Vernon Walter Wescott Jr.

Vernon W. Wescott Jr. passed away July 13, 2016, at the age of 86. He was the second born of Vernon Wescott and Dorothy (Treado) Wescott. He was an 11th generation descendant of both Stukely Westcott, co-founder of Rhode Island with Roger Williams, and John Alden and Patricia Mullins, passengers on the Mayflower. Born in 1930 in Bristol, Connecticut, his father was a teamster for draft animals, and worked on farms in both New York and Connecticut.

At 17, Vernon joined the Navy, where he was trained to maintain ship engines as a Machinist Mate. He was very proud of his service on the USS Henderson, a destroyer. His ship was a member of the flotilla of Sitting Ducks which sat in Inchon Bay to draw fire from the North Korea shore batteries, thus revealing their positions. This was a well-planned, but risky operation, which was a total success.

While stationed in San Diego, Vernon went on a blind date with Mary Blair. As a San Diego native, Mary had been warned about sailors, and Vernon wasn’t looking for anything serious. They married in 1951. They moved to Connecticut to be near his family, but it only took one winter to remind Vernon why he left in the first place. With their first child, Douglas, in tow, they returned to San Diego, where they spent the remainder of their lives.

Vernon joined the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1953, on the day General Eisenhower was inaugurated as President. Vernon started at the bottom, on the “Line Gang,” which was out in the back country, planting telephone poles and stringing phone wire. Later, he became an installer, repair man, and in 1976, he was promoted to Manager of Repair Services. He retired in 1983 with the breakup of AT&T. Since he wasn’t quite ready to stop working, he formed his own business, Telephone Wiring Service, with his former co-worker Al Dolph. He owned that business until he fully retired in 1993.

Vernon and Mary were avid campers. Vacations with his family were most often tent camping on Palomar Mountain, with occasional trips farther afield. In 1998 they were able to buy a fifth wheel trailer and camp in luxury. With the fifth wheel, they added Borrego Springs as a regular camping spot in the winter, with Palomar Mountain in the summer. They also traveled all over the United States, including California, Wyoming, Florida, and Connecticut.

In 1998, Vernon completed a lifelong wish of driving to Alaska. He and a friend drove 7,000 miles, to Denali National Park and back. He also added in his love of fly fishing and took the fifth wheel and a variety of family and friends on fly fishing trips with him. Vernon was also a member of the San Diego Fly Fishers for a number of years.

Dad was very proud of his family of four, Douglas Wescott (Kathleen) of Maine, Mark Wescott (Jenny), Iola “Loli” Wescott, both of San Diego, and Lynn Beckman (Dan) of Chula Vista. He loved spending time with his eight grandchildren, Brady Wescott, Kelli McCannell, Jessica Anderson, Mary Larson, Lori and Stephen Wescott, and Kyle and Cassandra Beckman; and eight great grandchildren, Lucinda, Joaquin and Lorenzo Anderson, Henry and Sullivan McCannell, Kai and Roman Larson, and Tyler Beckman.

Vernon was an avid sports fan and especially enjoyed baseball and football. He was a Chargers season ticket holder for years, from their very first game in San Diego, in Balboa Stadium. He worked for the San Diego Gulls minor league hockey team for several years.

Vernon and Mary moved to the Mt. Miguel Covenant Village retirement community in 2004. It wasn’t long after that he had a job driving people to medical appointments, the airport, hair appointments, etc. for the village. When that position ended he took to driving friends wherever they wanted to go. He was only too happy to do so, to keep busy, and to continue one of his favorite activities, driving. Later, he worked the audio and video equipment at church each Sunday. He was in charge of feeding the koi in Lake George for a long time. He loved to help others, whether it was driving, fixing a watch, or a phone, or anything else he thought he could fix.

He was pre-deceased by his wife, Mary, his parents, Vernon and Dorothy (Treado) Wescott, brothers Ray, Rollin, and Clark Wescott, and sisters Dorothy Fischer and Eilien LaBella. He is survived by sisters-in-law Mary Wescott and Shirley Wescott, and many nieces and nephews and grandnieces and nephews and great grandnieces and grandnephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donation to the Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park in his name, to rebuild a campground amphitheater. http://www.friendsofpalomarsp.org/

Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park PO Box 91 Palomar, CA 92060-0091