Obituaries - Jan. 8, 1995

Arthur Lyle (Pete) Backes; Longtime Resident

Arthur Lyle (Pete) Backes, a Newbury Park resident for 26 years, has died of heart failure after a short illness. He was 92.

Before retiring to California in 1968, Backes worked for 15 years as a salesman for the Sioux City Journal in Sioux City, Iowa. He covered a rural territory in South Dakota, where he sold subscriptions to the newspaper and collected payments.

“He really liked that job,” said his daughter, Anna Mae Bennett. “He enjoyed talking to all the farmers.”

A native of Omaha, Neb., Backes left high school to play baseball for several years on a minor league team in Omaha.

Backes then moved to Sioux City, where he met his wife, Ivis, through a mutual friend. Before joining the newspaper, he worked as a cable splicer for the phone company, a long-distance driver for Bekins Moving & Storage, a car salesman and an insurance agent.

Backes is survived by his wife; his daughter; a son-in-law, Billy B. Bennett of Woodland Hills; a grandson and two great-grandchildren in Tustin.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Pierce Brothers Griffin Mortuary in Thousand Oaks.

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Donovan, Margaret C., 86, of Camarillo, homemaker. Pierce Brothers Griffin Mortuary, Camarillo.

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Eiswald, Fred B., 64, of Thousand Oaks. Pierce Brothers Griffin Mortuary, Thousand Oaks.

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Prieve, Kathryn M., 82, of Westlake Village, homemaker. Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Mortuary, Westlake Village.