My sweet husband Rocky Dean Bellman went to heaven on Tuesday morning at home to be with Dad and Mom. That was March 16, 2021. The night before, we went to bed at 8:30 p.m. and said to each other: “We love each other very much.”

When I woke up at 6 a.m., Rocky was not awake yet. So I checked on him for three hours, and I found out he had passed away.

Rocky was born Feb. 2, 1943 in Frankfort, Kansas. He lost his mother when he was 3 years old. That was really sad for him.That’s what he shared with me. At 12 years old, he left home and went to work and school. He was a great boy for his Dad.

His parents were Noel Amel Bellman and Rachel Rebecca Manges. Both were born in Kansas. I have the picture of Rocky’s Dad and Mom when they were young. Rocky was their only child. 

When Rocky was 17, he was in the United States Navy and he was a security guard. After that, he moved to Riverside, California. Then he came to Santa Barbara to be with a friend for his birthday. That’s when he said he’ll never leave Santa Barbara.

In 1964, Rocky came to 829 Marilla Ave. to deliver something to Jack Calderon, my Dad. While he was still there, he saw a 3-year-old girl named Susan Calderon. 

Rocky was a great electrician for Craviotto Electronic Service Company, at 520 E. Haley St. Years later, he worked for Donovan Electric until he retired in 1993. He was still married to Carolyn Knowlton. She had a son from a previous marriage names Robert K. Lara. He married Darnel Wiegers and had a daughter named Tina Lara. His second wife was Debra Lopez. They had two sons, David Lara and Daniel Lara. Rockys’ great-granddaughter is Kyla Alphier.

Rocky and Carolyn were foster care parents with 75 foster children over the years while they lived on San Julio Avenue.

Rocky and I met in 2006 and were married on July 7, 2007 at Tuckers Grove. Rocky and I had a great time traveling. We traveled on Route 66 in 2010. We got to travel to Florida to meet my friend Jenny and her daughter Sammi who was getting married there. They were from Isle of Wight.

Then we went to Calgary, Alberta, Canada to visit my sister Ann and her husband Jim and son Colton. We also got to go up to Puyallup, Washington, to visit Rockys grand-daughter Tina and her husband Matt and Kyla.

And we went to Spokane, Washington last November to visit my sister Ann and Mike and Colton again for Thanksgiving. That was wonderful. We did a lot of trips; the last one we did was on March 13 to Hemet, California, to visit Bob and Karen Duncan.

Rocky and I would have been able to celebrate our 14th anniversary on July 7, 2021. Rocky was a wonderful husband for me, and I was a wonderful wife for him. I am really sad that he is in heaven, but I know I will ge able to join him when I go to heaven. 

His funeral will be private. That is what he wanted. Bless you, Rocky.