on Aug. 9, died two months to the day of the crash that claimed two other lives in the SUV in which he was riding, as well as the life of another person in a passenger van that was also involved in the collision.

Adams, who lived in the San Diego area, was well known to many in Mammoth’s running and sports community. Mammoth locals Stu and Julie Brown were the last in town to see Adams and the four athletes traveling in the SUV prior to the accident. He was reportedly 39 at the time of the accident.

RICHARD L. JOHNSON: Hantavirus cardiopulmonary infection was responsible for the death of a seasonal state parks worker in Bodie.

According to recent reports from Mono County Public Health Officer Dr. Rick Johnson, the victim, identified as Richard L. Johnson, who was known by his middle name – Laird, 61, had been sick with a flu-like illness for about 4 days, and after an examination at Mammoth Hospital, was quickly flown to Reno, where he died. (Ed. Note: Johnson shared the first and last name of Mono County’s Dr. Johnson, but there is no relation.)