Charles Lawson Leavens, 92; Retired Santa Paula Rancher, Philatelist
Charles Lawson Leavens, a retired Santa Paula rancher, died Saturday. He was 92.
Born April 1, 1903, in Chelsea, Mass., Leavens moved to Santa Paula with his family in 1912. They settled on a ranch two miles east of town. He attended the Santa Clara School, Santa Paula Academy for high school and Occidental College.
In addition to ranching, Leavens was an active member of the Ventura County and Southern California Philatelic Societies, serving as president of each. He also belonged to the Santa Paula Masonic Lodge and the Order of Eastern Star.
He was preceded in death by wife Mary Jane Burke. In 1985, he married Ila (Billie) DeRossett, who survives him.
Other survivors include his daughter, Charla Murray, and her husband, Donald Murray, both of Missoula, Mont.; grandson Tom Murray of Seattle, and granddaughter Carol Murray of Ketchum, Ida.; Billie’s son Dale DeRossett and his wife, Carol DeRossett, both of Westlake Village; their three children and spouses, Karen and Wes Smith, Alan and Linda DeRossett, and Denise and Rodney Crother, and four great-grandchildren.
Although he shares the same name with the well-known Leavens ranching family of Ventura, a family member said Sunday that if they were related to Charles Leavens at all, he would have been a “distant relative.”
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Pierce Brothers Stetler Mortuary in Santa Paula. A graveside service will follow at Santa Paula Cemetery.
Ventura County obituaries are published free of charge as a public service to readers. Obituaries are based on information provided by mortuaries.
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