William "Bill" Lance Baldwin~~~~~~William Baldwin, "Bill" to his many friends and family, passed away at his home, November 7, 2014 with his family present. He had bravely confronted and fought cancer.He is survived by his wife of 26 years, Charmayne Baldwin; stepson Zachary Briggs and wife Mary; stepdaughter Amanda Strating and husband Duane; sister Carolyn Martinez and husband Michael; niece Lindsey; grandchildren Kailey, Travis, Ethan, Cheyenne, Grace, Alexis and Dannika.He was preceded in death by his parents James E. Baldwin Sr., and Dorothy L. Baldwin; brother James E. Baldwin Jr., and twin nephews David and Daniel Weakley.Bill was born and raised in Southern California. He served in the United States Army and fought in Vietnam. He became a Federal Firefighter with the Department of Defense (Navy) and worked his way up the ranks to become the Fire Chief of departments in Spain and Guantanamo Bay He also served as Fire Marshal for the Navy in the Pacific Region. He had a love for classic cars and owned many throughout his lifetime. Graveside service will be held Thursday, November 13th at 2 p.m. at Redding Memorial Park 1201 Continental St., Redding for family and close friends. -
Below is something Bill wrote about a year ago when he was asked what was his first car and how did he purchase it? These are his words and I can hear him telling the story as I read it. He was such a great story teller and had so many to tell. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I first read it - Charmayne Baldwin.
WRITTEN BY BILL
How I learned to love cars but also spend a lot of money. It all started for me at age 15 when walking home from school I spotted a 1940 Chevy Deluxe sitting behind somebody's house, not in the driveway but behind the house outside the fence in an overgrown with weeds field, obviously not a highly prized vehicle by the current owner. Later that week I finally worked up the nerve to approach the owner, knocked on the door expecting to be told "get off my property kid!" instead the lady of the house was very pleasant and when I relaxed enough to tell her why I knocked she replied "oh that is my ex-husbands car he is no longer interested in it and yes I will sell it." The price $65.00, where was I going to acquire such a sum? At the time my income consisted of $1.15 an hour working about 16 hours a week in a grocery store after school. My next hurdle how was I going to convince my folks to let me buy it and how to convince them it was a smart thing to do. Of course I made all the appropriate promises about doing my homework, getting good grades, cleaning my room, doing chores, and quit tormenting my little brother. To this day I don't know what exactly I said that convinced them to let me buy the Chevy, actually it was my dad who bought it as my entire financial wealth consisted of around twenty dollars, dad paid the remainder. I paid him back by pulling weeds, cleaning the garage and other assigned odd jobs.
After recruiting some help to get the old Chevy started (gas, jumper start etc.!) my dad drove the car home and right into our backyard, I wasn't licensed, the car wasn't insured, and then we discovered why it was parked in the back of the former owner's house, it had a cracked engine block located the right side under the exhaust manifold. Sure did steam a lot after we got it home. Our next door neighbor, a machinist that worked on the Navy base, gave me a metal sealer caulking that I applied to the crack, it worked, the block no longer leaked water out, however it still leaked water internally, I learned early what oil in water looks like on a dipstick, kind of like chocolate milk. That wasn't the end of my automotive education as my friends and I would gather around the old Chevy and look at stuff in the engine bay and try to figure out what it was and how it functioned. We eventually dug a pit under the Chevy so we could crawl underneath it and look at more stuff, we already looked at everything on top nothing new there. We quit looking underneath when the pit partially collapsed and trapped three of us under the car. Fortunately one of us was skinny enough to crawl out fetch a shovel from my dad's garage and help dig us out. That was the end of our looking underneath at car stuff.
Due to my finally getting my learner's permit at age 15 ½, my dad gave me driving lessons in the family's 1954 Chevy pickup with a granny four speed, and a mighty six cylinder. Fortunately we lived in a high desert town with an abundance of desert dirt roads to practice and learn to drive on. I eventually mastered shifting without grinding gears, stopping without launching us through the windshield and accelerating from a dead stop without stalling the engine. All of these new skills paid off when my friends and I would then drive the old Chevy deluxe up and down the alley behind my folk's house. Luckily it was a long alley and I could get the old Chevy up to almost 15 miles an hour. Fast forward about six months I finally acquired my driver's license, got a raise in pay and hours at the grocery store and fell in love with a 1955 Chevy Bel-Air that was a trade in at the local Ford dealer. It was a low rider, with New Mexico plates, dual cherry bomb equipped exhaust (great sounding system), shaved door handles (foot switch under the car open the doors), decked hood, and full finned wheel covers. It had charisma and I really turned on the charm with the folks to let me buy it. The price! 400 bucks, I put down $70.00 and financed the rest with my dad's co-signature. Meanwhile a friend (actually my sister's boyfriend) asked me to sell him the transmission out of the old Chevy deluxe, he agreed on $35.00 for the gearbox and I threw in the rest of the car to seal the deal. So that was how I bought and sold my first car. Never did drive the old Deluxe on a paved road but did put a few miles on it during the alley drives, even picked up the neighborhood beauty by offering to drive her up and down the alley (it truly was a much simpler time then).
The beginning of a life time love affair with all thing's automotive and the spending of a lot of money on cars and car stuff, like my dad once said to my wife "well at least it keeps him out of the bars!"
Below is something Bill wrote about a year ago when he was asked what was his first car and how did he purchase it? These are his words and I can hear him telling the story as I read it. He was such a great story teller and had so many to tell. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I first read it - Charmayne Baldwin.
WRITTEN BY BILL
How I learned to love cars but also spend a lot of money. It all started for me at age 15 when walking home from school I spotted a 1940 Chevy Deluxe sitting behind somebody's house, not in the driveway but behind the house outside the fence in an overgrown with weeds field, obviously not a highly prized vehicle by the current owner. Later that week I finally worked up the nerve to approach the owner, knocked on the door expecting to be told "get off my property kid!" instead the lady of the house was very pleasant and when I relaxed enough to tell her why I knocked she replied "oh that is my ex-husbands car he is no longer interested in it and yes I will sell it." The price $65.00, where was I going to acquire such a sum? At the time my income consisted of $1.15 an hour working about 16 hours a week in a grocery store after school. My next hurdle how was I going to convince my folks to let me buy it and how to convince them it was a smart thing to do. Of course I made all the appropriate promises about doing my homework, getting good grades, cleaning my room, doing chores, and quit tormenting my little brother. To this day I don't know what exactly I said that convinced them to let me buy the Chevy, actually it was my dad who bought it as my entire financial wealth consisted of around twenty dollars, dad paid the remainder. I paid him back by pulling weeds, cleaning the garage and other assigned odd jobs.
After recruiting some help to get the old Chevy started (gas, jumper start etc.!) my dad drove the car home and right into our backyard, I wasn't licensed, the car wasn't insured, and then we discovered why it was parked in the back of the former owner's house, it had a cracked engine block located the right side under the exhaust manifold. Sure did steam a lot after we got it home. Our next door neighbor, a machinist that worked on the Navy base, gave me a metal sealer caulking that I applied to the crack, it worked, the block no longer leaked water out, however it still leaked water internally, I learned early what oil in water looks like on a dipstick, kind of like chocolate milk. That wasn't the end of my automotive education as my friends and I would gather around the old Chevy and look at stuff in the engine bay and try to figure out what it was and how it functioned. We eventually dug a pit under the Chevy so we could crawl underneath it and look at more stuff, we already looked at everything on top nothing new there. We quit looking underneath when the pit partially collapsed and trapped three of us under the car. Fortunately one of us was skinny enough to crawl out fetch a shovel from my dad's garage and help dig us out. That was the end of our looking underneath at car stuff.
Due to my finally getting my learner's permit at age 15 ½, my dad gave me driving lessons in the family's 1954 Chevy pickup with a granny four speed, and a mighty six cylinder. Fortunately we lived in a high desert town with an abundance of desert dirt roads to practice and learn to drive on. I eventually mastered shifting without grinding gears, stopping without launching us through the windshield and accelerating from a dead stop without stalling the engine. All of these new skills paid off when my friends and I would then drive the old Chevy deluxe up and down the alley behind my folk's house. Luckily it was a long alley and I could get the old Chevy up to almost 15 miles an hour. Fast forward about six months I finally acquired my driver's license, got a raise in pay and hours at the grocery store and fell in love with a 1955 Chevy Bel-Air that was a trade in at the local Ford dealer. It was a low rider, with New Mexico plates, dual cherry bomb equipped exhaust (great sounding system), shaved door handles (foot switch under the car open the doors), decked hood, and full finned wheel covers. It had charisma and I really turned on the charm with the folks to let me buy it. The price! 400 bucks, I put down $70.00 and financed the rest with my dad's co-signature. Meanwhile a friend (actually my sister's boyfriend) asked me to sell him the transmission out of the old Chevy deluxe, he agreed on $35.00 for the gearbox and I threw in the rest of the car to seal the deal. So that was how I bought and sold my first car. Never did drive the old Deluxe on a paved road but did put a few miles on it during the alley drives, even picked up the neighborhood beauty by offering to drive her up and down the alley (it truly was a much simpler time then).
The beginning of a life time love affair with all thing's automotive and the spending of a lot of money on cars and car stuff, like my dad once said to my wife "well at least it keeps him out of the bars!"
William "Bill" Lance Baldwin~~~~~~William Baldwin, "Bill" to his many friends and family, passed away at his home, November 7, 2014 with his family present. He had bravely confronted and fought cancer.He is survived by his wife of 26 years, Charmayne Baldwin; stepson Zachary Briggs and wife Mary; stepdaughter Amanda Strating and husband Duane; sister Carolyn Martinez and husband Michael; niece Lindsey; grandchildren Kailey, Travis, Ethan, Cheyenne, Grace, Alexis and Dannika.He was preceded in death by his parents James E. Baldwin Sr., and Dorothy L. Baldwin; brother James E. Baldwin Jr., and twin nephews David and Daniel Weakley.Bill was born and raised in Southern California. He served in the United States Army and fought in Vietnam. He became a Federal Firefighter with the Department of Defense (Navy) and worked his way up the ranks to become the Fire Chief of departments in Spain and Guantanamo Bay He also served as Fire Marshal for the Navy in the Pacific Region. He had a love for classic cars and owned many throughout his lifetime. Graveside service will be held Thursday, November 13th at 2 p.m. at Redding Memorial Park 1201 Continental St., Redding for family and close friends. -
Below is something Bill wrote about a year ago when he was asked what was his first car and how did he purchase it? These are his words and I can hear him telling the story as I read it. He was such a great story teller and had so many to tell. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I first read it - Charmayne Baldwin.
WRITTEN BY BILL
How I learned to love cars but also spend a lot of money. It all started for me at age 15 when walking home from school I spotted a 1940 Chevy Deluxe sitting behind somebody's house, not in the driveway but behind the house outside the fence in an overgrown with weeds field, obviously not a highly prized vehicle by the current owner. Later that week I finally worked up the nerve to approach the owner, knocked on the door expecting to be told "get off my property kid!" instead the lady of the house was very pleasant and when I relaxed enough to tell her why I knocked she replied "oh that is my ex-husbands car he is no longer interested in it and yes I will sell it." The price $65.00, where was I going to acquire such a sum? At the time my income consisted of $1.15 an hour working about 16 hours a week in a grocery store after school. My next hurdle how was I going to convince my folks to let me buy it and how to convince them it was a smart thing to do. Of course I made all the appropriate promises about doing my homework, getting good grades, cleaning my room, doing chores, and quit tormenting my little brother. To this day I don't know what exactly I said that convinced them to let me buy the Chevy, actually it was my dad who bought it as my entire financial wealth consisted of around twenty dollars, dad paid the remainder. I paid him back by pulling weeds, cleaning the garage and other assigned odd jobs.
After recruiting some help to get the old Chevy started (gas, jumper start etc.!) my dad drove the car home and right into our backyard, I wasn't licensed, the car wasn't insured, and then we discovered why it was parked in the back of the former owner's house, it had a cracked engine block located the right side under the exhaust manifold. Sure did steam a lot after we got it home. Our next door neighbor, a machinist that worked on the Navy base, gave me a metal sealer caulking that I applied to the crack, it worked, the block no longer leaked water out, however it still leaked water internally, I learned early what oil in water looks like on a dipstick, kind of like chocolate milk. That wasn't the end of my automotive education as my friends and I would gather around the old Chevy and look at stuff in the engine bay and try to figure out what it was and how it functioned. We eventually dug a pit under the Chevy so we could crawl underneath it and look at more stuff, we already looked at everything on top nothing new there. We quit looking underneath when the pit partially collapsed and trapped three of us under the car. Fortunately one of us was skinny enough to crawl out fetch a shovel from my dad's garage and help dig us out. That was the end of our looking underneath at car stuff.
Due to my finally getting my learner's permit at age 15 ½, my dad gave me driving lessons in the family's 1954 Chevy pickup with a granny four speed, and a mighty six cylinder. Fortunately we lived in a high desert town with an abundance of desert dirt roads to practice and learn to drive on. I eventually mastered shifting without grinding gears, stopping without launching us through the windshield and accelerating from a dead stop without stalling the engine. All of these new skills paid off when my friends and I would then drive the old Chevy deluxe up and down the alley behind my folk's house. Luckily it was a long alley and I could get the old Chevy up to almost 15 miles an hour. Fast forward about six months I finally acquired my driver's license, got a raise in pay and hours at the grocery store and fell in love with a 1955 Chevy Bel-Air that was a trade in at the local Ford dealer. It was a low rider, with New Mexico plates, dual cherry bomb equipped exhaust (great sounding system), shaved door handles (foot switch under the car open the doors), decked hood, and full finned wheel covers. It had charisma and I really turned on the charm with the folks to let me buy it. The price! 400 bucks, I put down $70.00 and financed the rest with my dad's co-signature. Meanwhile a friend (actually my sister's boyfriend) asked me to sell him the transmission out of the old Chevy deluxe, he agreed on $35.00 for the gearbox and I threw in the rest of the car to seal the deal. So that was how I bought and sold my first car. Never did drive the old Deluxe on a paved road but did put a few miles on it during the alley drives, even picked up the neighborhood beauty by offering to drive her up and down the alley (it truly was a much simpler time then).
The beginning of a life time love affair with all thing's automotive and the spending of a lot of money on cars and car stuff, like my dad once said to my wife "well at least it keeps him out of the bars!"
Below is something Bill wrote about a year ago when he was asked what was his first car and how did he purchase it? These are his words and I can hear him telling the story as I read it. He was such a great story teller and had so many to tell. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I first read it - Charmayne Baldwin.
WRITTEN BY BILL
How I learned to love cars but also spend a lot of money. It all started for me at age 15 when walking home from school I spotted a 1940 Chevy Deluxe sitting behind somebody's house, not in the driveway but behind the house outside the fence in an overgrown with weeds field, obviously not a highly prized vehicle by the current owner. Later that week I finally worked up the nerve to approach the owner, knocked on the door expecting to be told "get off my property kid!" instead the lady of the house was very pleasant and when I relaxed enough to tell her why I knocked she replied "oh that is my ex-husbands car he is no longer interested in it and yes I will sell it." The price $65.00, where was I going to acquire such a sum? At the time my income consisted of $1.15 an hour working about 16 hours a week in a grocery store after school. My next hurdle how was I going to convince my folks to let me buy it and how to convince them it was a smart thing to do. Of course I made all the appropriate promises about doing my homework, getting good grades, cleaning my room, doing chores, and quit tormenting my little brother. To this day I don't know what exactly I said that convinced them to let me buy the Chevy, actually it was my dad who bought it as my entire financial wealth consisted of around twenty dollars, dad paid the remainder. I paid him back by pulling weeds, cleaning the garage and other assigned odd jobs.
After recruiting some help to get the old Chevy started (gas, jumper start etc.!) my dad drove the car home and right into our backyard, I wasn't licensed, the car wasn't insured, and then we discovered why it was parked in the back of the former owner's house, it had a cracked engine block located the right side under the exhaust manifold. Sure did steam a lot after we got it home. Our next door neighbor, a machinist that worked on the Navy base, gave me a metal sealer caulking that I applied to the crack, it worked, the block no longer leaked water out, however it still leaked water internally, I learned early what oil in water looks like on a dipstick, kind of like chocolate milk. That wasn't the end of my automotive education as my friends and I would gather around the old Chevy and look at stuff in the engine bay and try to figure out what it was and how it functioned. We eventually dug a pit under the Chevy so we could crawl underneath it and look at more stuff, we already looked at everything on top nothing new there. We quit looking underneath when the pit partially collapsed and trapped three of us under the car. Fortunately one of us was skinny enough to crawl out fetch a shovel from my dad's garage and help dig us out. That was the end of our looking underneath at car stuff.
Due to my finally getting my learner's permit at age 15 ½, my dad gave me driving lessons in the family's 1954 Chevy pickup with a granny four speed, and a mighty six cylinder. Fortunately we lived in a high desert town with an abundance of desert dirt roads to practice and learn to drive on. I eventually mastered shifting without grinding gears, stopping without launching us through the windshield and accelerating from a dead stop without stalling the engine. All of these new skills paid off when my friends and I would then drive the old Chevy deluxe up and down the alley behind my folk's house. Luckily it was a long alley and I could get the old Chevy up to almost 15 miles an hour. Fast forward about six months I finally acquired my driver's license, got a raise in pay and hours at the grocery store and fell in love with a 1955 Chevy Bel-Air that was a trade in at the local Ford dealer. It was a low rider, with New Mexico plates, dual cherry bomb equipped exhaust (great sounding system), shaved door handles (foot switch under the car open the doors), decked hood, and full finned wheel covers. It had charisma and I really turned on the charm with the folks to let me buy it. The price! 400 bucks, I put down $70.00 and financed the rest with my dad's co-signature. Meanwhile a friend (actually my sister's boyfriend) asked me to sell him the transmission out of the old Chevy deluxe, he agreed on $35.00 for the gearbox and I threw in the rest of the car to seal the deal. So that was how I bought and sold my first car. Never did drive the old Deluxe on a paved road but did put a few miles on it during the alley drives, even picked up the neighborhood beauty by offering to drive her up and down the alley (it truly was a much simpler time then).
The beginning of a life time love affair with all thing's automotive and the spending of a lot of money on cars and car stuff, like my dad once said to my wife "well at least it keeps him out of the bars!"
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
