Kenneth Morgan Stocking
Jan. 4, 1911 — Nov. 17, 2008
Kenneth Morgan Stocking died Nov. 17 at the home of his son, Steve, and daughter-in-law, Linda, of San Andreas. He was 97.
Mr. Stocking was born in Riverside, but spent his early years on a small family farm in Santa Cruz with his parents and four brothers. He graduated from Santa Cruz High School, and received an offer to play football at the then College of the Pacific in Stockton. After working for Sugar Pine Lumber Company to earn money for his education, he went back to school and was a biology major and a varsity first string tackle and was named “all conference.” He began his teaching career in 1933 at the then two-room elementary school in West Point. Mr. Stocking went on to teach and coach at Santa Cruz Junior High, Patterson High and Stockton (Delta) College.
Mr. Stocking returned to school to earn a master’s degree at Pacific and then a doctorate degree at University of Southern California. He then taught at Fresno and Sonoma state universities. He retired as dean of the School of Environmental Studies and Planning at Sonoma State in 1979.
He enjoyed travels to England, Europe, Africa and Asia with his wife of 69 years, Mary (Bennetts) Stocking.
He served on the Central Coast Commission. He was also active in campus politics, serving in the Academic Senate at Sonoma State University. He spent many summers in the Sierra at the family cabin in Wilsonia, Tulare County, and studied the vegetation of the newly-formed King’s Canyon National Park for the park service. His memberships included the American Friends Service Committee, ACLU, Audubon Society, the Sierra Club and the California Native Plant Society. After retirement, he and his wife resided in Friends House, a Quaker retirement community in Santa Rosa.
Mr. Stocking was preceded in death by his wife, Mary; brothers, Bruce, Leslie, Ralph and Clifford.
He is survived by Bruce’s widow, Daisy Stocking, of Santa Cruz; son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Linda Stocking, of San Andreas; daughter and son-in-law, Lynn and John Ferguson, of Seattle; grandchildren, Sarah Donnelly and her husband, Tom, of Rio Vista, Susan Harper and her husband, Don, of Murphys, Kent Ferguson and his wife, Reina, of Seattle, Mary Warner and her husband, Tim, of Boston, and Sally Thomas and her husband, Bart, of Boise, Idaho; great-grandchildren, Gillian, J.P. and Colin, of Rio Vista, Erin, Nora and Maxine, of Murphys, Nicholas and Kayla, of Seattle, Nathan and Seth, of Boston, and Sage, Celia and Kira, of Boise.
Donations may be made to the California Native Plant Society, 2707 K St., Suite 1, Sacramento, CA 95816, or to the Kenneth Stocking Scholarship Fund, c/o Development Office, 2054 Stevenson, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA 94928.
San Andreas Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.
uniondemocrat.com, 11/28/08