Obituary of Ernest Rideout

When Ernest Rideout passed away June 3, 2015, at home with his beloved wife Nancy at his side, San Jose lost a native son, Santa Cruz lost a legend, and we all lost a beacon of light. Ernie was born October 6, 1917, on the family farm in what is now downtown Willow Glen. His mother, Charlotte Rideout, was a professor at San Jose State College, His father, Ransom, taught at UC Berkeley. Ernest attended San Jose High School and graduated from San Jose State College. In 1942, before shipping out during WWII, he married Barbara Maas, also born and raised in San Jose. After the war he received his Masters degree in education from Stanford University. He became a teacher at Gardner Elementary School in San Jose where he started a chess club, instilling his students with his love for the game. He became principal of Cypress Elementary School when it opened in 1952, and in 1958 transferred as principal to Dover Elementary School, also in the Campbell School District. After retiring in 1979, he began teaching sailing through O'Neill's Yacht Center in Santa Cruz. During the next 26 years he taught over 3500 people to both sail and love the sea. With his wife Barbara, Ernie raised five children; Philip, Douglass, Bambi, Walter, and Lucie. In 1963 his first marriage ended and two years later he married Betty Anne Tomlinson. In December, 1965, he and Betty Anne welcomed daughter Kate into their lives. It was soon discovered Kate had severe brain damage. With news that might have devastated another man, Ernest instead devoted himself to making her life as stimulating and comfortable as possible. His son Phillip died in 1971 at age 28, his son Walter, in 1979 at age 30, and his little angel, Kate passed away in 1982 at the age of 16. In October, 1997, he lost his wife Betty Anne to lymphoma. In June, 1999, while lawn bowling at San Lorenzo Park in Santa Cruz, Ernie met Nancy Silsby, a woman who would become, not only his third wife, but the love of his life. They married two years later on a boat on Monterey Bay. Together, Ernie and Nancy traveled, danced, sailed, and lived to the fullest. A lifelong sailor, Ernie continued to race his Santana 22, winning more awards and honors including two national championships at the ages of 88 and 90. Then in 2011, he retired from racing and, forever the teacher with the generous heart, donated his boat to the UCSC Youth Sailing Program at the Santa Cruz Harbor. Ernie will be missed by the thousands of people whose lives he touched. He leaves behind his wife Nancy, brothers Ransom and Hugh, son Douglass (Julie); daughters Bambi Bovee (Stan), and Lucie Rossi (Neal Coonerty); sister-in-law Kerny McLaughlin (Bill Schilit); step-daughters Robin Tomlinson, Wendy Snawder, Karen Tomlinson, and Joscelyn, Gilien and Candice Silsby; eight grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations are requested to: O'Neill Sea Odyssey, 2222 East Cliff Dr, Suite 222, Santa Cruz, CA 95062.