Elaine Starr Decker

Elaine was born in 1932 in Montana to Ralph and Ethel Cook who moved their family, including her brother George and sister Jeanie, to Fresno in 1938 when Ralph became an executive for the Sequoia Council of the Boy Scouts of America. She spent much of her youth in the Sierras and developed a love for the mountains and camping that she passed on to her family. She was a 1950 graduate of Clovis High School where she was a member of the Cougar swim team.

Elaine met Bill Decker at First Presbyterian Church and they were married there in December of 1951 just prior to Bill leaving for enlistment in the Navy. Their Navy service took them to Guam for several years with a stay in Port Hueneme where their eldest daughter Patricia was born. Elaine returned to Fresno while Bill finished his tour stationed in Kodiak, Alaska. Daughters Kathy and Debra were born in Fresno as the family reunited n Fresno and Bil| went to work with his father at CESCO.

Elaine and Bill moved the family to Clovis where they enjoyed gardening on a large lot in Tarpey. They took up a new hobby of sailboat racing with the newly formed Fresno Yacht Club leading to many weekends racing at Millerton Lake and summers camping with their sailboat friends at Deer Creek Campground at Huntington Lake for the High Sierra Regatta.

Another move took the family to rural Clovis to build a new house, a new yard and a new barn. Elaine supervised the "farm" that grew to include donkeys, horses, a whole herd of beef cows, and Basset Hounds. At this time she also returned to working fulltime as a bookkeeper for a local CPA.

Elaine and Bill's next life move came when Bill retired from CESCO to become a grape farmer in Reedley where Elaine was able to turn a 19405 adobe building into a home while still working full time. Many family memories were made during their almost 30

years at the Reedley ranch.

After retirement Elaine and Bill moved fulltime up to their cabin in Pinehurst where Elaine and Bill again transformed a rustic cabin into a home. She made many friends in Pinehurst and was involved with the Chamber of Commerce as their treasurer. They were evacuated from Pinehurst during the Rough Fire in 2015 and due to health reasons decided to relocate to the town o Reedley to be close to many of their children and grandchildren. After Bill passed in 2015, Elaine remained in Reedley surrounded by her family. She is survived by her three daughters, Patricia Roberts, Kathy Sullivan and her husband Mike, and Debra Mahnke and her husband Dave; nine grandchildren, twenty-two great grandchildren, and three great great grandchildren.