Veda Jane Gunter

Born in Long Beach, Calif., on Sept. 30, 1935, to Henry and Eunice Dull, Veda lived in the 1940s in Los Alamos, where she was a student of the beloved Olga Reed and active in 4-H. She spent her high school years in Newhall and graduated from Hart High School in 1953. Following graduation, she worked in the Los Angeles area at the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) and the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco).

Veda met future husband Hugh Richard “Dick” Gunter in Inglewood, Calif., and they enjoyed their first date at a Los Angeles Dodgers game. On Nov. 26, 1964, they were married at the Highlands Inn in Carmel, Calif. They moved in 1965 to Santa Maria, where they raised their children, Lorraine and Robert Scott, and resided for more than 50 years in what would be a cherished family gathering place full of many happy memories. In 2022, they relocated to Medford.

Primarily a homemaker, Veda volunteered many hours to Alvin, Fesler, and Santa Maria High schools as well as the Camp Fire Girls, Cub Scouts, and 4-H, sharing her time and skills in cooking, sewing, quilting, and crafting.

Always planning her next project or thinking about a new recipe to try, her sewing room and kitchen overflowed with craft books, cookbooks, and supplies for projects of all kinds that she lovingly created; her imagination exceeded the physical walls. Many family members will always cherish the knitted blankets, quilts, dolls, needlepoint pictures, recipes (macaroni salad and chocolate cupcakes!), and other projects that she generously gifted throughout her life.

Also treasured is the family history that Veda and Dick meticulously first began to compile through much written correspondence and extended driving trips to libraries, family homeplaces, and cemeteries before genealogy was made easier with the advent of the internet.

Veda’s quiet strength, kindness, generosity, and whimsical nature will always be remembered and missed by the many whose lives she forever touched.

In addition to her husband (Hugh Richard “Dick”; Medford) and children Lorraine (Anthony Vestal; Bluff City, Tenn.) and Robert Scott (Ginger; Eagle Point, Ore.), she is survived by nephew James Austin (Nancy; Orcutt); niece Judie Almodovar (Williamsburg, Va.); niece Jenna Farrell (Fort Worth, Texas); great-nephews Andrew Austin (Francesca, daughter Isabella; Guadalupe), Jacob Austin (Monica; Orcutt), and Jonah Austin (Orcutt); great-nieces Amanda Almodovar (Chris; New Market, Va.) and Emily Almodovar (Colin, sons Tyler and Alexander; Manassas, Va.) and great-nephew Josh Almodovar (Diane, daughter Ayla; Manassas); and great-nephew Richard Farrell III (Lauren; Fort Worth) and great-niece Anna Farrell (Fort Worth); among others.

She was preceded in death by a brother and two sisters, Fred Dull (Concord, Calif.), Barbara “Bobbie” Glisson (Ventura, Calif.), and Mary Sowers-Poulson (Hot Springs, Ark.).

A memorial celebration will be held at Dudley-Hoffman Mortuary in Santa Maria on Nov. 22 at 11 a.m., and private interment will be at Los Osos Valley Memorial Park.