Harold B. Ringle Jr.; Store Owner

Harold B. Ringle Jr., co-owner of Cauch’s Drug Store in Santa Paula, which is believed to be the oldest business in Ventura County, died of cancer Wednesday at his home. He was 57.

Ringle started sweeping floors in the store as a youth after his father purchased the Main Street business in 1948. The Ringles are the third family to operate the drugstore since its founding in 1888.

Moved to its present location in 1895, Cauch’s is almost certainly the oldest business operating in the county, said Mary Alice Henderson of the Santa Paula Historical Society.

“In 1888, there wasn’t much at all in the county outside Santa Paula and Ventura,” Henderson said.

Ringle was born Aug. 29, 1935, in Greeley, Colo., and moved to Ventura County with his family in 1945. He graduated from Santa Paula High School and earned a business degree from Fresno State University. After a stint in the Coast Guard, Ringle joined his family’s store, specializing in business duties, said his brother, Charles Ringle.

“Harold was a kindly, patient man who would help anybody who needed it,” said Ringle, who is the store’s pharmacist.

Other survivors include Ringle’s wife, Virginia of Santa Paula; two daughters, Ann Caroline Ringle and Amy Elizabeth Ruby Ringle, both of Santa Paula; a son, John Bruce Ringle of Santa Paula, and a sister, Nancy Bunnel of Fairfield, Ohio.

Visitation will be held from noon to 8 p.m. Friday at Pierce Brothers Stetler Mortuary, Santa Paula. The rosary will be recited there at 7 p.m. Friday.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Santa Paula, with Father William Baumgarten officiating. Burial will follow at Santa Paula Cemetery.