Sierra Voices | Wes Qualls
Date
Saturday, July 11 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Schedule
Price
$5/Adults, CSHS Members are Free!
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Sierra Voices | Wes Qualls
I, Wes Qualls, was born in 1945, right at the end of the Second World War. What a different world it was. The Qualls side of my family owned quite a bit of land and was in the cattle-raising business. Actually, while my Dad helped with the cows, his paycheck came from the Biles and Jameson Lumber Company, where he was employed as a” cat skinner.” I have the first paycheck stub showing that after working 80 hours and both Saturdays, his net check was just over $200. It was decent money for those days, and when the snow started in the fall, it gave Dad winters to work with his horses.
My mother, Clara Gassmann, was first married to Jimmy Marshall in the 1930’s. She built both the wood-framed building and later the brick building that was and is still Marshall Station. The marriage did not last. In 1943, she married my father, Otis Qualls, who was just back from a year in the U.S. Army. She leased out the store and moved to the ranch with my dad.
My first memories are of our family either being on the ranch or being in the mountains in the summertime. I started school at Sierra Elementary, but in 1952, troubles at the store caused us to move back to Marshall Station. It wasn’t all bad– first indoor plumbing. I then attended Auberry Elementary, Sierra High, Reedley College, and Fresno State.
I met Lynda Nankervis, my future wife, at a “Howdy Dance” at Fresno State in the fall of 1966. Yep, a “Howdy Dance.” We dated almost continuously until our marriage in 1969. Having joined the Army in the fall of 1968, I was home on leave after graduation from Officer Candidate School when we said our vows. Then it was back to the U.S. Army for two more years. The second year I was deployed to South Korea. Lynda used that time wisely by getting her teaching credential in secondary education.
Lynda’s first teaching job gave me flexibility when I went searching for my own job after getting out of the military. Not wanting to find a job where I would be subject to transfer, I took a job as a warehouseman for a small family-owned business in Fresno. The owners of the business turned out to be a wonderful family. Over time, they set the table for me to own my own business and establish a lifetime business career. Flooring supplies may not seem exciting, but the business grew and provided a 30-year enjoyable and profitable business.
Our son, Brian, is about to turn 48. How can that be? Seems like he was just attending Sierra Elementary, but I know there had to be time for Sierra High and Fresno State along the way. He is now finishing his 2P1 year at Laton High School. I think his little cabin in the Oregon outback is starting to influence his future.
Sponsors
The Bertha and John Garabedian Charitable Foundation – Donating to the Sierra Voices program since 2013