In Memory

John Drummer - Class Of 1967

John Drummer

John Merrill Drummer died September 23, 2020. John was born 7/25/1949 in Washington, D.C. as the second child of Margaret and Joseph Drummer. Part of his childhood was spent in Japan where he enjoyed playing in the fields with his Brother, Gary, and developed a love of Japanese food. On return to the United States, the family moved to Moreno Valley, California where his next 2 siblings were born. He went to Moreno Valley High School and graduated in 1967. In High School, he was #22 on the football team, a lucky number for the rest of his life. He attended US Davis and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1971. While an undergraduate, he began to work for the Office of Medical Education in the first year of the Medical School. He loved the Medical School, students, and medical education. He remained with the Medical School for 50 years retiring in 2018. He never missed a medical student graduation from 1968-2020. He is the beloved husband of his wife, Lynn Drummer and children, Chris Wright, Shanon Kunkle, James Wright, and 6 grandchildren, Joshua, David, Felecia, Kimberly, Jasmine, Richerd, and 5 great grandchildren,Joshua, Charlie, Ce'Nedra, Tristan, and Scott. He is survived by his brother, Randyl Drummer, sister, June Elizabeth Bennett and their children, Emily, Kyle, Julia, Elizabeth, Amber, and grandchildren, Joseph and Juliet. A Celebration of Life and Memorial is scheduled for Friday, October 9, 2020, 12 noon PSTon Zoom sponsored by the UC Davis School of Medicine.

photo

Published in The Sacramento Bee on Oct. 1, 2020.



 
  Post Comment

10/31/20 01:45 PM #1    

Paul Breitkreuz (1966)

I can truthfully say I’d known John and his immediate family my entire younger years while growing up in the area now known as MoVal.  Early on we lived in the same neighborhoods and obviously attended the same schools. We started out in the original elementary school in the town of Moreno. With various changes here and there we finished our school years at the newly completed Moreno Valley High School.

Thinking back during those years John, my brothers, and I belonged to many organized and sanctioned scouting and sports groups together. We also spent much time hunting and fishing together as well. John’s father was an avid hunter and helped us attend and pass a firearm safety course that was required for hunting licenses at that time.

I’d lost contact with John and his family after I entered the military and moved on in life. I had heard he was working for the UC Davis organization and was happy to see that he had such a stellar career at that campus for many years. His obituary outlined his fine family as well.    

As a side note to our youth adventures we saw the original release of the Bridge On The River Kwai at the old Fox theater together. The only reason for mentioning this outing was we were still fairly young in 1957 and enjoyed harmless pranks. With that said as we were waiting for the movie time to begin we made our way to the 2nd floor balcony area of the original Mission Inn. Looking into the courtyard patio we saw an old bald headed guy eating lunch. To help the old guy pass the time away we took out our plastic straw type pea shooters and bounced peas off his head a few times. The poor guy had no idea what or where the barrage was coming from even with us straining to retain the out loud laughter.

John I sincerely hope if you run into the old bald headed guy again and you’ve got the old pea shooter handy. R.I.P. my friend.


  Post Comment