Fred "Sean" C Deghuee

Fred (Sean) C. Deghuee was born 10/25/1938 in St. Louis, MO, the fourth son of Reginald Deghuee and Mable Purcell. He leaves behind his wife Judith. His older brothers were Rex (deceased) wife Sophie (deceased), John wife Ann and Joe (deceased). He has four nephews: Bradley, Joe, Mike and Pat, and a niece Emily Schmidt. Brother-in-law to Michael & RoseMary O'Neil. He was an uncle to Doris, Donna, Diane, Laura, Ellen & Tim. He was a great Uncle to Rachel, Sam, Joe, Michelle, Stephanie, Andy & Elliot. He was a step-father and father-in-law to Richard & Teresa, David & Sarah, Paul & Meghan, Philip & Kim and Daniel & Lydia Boultinghouse. He was a grandfather to Angela, Caitlyn, Emily, Kaleb, Veronica, Jeremiah, Jennifer, Kristina, Stephanie, Madalyn, and Camille and great grandfather to Henry, Margaret & James Bennett.

When Sean was 10 years old, the family moved to Bethlehem, PA. Later, he attended Pennsylvania State University before joining VISTA, volunteering in Pennsylvania to help in an underprivileged area. He was present during the riots that occurred there in 1967. He later joined the US Army and served in Germany and Turkey. Sean attempted to stay in France to go to school when he finished his tour of duty, but it turned out to be the coldest winter on record, so he returned to the states. He worked as a Social Worker in Contra Costa, and then Santa Cruz, CA where he met his wife, Judith Stumpf, also a social worker. He belonged to a men’s group that was formed after the attended “The Sterling Institute.”

Sean purchased land in Watsonville and rebuilt an old farmhouse, barn and other buildings on the property. He became a “Master Gardener” and started his own Heritage Seed Company “Le Champion,” which had a successful start. But, when the 1989 earthquake occurred, buildings needed to be repaired and he was unable to continue his business. Afterwards, he worked with his friend George Mortan on rebuilding old homes. He enjoyed the work and his friendship with George, Philip Keenan and Harry Camphouse, and continued to work on the “Farm” and repaired old lamps and other rusty things. He had a booth in the Cannery Antique mall for five years. In 2004 he noticed some memory loss. It was slow at first, but gradually Alzheimer’s took much of his memory. He loved and was loved by all. He will be missed. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association.