Justy Ferraro, BHS '58 (1936-2021)

Email received today...

Hello, my name is Cari James and I am Justy Ferraro's daughter. I wanted to inform you that Justy passed away August 1, 2021. I am a little late with this notice, I apologize.  

My father graduated from Burbank Evening High School in 1958. He joined the Army and spent most of that time in Japan.  He married my mother in 1959 and they were married until her death in 1995. They had three girls. My Dad was a great person but I am sure a hellion in his high school days. He had great memories of Burbank High and always called himself The King of Burbank to the day he passed.

Justy was 85 and passed from a short illness. He was surrounded by myself and my two daughters. He has a great-granddaughter and one on the way.

Thank you,
Cari James

Then we found his obituary...

Justy Anthony Ferraro III

April 28, 1936 – August 1, 2021

Justy Ferraro III beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather passed away Sunday, August 1, 2021 in Colorado Springs. 

 

Justy was born in Rochester, New York on April 28th 1936. He moved to Colorado in 2007. Justy enjoyed fishing, computers and playing with his great-granddaughter Brynlee. 

 

After his retirement from the trucking industry, he had the pleasure of working in the funeral industry with a wonderful group of people. 

 

Visitation will take place Wednesday, August 11th from 4-8pm, at Swan-Law at 501 N. Cascade Ave. Colorado Springs. A memorial service will be held on Thursday August 12th at 11am, also at Swan-Law. A reception will follow at the James house.

 

1964 Burbank Mudslide

Our house was spared but across the street, several homes were filled with mud. Then at school, I learned that Meredith Miller, BHS '65, lost her mother in the mudslide. So tragic and sad...

 

Photograph caption dated November 10, 1964 reads, "Burbank resident, Bill Ray, looks at his new car which was moved 50 feet down Cypress Street by the flood and mudslide yesterday. Damage to homes and cars was extensive. Police are attempting to estimate property losses as the cleanup of the area progresses.

 

Photograph caption dated November 10, 1964 reads, "Burbank firemen work frantically over William Miller, 49, who was pulled out of Sunset Canyon debris catch basin only minutes before, after being washed down Country Club Drive during Monday's flash flood in Burbank.". 

 

Photograph caption dated November 10, 1964 reads, "Dr. Colin Hutchinson of Burbank aids William Miller, flood victim, whose wife, Aimee, is lost and presumed dead in yesterday's disastrous flood."

 

NOVEMBER 1964

https://semichorus.wordpress.com/2018/01/12/november-1964/

Exodus Begins From Burbank As Rain Falls

BURBANK (UPI) Residents voluntarily began leaving their mud threatened homes today as a steady rain started eating away soil in the fire-ravaged Burtank Hills. Police said the evacuation was proceeding in an orderly fashion. Citv police, firemen and road crews were standing by, geared for the threat of more massive mud slides which already have caused considerable damage in the Country Club Canvon area and open spaces.

At the same time, police resumed the search for Aimee Miller. 47, the wife of Frank Sinatra’s pianist. She disappeared Monday when a mudslide swept her home and narrowly spared her husband and 17-year-old daughter. “Right now we don’t know what’s going to happen.” said Sgt. Edward Cassidy of the Burbank Police Department. “That whole hillside is just hanging by a thread and a steady rain started about 8:30 p.m.”

Cassidy said city crews, firemen and policemen were stationed at a command post at the top of Olive Avenue near the threatened Country Club Canyon area. Cassidy said that homes located near the top of Country Club Canyon were threatened as well as those in basin-type terrain at the bottom of the canyon. Emil Kurtz, the district U.S. Weather forecaster for Los Angeles, predicted the Burbank area would receive up to one inch of rain from a new storm front which moved into Southern California today.

William Miller, 49, Sinatra’s pianist for many years, was injured seriously Monday while trying to save his wife, Aimee, 47. Their daughter, Meredith, escaped by making a perilous 90-minute climb over the Verdugo Mountains. Friends of Sinatra reported that he helped rescuers look for Mrs. Miller Monday night before the search was temporarily halted about 10:15 p.m., PST.

The Miller home, valued at $35,000, was damaged extensively. Police speculated that Mrs. Miller might have been buried under tons of mud and debris piled 20-30 feet deep about three-fourths of a mile from the home. While being treated for scratches at Community Hospital, Miss Miller—unaware that her mother was missing—told newsmen of her ordeal; “It was like a flash flood. The mud just came down the canyon and filled one side of the house. We shut that off, but then it started breaking the house up.

“I said, ‘we have to get out of here.’ I ran out the back way and up the mountain before the house started falling apart.” Miss Miller said she climbed sleep cliffs by holding onto plants and scrub brush. “When I got halfway up, I looked back,” she continued. “Mud was going in one side of the house and coming out the other. The walls were broken and mud was pouring out, I kept going.”

When she reached high ground Miss Miller flagged a truck driver for help. Miller, who remained with his wife, tried to save her when she was washed out of their home. He later was found by rescuers about three-fourths of a mile from the house, clinging to an automobile. The pianist was taken to Community Hospital, where attendants reported his condition was “serious but not critical.” His daughter went to the home of friends after she was treated at the hospital.
 

UPI story; November 10, 1964. Sinatra later identified her body.

Update:

Bill Miller received a little more than $100,000 in compensation for the death of his wife, but only after a 10-year-long legal battle that eventually reached the California Supreme Court. A jury trial had awarded him $128,000 against the Flood Control District and City of Burbank, of which they both appealed — although Burbank later settled out of court.

Amazingly, the contractor of the house was not held responsible for their building on a notoriously bad curve of Country Club Drive, nor for failing to construct a retaining wall, both of which contributed to the tragedy.

https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/8/689.html

 

 

Philip Olson, BHS '66, Passed Away Yesterday

 

Sam Andress posted this sad notice on Facebook today... 

My uncle Philip Olson Class of 1966 passed away peacefully due to complications from Parkinson’s 3/21/22 at his home in Seal Beach. He was a drum major in the marching band and was in the Rose Parade. He taught history and other subjects and was a middle school librarian for many years. Phil was the “tall uncle” standing 6’7”. He is survived by his wife Ruth, his two sons Brian and John and his great grandsons Carter and Garrett. Rest in God's care uncle.

 

 

From the 1966 Burbank High Ceralbus Yearbook

 

 

Jerry Cervenka, BHS '62 (1945-2013)

Jerry John Cervenka, Jr

March 23, 1945 - 2013

We recently learned sadly that Jerry Cervenka passed away sometime in 2013. He was living in Idaho.

Jerry grew up in Burbank, the oldest of four children. His siblings are Joyce Cervenka Carlstrom, BHS 67, Tom Cervenka, BHS '71 and Ron Cervenka, BHS '72,

He married Jackie Stewart in 1967 and was a teacher in Sagus. After retirement, they moved to Coeur D Alene, Idaho.

We also just learned that his sister Joyce passed away in 2015. Read more here.

RIP Jerry & Joyce.

UPDATE:

Posted on Facebook... Jerry on drums

The Tigers GeeTO Tiger

The Tigers were Barry Hockenberger (lead singer, organ), Neal Moser (lead guitar), Jerry Cervenka (drums), Enzo Piazza (bass guitar) and John Anderson (rhythm guitar). But how did these 5 teens from Burbank become “The Tigers”? I was able to contact two of the band members Neal Moser and Barry Hockenberger, and this is what they told me. 

From the album GeeTO Tiger The Tigers - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1520591311299111.1073742127.136615233030066&type=1

Neal Moser started playing guitar at age 13. By the time he was in high school he was playing in a surf music band called “The Viscounts“ with some fellow Burbank High School students. 1961-1962 was Neal’s junior year at Burbank High. His best friend at that time, John Anderson was also attending Burbank High as a junior. Enzo Piazza was also a junior at Burbank High that year, having previously moved to Burbank from Sicily. Neal’s girlfriend was Joyce Cervenka (eventually married and divorced), whose brother Jerry Cervenka was a Burbank High senior that year. In 1962 Neal formed his own group called “The Wild Ones” with himself on lead guitar, John on rhythm guitar, Enzo on bass guitar and Jerry on drums. The group did not have a lead singer, since they played mostly instrumental surf music, but they would temporarily include a singer (Steve ?) when they occasionally performed an “oldies“ song with lyrics, sometimes 2 or 3 songs per gig. 

About half way thru senior year, Neal got involved in a dispute with his English teach and the school principal and as a result, he left Burbank High and did not complete his senior year. The group continued to perform after John and Enzo graduated from Burbank High in 1963. 

Things really started happening for the group in 1964. Although Joyce and Jerry Cervenka’s parents were not directly involved in the entertainment business (mom was a housewife and father produced metal castings), somehow they were friends with television executive Paul Pieratt, who at that time was associate producer of the popular NBC show “Let’s Make A Deal” (when it was produced out of the NBC Studio in Burbank from 1963-1968). 

Paul become the manager of the group and guided the group towards folk and rock music format. The group recruited Barry Hockenberger (Burbank High grad 1964) who had a good singing voice, certainly better than any of the other members of the group, to become the lead singer. Barry also had played guitar since age ten and had started a folk group known as “The Sundowners” doing mostly free gigs in the Burbank area. Barry’s mother was a school teacher and Barry drove a ’47 Woody and surfed every weekend. Paul Pieratt’s wife Cynthia was a piano teacher, so the group bought an organ and Cynthia taught Barry how to play the organ. 

 When Pontiac needed a music group for the GeeTO Tiger promotion, with his contacts in the industry it came to the attention of Paul Pieratt. Thru Paul a record deal was negotiated for the group to become part of a marketing campaign for the 1965 Pontiac GTO. The group was renamed “The Tigers” and released a record on the Colpix label with the song “GeeTO Tiger”. The song was written by Mike Rubini, Dale Hallcom, and Don Berrigan and I believe it was recorded at United Recorders on Sunset in Hollywood. Although “The Tigers” subsequently performed the song “GeeTO Tiger” at their live performances, the actual recording was done almost entirely by studio musicians such as the writers Rubini (keyboard) and Hallcom (bass guitar) and other elite studio musicians such as Glen Campbell and studio backup singers, Barry Hockenberger as lead vocals was the only member of “The Tigers” used on the recording. I believe the song was recorded in December 1964.

For "video" playback of the song with "tiger count" - https://www.facebook.com/30.Millionth.Pontiac/videos/1525923327432576/

During 1965 the band performed around the southern California area, since some of the band members were attending college. At one point there was an audition at Capital Records in Hollywood with the president of Capital and a couple of members of the Beach Boys in attendance. A noteworthy gig for the group that year was the 1965 Hot Rod Magazine Press Party. 

One memorable performance was at the Hollywood Bowl. They were one of the acts in a variety show type program, put on for the Boy Scouts of America. Actors Bob Denver (Gilligan) and Alan Hale (Skipper) and at least one of the cast of the TV show “Lost In Space” were also part of the program. Paul Pieratt arranged with Africa USA (a private animal reserve located in Soledad Canyon CA that often provided animals to the entertainment industry) for a live tiger named “Surang” to be on the stage during the performance by “The Tigers”. Neal recalls there was a banner over the open-air stage, which started to flap in the breeze. This caused Surang to get very anxious and the trainer that was present had to remove Surang to prevent the tiger from trying to attack the banner. 

Another memorable performance was participating as extras in a television show sketch with famous actor/comedian Bob Hope. Originally they were to perform on a Bob Hope TV show at NBC, but that was changed and they ended up only being extras in one of the skits. The sketch took place on a set constructed to resemble a bar/gambling lounge, with Bob Hope and another actor chatting at the bar, and the members of “The Tigers” all seated around a table playing cards and gambling. Bob Hope asks for a taxi to come pick him up and the climax of the sketch is the taxi arrives, but drives right thru the doors of the set into the lounge, the taxi which was a real vehicle, drove thru the doors so quickly pieces of the set were thrown at the members of “The Tigers” that were sitting at the table and Neal was knocked out of his chair. 

As the song “GeeTO Tiger” gained in popularity (it hit #8 in Detroit and #10 in Chicago) Pontiac asked the band to further promote the song with a tour across the US. The deal included the loan of a 1965 GTO with the idea that the band would drive from California to Detroit and back, stopping at Pontiac dealerships in major cities along the way to perform and sign autographs. Unfortunately the band could not take advantage of this great PR opportunity as several of the band members were attending college and therefore receiving Vietnam draft deferrals. If they had taken this time off college to go on the tour they would have lost those draft deferrals. 

The group wrote and recorded some original songs and cut demos of some other car related songs. Barry also did some lead singing for some other songs outside of “The Tigers” which unfortunately did not make it to the charts. 

Around this time, TV producers (note: Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider) were developing a series for TV that today we are all familiar with as “The Monkees”. But before they ran the advertisement for an open audition (which resulted in Mike, Peter, Davy and Micky being selected) the producers were considering simply casting an existing band. Possibly Paul Pieratt used his industry connections to have the members of ”The Tigers” considered for these roles, since Neal recalls being invited to meetings where storyboards for a new TV show based on the antics of a folk/rock band, were presented.

Unfortunately with Neal and Barry being eligible for military draft and the other members of the band attending college, “The Tigers” were not able to pursue this opportunity. “The Tigers” final gig was in the fall of 1965, they were the musical entertainment for the NBC Executives Annual Dinner & Dance. The group broke up when Neal and Barry were drafted. 

Neal Moser immediately enlisted as soon as he received his draft notice, so that he could serve in the Navy since his father had previous served in the Navy. Neal continued on with performing in various musical groups after his military service and is still active today in the music industry operating his Arizona based business that designs, builds and services guitars. 

Barry Hockenberger entered military service in March 1966. For the first two years in the military Barry was able to continue with his love of music, by performing in a marching band and at numerous UFO sponsored events while stationed in Germany and Scotland. Barry served in Vietnam and finished his service in Kansas where he still lives. 

Jerry Cervenka went on to become a school teacher (I believe teaching music) and John Anderson went on to become a studio engineer, as far as Neal knows, Jerry, John and Enzo are all living in the San Fernando Valley. 

Paul Pieratt had an extensive career in television with such credits as producer for “Let’s Make A Deal” and TV sit-com “13 East”, an Associate Producer for NBC Sports and made for TV movie “Halloween with the New Addams Family”, unit manager and unit director on TV game show “Blockbusters”, production manager on TV special “Alf Loves a Mystery”, etc. Paul Pieratt passed away in 2013 at age 83. 

---end---

Tom Thompson, BHS '72, Passed Away March 8, 2022

Carol Stephenson-Walter posted today the following sad notice and photo of Tom with his daughter, Briana...

 "I am sadden to say my brother Tom Thompson passed away this morning at 3:30am. He was waiting for a liver and kidney transplant for 3 years and never was lucky enough to receive what he needed. He was very sick and also made it thru Covid 4 weeks ago. He was 67 and graduated from Burbank High School. In his teen years he worked at Shacky's Pizza. He also served in the Navy. And then became a steamfitter and help build parts of Bush Gardens and part of Henry Mayo Hospital. He loved his motorcycle rides on beautiful days. And just cherished his daughter and grandson. He will be greatly missed. He won't ever be forgotten."

RIP Tom.