News

Former Madera Mayor Patrick O¹Rourke Dies at 72

Madera - Former Madera Mayor Patrick Michael O¹Rourke died Sunday in Fresno after a long battle with cancer. He was 72. Born Jan. 22, 1939 to Donald and Alice O¹Rourke of Toledo, Ohio, he attended Gesu Elementary and University of Detroit High School in Michigan until his enlistment in 1956. He was a veteran of the United States Navy, where he trained as an aerial photogrammetrist and served as a photographer¹s mate third class. He was stationed with the Heavy Photographic Squadron #61 in Guam and at the Naval Intelligence School in Coronado.

Reverend Monsignor Kevin Cleary (87)

Reverend Monsignor Kevin Cleary passed away on, Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at the age of 87 in Fresno, at the Nazareth House.

Father Kevin was born and raised near Ennis, County Clare, Ireland. He attended All Hallows Seminary in Dublin and was ordained in June of 1948 for the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno. Father Kevin was given the honor of domestic prelate, becoming a Monsignor in 1968 while serving as pastor of St. Mary's Parish in Visalia.

Georgia F. Baker (95)

Georgia F. Baker (95) was born on March 30, 1916 to James and Susan Herd in Ozark County, MO, passed away on Thursday, November 24, 2011 in Madera, CA at the age of 95. Georgia moved to Madera in 1938 where she met and married her sweetheart Aubrey Baker, a marriage lasting 55 years until his passing in 2001.

Norman Gould: (92)

Former Madera County Superintendent of Education, Mr. Norman M. Gould, passed away on Monday, November 14, 2011 at the age of 92. He was a native of Helena, MT and a resident of Madera, CA for the past 84 years.

Mr. Gould had a 36 year career in Education. He taught at North Fork Elementary school for 3 years, was the Assistant County Superintendent for 9 years and for the next 24 years Norman was the Superintendent of Madera County Schools.

Mark Zewe (52)

Mark Zewe (52) a native of Charleroi, PA and a resident of Madera, CA for 30 years passed away Thursday, November 3, 2011 at a Madera hospital. He was a graphic artist. He graduated from Madera High School in 1977 and California State University, Fresno in 1980.

Mark was preceded in death by his parents James & Pauline Zewe, brother, James Lewis Zewe and his sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Herb Levine.

Mickey Nishimoto (87)

Masako "Mickey" Nishimoto, beloved wife, mother, sister, aunt, grandmother and friend, passed away in Madera on Sunday, October 30, 2011 at the age of 87. She was born on January 14, 1924 and raised in Devil's Slide, Utah. She was the third of five children of immigrant parents, Jusaburo and Shigeyo Fujiki from Japan.

In 1948, she graduated from the U. of Utah with a BS in Nursing. She began her nursing career at the Salt Lake City VA and later transferred to the VA in Oakland, CA where she was a surgical head nurse. There she came to know Keith Nishimoto, her future husband. Married in 1957, she moved to Madera and worked at the Nishimoto's grocery store while raising her two daughters. Her main focus was the Bridge Store, the family business which she helped run for 54 years.

Diane Elaine Cappelluti (70)

Diane Elaine Cappelluti passed peacefully on the evening of November 2, 2011. She was surrounded by her loved ones and family who have been caring for her over the recent years.

Her parents Donald and Dorothy Doman brought her to Fresno from Philadelphia in 1945. She graduated from Fresno High School in 1958 and graduated from Fresno State University in 1963. She married her husband Paul Cappelluti in 1965 and remained his by his side until his death in 1995.