Obituaries

Gary James Oberti (82) was born on the 2nd day of June in 1941 and passed away on the 14th day of July 2023 following a period of declining health. He was a lifelong resident of Madera and a respected community leader. He was honored in 2011 with a lifetime achievement award from the Madera Chamber of Commerce, where he was the founding chairperson.

Gary graduated from the Class of 1959 of Madera Union High School and furthered his education at Fresno City College, Fresno State College, and the Armstrong College of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. He served on the student council and was a proud Kappa Sigma Gamma Fraternity member there. He also served seven years in the United States Coast Guard Reserve.

Virginia Lee McClure (93) was born to Robert and Gertie Duren on January 10, 1930, in Wasco, California.  The Duren’s, joining with several other families in a caravan, had just traveled from the Stigler, Oklahoma region to California as part of the great migration of people moving West seeking jobs and opportunities.  Virginia recalled the family working in the fields and living in tents during the Second World War, being told to keep the lights off at night for fear of Japanese bombers, and proudly telling how her mother Gertie could pick as much cotton as any man.  During this time period, the family moved back and forth between California and Oklahoma several times, her mother Gertie died of a sudden illness, and Virginia graduated from high school in Stigler in 1950.

After graduation, Virginia met her future husband, Hubert McClure, and they were wed in a single-ring ceremony on February 18, 1954. Virginia never removed this ring from her finger and still bore it on the day she passed, July 10, 2023, which was some 27 years after Hubert’s death from cancer.  

Mr. William J. "Bill" Alessini (88) passed away in Madera on July 7, 2023. Bill, born on October 16, 1934, was a lifelong Maderan and spent his working years promoting Downtown Madera, where he worked since the age of seven, sweeping up and doing general custodial work at the former Madera Drugs and the family’s Barsotti Bakery.  

Bill graduated from Madera Union High School in 1953, where he was a cheerleader. As a teenager, he delivered furniture for Jennings Brothers Furniture, then realized he was spending most of his money on clothing and took a job at Madera’s premiere haberdashery, Duncan and Shied. He had become a partner in that store in just a few years. In the 1970s, with partner Carol Wilkins, opened William Carol Fashions Unlimitied, which at its height consisted of eleven stores throughout the valley. Bill continued to operate William Carol until his retirement a few years ago in downtown Madera.

Juanita Castillo Gamboa (88) was born on December 27, 1934 in Liberty Hill, Texas to Luciano and Atilana Montemayor Castillo. Juanita was a resident of Madera, California, for over 60 years. She had a career with and retired from Oberti Olives. She passed away on July 4, 2023.

Juanita is survived by her sisters Dominga Rivera (Simon) of Kerman and Rosa Alanis (Cruz), and brother Manuel Castillo of Madera. She had 6 children: Raymond, Joe, Amalia, Andrew (Janie), Mary Ann Espinoza (Leo) of Madera, and Jesse Gamboa (Christina) of Visalia. She had 12 grandchildren: Monica, Michael, Andrew (Buddy), Jennifer Costilla, Anthony, Gina, and Benjamin (J.R.) Costilla, Alexis, Selena, Alec, Sabrina, and Nicholas Gamboa. She also had 17 great-grandchildren: Lorenzo and Amiya Keturi from Turlock, Christopher, Dominick, Giovanna, Mila, Jaxson and A.J. Gamboa, Penelope Rodriguez, Mark Jameson Brady of Madera, Mia and Mason Rosales of Sanger, Alaya, Noah, Luca Gutierrez of Atwater, JD and Adam De La Fuente of Clovis.