Friday, March 23, 2007

Ojai Loses Stalwart in Ditchfield

By Sondra Murphy
Because Mark Ditchfield was involved in so many aspects of this community he loved, it is no surprise that many people are grieving his death this week.
“We lost a great friend,” said Kevin Hendrick, who has known Ditchfield since junior high school and has a lot of fond memories of his time spent with Mark and their buddies. “You know what we liked about the ‘Big Ditch?’ Everything.” His sentiments were echoed throughout the valley as friends, co-workers and neighbors learned of the death of Ditchfield on Monday.
At Tuesday’s Ojai Unified School District board meeting, President Rikki Horne said, “We’ve had a very sad death in the district, that of Mark Ditchfield. It is a real loss to our district and community.” Ditchfield worked in the grounds department for the school district for over 20 years and his thorough knowledge of school sites and Ojai served him well. As a veteran member of the local Classified School Employees Association, Ditchfield was both inspirational and a grounding force in its activities.
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

God Bless you Mark, thanks for being so welcoming to me when I returned to Ojai. Thanks for being the guy you were. I'll be seeing you.

Dana Wilson

Melissa Diaz-Moresco said...

The Moresco Family sends their fond memories of our dear freind, Mark Ditchfield! We had the best time working with Mark and Martha at the Ojai Art Center in the Children's Theatre production of "Oliver"! "Oliver-Mario" and "The Youngest Orphan-Sergio" remember him as a loving guy with a great sense of humor!
BRAVO TO YOUR FINAL BOW MARK!