Nelita May Eldridge was born
February 28,1903 to George and Ida lone Browning Eldridge; they lived on
a ranch in upper Oak Run. There were six girls and two boys in the family.
Nelita became a teacher and helped two younger sisters through college.
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Roy Quintus Hunt was born August
26, 1896 to William and Octavia Atkins Hunt on their Clover Creek ranch,
east of Millville. His mother died in February 1899; in February 1906 his
father Harry married Flora Atkins, twin sister of Octavia. The family then
moved to Oak Run on the ranch, known for years as the W.H. Hunt Estate.
Roy grew up on this ranch and later became part owner.
Nelita May Eldridge was born
February 28,1903 to George and Ida lone Browning Eldridge; they lived on
a ranch in upper Oak Run. There were six girls and two boys in the family.
Nelita became a teacher and helped two younger sisters through college.
Roy and Nelita were married
April 17, 1927 in Ingot, California. After she was married Nelita quit
teaching and became a rancher's wife. They had three children.
Roy Quintus
Hattie May
Helen Lee
Roy and Nelita's greatest sorrow
was the loss of their first child and only son.
Roy spent his life as a rancher,
working in Big Bend, Goose Valley, Oak Run, and South Cow Creek, all part
of the Hunt Estate. Roy and Nelita moved to the mountains in the spring
with the cattle and back to the valley for the winter months. This meant
maintaining two homes. Nelita was happy when they settled at South Creek
ranch, where she had a beautiful yard and garden; she enjoyed her flowers.
Roy was a good father, he spent
many hours with his daughter Hattie on a pillow in front of his saddle.
He did this until she was old enough to ride a horse by herself. Roy liked
to hunt deer and provided a safe haven for the quail and ducks on the South
Creek ranch. He would have liked to hunt elk in Montana, but his health
prevented him from doing this.
Nelita returned to teaching
in 1943, and in 1959 she received her Bachelors Degree from Chico State
College. She taught in many schools in Shasta County. Nelita was the last
teacher to teach at Wilkerson School on Oak Run road where she had three
students. Nelita was a good teacher and really cared about her students.
If she knew a child didn't have enough to eat at home, she saw that they
had a hot meal at lunchtime. Nelita's last year of teaching was with the
handicapped students in Redding.
In 1970 when Roy retired they
moved to Montana to be near their daughter, Hattie Hunt Farrell. Roy enjoyed
helping around the ranch. When Roy's health became worse they moved to
Oakland, where Roy died in February 1976. Roy is buried in the Millville
Masonic Cemetery After Roy's death Nelita moved to Santa Barbara to be
near their daughter Helen Hunt Carpenter. She died December 17,1985, and
Nelita's ashes were scattered at sea.
Source: Shasta Historical Society
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