community obituaries

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Richard Alvin McMaster was born on June 2, 1935 to Emma and Theodore McMaster and he passed away due to complications from COVID on December 2, 2020.  

He is survived by 6 children: Garrett, Travis, Darren, Laurel, Christopher and Deborah and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

He drove trucks after retiring from the California Division of Forestry (now known as CalFire).

He and his famous "Duke" hung out with the guys and drank coffee for many years at a local store. 

He lived in the Nevada City/Grass Valley for years.   He loved living in the mountains.  

Noreen Hallemann, 84, passed away on December 16, 2020 after a long and happy life. She was the beloved wife of Donald Hallemann (deceased); loving mother of Brian and Michael (both deceased) and Debra; devoted grandmother to Gennifer and Kristin Ezell, Dawnyelle and Richelle Clancy.

Noreen was an Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor in Richmond, California for the length of her career. In her spare time, she enjoyed gardening, crossword puzzles, scrabble, writing and playing canasta.

She had just moved to Lake Wildwood at the end of June 2020 from Walnut Creek to be closer to her cousins. She was admitted to Golden Empire due to congestive heart issues and then contracted COVID-19. She never got to enjoy her new home on the golf course.

A private family internment will take place at Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Mausoleum of the Angels, Lafayette, California. A celebration of life will be planned later; details will be posted when social gatherings are safe again.

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the death of our beloved mother, JoAn B Cochran. After a long battle with Alzheimer’s and a short battle with COVID-19, she succumbed to her Higher Power on December 21, 2020 at 9:30 am. She was as comfortable as can be, but clearly her eyes told us that she didn’t want to leave her loved ones.

JoAn moved to Downieville in June 1973, with her former husband, Fred Cochran, and their three children. Together, they bought and ran the Mountain Messenger newspaper. Later, she went to work for the Sierra County Planning department as a secretary.  She worked there for nineteen years and loved her job and co-workers. After retiring at age 65 from the county, the did things she always wanted to do and loved her life.

JoAn was an avid and excellent seamstress; seeing beautiful quilts, wall hangings, clothes and always making something with her hands. She had a dream of opening a handmade crafts store with her friends that finally became a reality. She named it Mountain Harvest.

JoAn joins her son Paul who preceded her in death. She is survived by two daughters, Elizabeth Cochran and Danielle Yantis, a son-in-law Mitchell Yantis and two grandchildren, Lauren and Chase Yantis.

A celebration of life will be planned for her in the springtime. Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers and good memories. Please send any donations in her memory to the Alzheimer’s Association.