Webster Bernhardt Jr.; Juvenile Bureau Sergeant
Webster William “Bill” Bernhardt Jr., a retired juvenile bureau sergeant, died Saturday at his son’s ranch in New Cuyama in Santa Barbara County. He was 80.
He was born Nov. 6, 1919, in Oxnard and grew up in Ventura County.
During World War II, Bernhardt was a staff sergeant in the Marine Corps at Tarawa and Guadalcanal and was wounded in action.
In 1954, he moved his family to Santa Maria where he joined the Police Department. He graduated from the University of Southern California Delinquency Control Institute and became a sergeant in the city’s juvenile bureau. While living in Santa Maria he was active in Toastmasters International, helped establish the Santa Maria Boys Club and was selected as Santa Maria’s man of the year in 1967.
Bernhardt retired in 1978 and for the next six years he and his wife, Mae, lived in Trinity County in Northern California. In 1984, the couple returned to Ventura County and lived in Ojai.
In addition to his son, Web, he is survived by daughters Marlene Roberts of Santa Barbara and Charlene Bassett of Ojai; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His wife died in November 1998.
There are no services planned. Arrangements are under the direction of the Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura.
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