Homer Curtis Dryer

Homer was born in Oakland, California, where he attended local grammar schools. He moved with his family to Marysville, California and graduated from Marysville High School in 1948. In 1944, while working as a lifeguard at the city pool, he met the love of his life, Dolores Mae “Cookie” Fuller. Homer was immediately smitten with the beautiful blonde who would later become his wife. The couple married on June 13, 1948, and went on to share more than 77 years together.

As a boy, Homer was deeply involved in Scouting. He joined the Cub Scouts and continued through the Boy Scouts and Explorers, eventually earning the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout. He later served as Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 17 in Yuba City and participated in the 1953 National Boy Scout Jamboree in Irvine, California. After moving from Taft to Frazier Park, Homer founded a Boy Scout troop at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Frazier Park and conducted the troop’s first Eagle Scout ceremony, beginning a tradition that continues to this day.

After graduating from high school, Homer worked as a carpenter. With the help of his father-in-law, Ernest Fuller, he built the first home he and Cookie shared at 46 Toledo Street in Yuba City. Homer continued building homes until November 1963, when a tragic car accident left him hospitalized and bedridden for more than a year. After extensive rehabilitation, he returned to school and earned a degree in hydroelectric engineering. He went to work for the California Department of Water Resources, contributing to the development of the State Water Project aqueduct system throughout California. Homer retired from the State of California in 1991 but remained active in his community, frequently helping friends and neighbors build and repair their homes.

For a time, Homer owned and operated Dryer’s Divers Supply, one of the few skin-scuba diving stores in Northern California outside of the state capital region. Along with his father-in-law, he co-founded the Feather River Skin Divers Club. In the 1960s, Homer and several members of the club formed the nucleus of a city and county search-and-rescue diving team that assisted in recovering drowning victims. Homer and Ernest later helped train members of local police, sheriff, and fire departments so they could establish their own rescue diving teams.

Homer was a certified advanced and master scuba diver and instructor through both the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) and the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI). Through his diving clubs he competed in local, state, and national spearfishing competitions, winning multiple trophies for the largest fish speared and earning first-place finishes in several events.

Throughout his life, Homer was an active member of numerous organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America, the Eagle Scout organization Knights of Dunamis, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also belonged to several diving organizations, including the Feather River Skin Divers, Central California Diving Council, the Underwater Society of America, and the San Joaquin Valley Skin Divers.

Homer’s greatest joys were found outdoors. He loved camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, skin diving, and deep-sea spearfishing. These adventures often became family outings, with the Dryer family traveling up and down the West Coast together to pursue their shared love of the outdoors. Homer took great pride in teaching his children and grandchildren how to hunt, fish, and thrive in the natural world.

Homer was preceded in death by his daughter Patricia. His beloved wife, Dolores “Cookie” Dryer, passed away a week and one day after him. Homer is survived by his children Curtis Dryer; Cathie Mars of Bakersfield, California; Diane Steward of Bakersfield, California and her husband Don; and Robin Gardner of Arlington, Washington and her husband William. He is also survived by seven grandchildren, seventeen great-grandchildren, four great-great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorial services will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Monica Ward in Bakersfield, California on June 13, 2026 at 11:00 A.M. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to LDS Monica Ward..