Ellis "Bud" Mcqueen

Ellis L. "Bud" McQueen, 85, a long-time resident of Lakewood, passed away on Thursday, November 19, 2015 in Norwalk.

Bud leaves his beloved wife of 63 years, Cleo; his son Russ and his wife Betty; son Ron; daughter Rhonda Griffin and her husband Gary; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Growing Up

The son of Russell McQueen from Indiana and Stella Ellis McQueen from Montana, Bud was born in 1930 in McFarland, California. His father died before Bud was born, and his maternal grandparents - who had previously migrated west from Montana and lived for a time in Long Beach - resided in McFarland, where Russell worked as a janitor at McFarland High School.

Bud grew up mostly in and around Wheeler Ridge in southern Kern County, just north of the Tejon Pass along old Route 99, now Interstate 5. Wheeler Ridge was basically a truck stop along the highway, with a café, gas station, garage, and a few rather primitive cabins behind.

As a young child, Bud attended a one-room, brick schoolhouse in Grapevine, for which the famous "Grapevine Hill" was named. He subsequently attended the larger two-room Fort Tejon School, what we might now call a middle school, located near the northern end of the old Ridge Route ("The Grapevine") connecting the Los Angeles Basin and the south San Joaquin Valley.

Young Bud spent some of his formative childhood years living with his mother, Stella, step father Wylie Watts, and older brother Merv, atop a mountain known as "Standard Hill," several miles across the highway from the Wheeler Ridge road stop. The small house was constructed of wooden "batten board" slats, and some cables were stretched over the roof to hold it on during high winds. Bud slept on a screened porch in summer, which had canvas covers in winter.

As young lads, Bud and his brother and a few companions had a 'backyard' consisting of many miles of uninhabited country where they roamed, hunted rabbits, dispatched countless rattlesnakes and king snakes, encountered the likes of tarantulas, trap door spiders and scorpions, and learned to take care of themselves with scarce adult supervision. Bud often told of the fact that they were not afraid of rattlesnakes, because they had learned as young children to safely spot and dispatch them.

The fact is that Bud McQueen was a country boy in Southern California, and this background not only defined his formative experiences and character, it also spawned many unusual stories of Bud's young life.

As a twelve year old, Bud worked several months on his uncle's wheat farm near Delano, working six days a week from sunup to sundown, driving truckloads of wheat from the field to the main road. From his early teen years, he worked hard, loading, unloading and driving hay trucks in and around California's south central valley. Through the years, he remembered what hard work it had been. The weather was often scorching, and in those days, hay bales weighing upwards of a hundred pounds apiece were loaded and unloaded by hand.

In his growing up years, Bud occasionally visited the Los Angeles area with relatives, and he even lived for a short while in Long Beach, where he attended James Adams Elementary School for a time before returning to Wheeler Ridge.

Sports

As a young man, Bud was an excellent 'fast pitch' softball player. In fact, he pitched for a men's team over in Gorman when he was only 13 and 14 years old. Adult teammates would pick their young pitcher up at Wheeler Ridge and drive him to and from night games in Gorman, just north across the Kern County line.

Years later, in the 1950's, Cleo and a baby or two would accompany Bud as he pitched in a men's league at a place in Long Beach called Hamilton Bowl.
In 1947, Bud was taken as a guest to a USC football game at the Los Angeles Coliseum, a spectacle the likes of which he had never before seen. When the drum major strutted onto the field with the USC marching band right behind, Bud became an instant USC fan. For many years, Bud and Cleo have proudly flown the USC banner in front of the house in Lakewood, especially on the days on which the Trojans played football.

Bud coached his sons' youth baseball and football teams. It was park league baseball, flag football, Little League, Pony league, Colt League, Pop Warner football – whatever sports his kids played. Bud was right there teaching and encouraging not only his own boys, but their teammates as well. He gave all the boys playing time, even if the rules did not require it. He and Cleo also supported and encouraged their daughter Rhonda's activities, such as cheerleading and her care and training of a beautiful quarter horse named Pie.

Of course, whatever the sport or activity, Cleo was right there, managing the family's schedule of meals, practices and game schedules, being the team "mom," working the concession stands, keeping score, helping with horse training and care, washing and repairing uniforms, squeezing the cost of needed equipment from the family budget, treating injuries, and providing moral support and encouragement. For Bud and Cleo together, it was always a team effort.

Speaking of teams, for many years Bud and Cleo have been avid California Angels fans, watching as many games on television as possible, discussing game strategies and outcomes, agonizing over trades, slumps and losing streaks, and enjoying wins and championship runs. And, speaking again of teams, Bud and Cleo always worked as a close team.

Pets

Bud and Cleo always loved animals, and they had an uncanny ability to connect with and train pet dogs and cats to do amazing things. Pets were always a big part of the McQueen family, and Bud long mourned the loss of his beloved Doberman, Tara. Bud sometimes told about another beloved dog from his childhood in Wheeler Ridge, how the two of them were close companions, and how they roamed the hills together. The dog slept under the porch and was Bud's constant companion, when not out hunting his own rabbits.

Trucking

Bud started driving trucks at age 14, and of course, he didn't have a license, just the knowledge and ability to do the job. Since he could not secure a proper license until he was 18, he and those whose trucks he drove considered it a mere formality.

In the early days of Bud's trucking career, the rigs were not nearly as comfortable, powerful, safe or reliable as today. Bud learned to do repairs on the road, and better yet, how to treat and maintain equipment so it did not need as many repairs. These skills and approaches to his work made him an exemplary employee over the years.

Speaking of equipment, Bud recalled an incident in those early days when he lost his brakes and has to 'drive' a big rig brakeless all the way down the Grapevine Hill, a too common nightmare that killed drivers in those days. He said the telephone poles flew by "like a picket fence," and he thought he would die on that run. He also recalled a long run up Highway 395 to Nevada in dead of winter, in a truck with no floorboards, as snow and ice pelted him from the road below.

Bud drove the big rigs for over 50 years, logging several million miles. He was always a true professional who cared about the quality of his work and did it with excellence. As a result, employers were always glad to have a reliable, capable, conscientious, straight-shooting man like Bud on their team. They not only appreciated his work, but also the way he cared for the equipment and treated it like his own.

Along the way, Bud and his brother served in the United States Naval Construction Forces (Seabees), after initially training to be submariners and having second thoughts about that idea.

Over the years, Bud drove trucks and sometimes other types of equipment for various companies, such as Wolf Trucking, Western Gillette, Yellow Freight, Lucky Stores, and others. He made countless runs all over California, Nevada and Arizona. He worked for a time on the oil drilling islands just off Long Beach, and he also worked for Douglas Aircraft. When he occasionally took jobs other than big rig trucking, it was usually to accommodate his and Cleo's desire to be involved with the activities of their kids, such as in youth sports.

Marriage, Family & Friends

In July of 1951, at age 21, Bud met Cleo Dorr of Long Beach. They married in 1952. From 1952 to 1958, Bud and Cleo lived in rental properties on 7th and Atlantic in Long Beach, then in Norwalk, then back in Long Beach on Parade Street. Finally, in 1958, having three children, Bud and Cleo moved the family to Lakewood, California, purchasing a home on Carson Street, where they have resided ever since.

Bud and Cleo made friends everywhere they went. A favorite thing over the years was to go to Las Vegas, or to Primm, Nevada, where they would enjoy a few days of R&R. Sometimes they would catch a country music show by the likes of Merle Haggard or Don Williams, two of their favorites.

During his trucking days, Bud's CB handle was "Bluegrass," after that homespun style of music. When the family would gather to play and sing, the style was more or less country/bluegrass, and Bud was known to tune up and play his number two washtub bass, consisting of an upside down tub, a broom handle, and a piece of cord or rope. This fine instrument was made by him out in his garage, and it actually worked.

Bud and Cleo's three children, each two years apart, had the privilege and good fortune to be raised in a stable, intact home by two parents who loved them unquestionably and unconditionally, and who knew how to have fun. The home on Carson Street was a place of love, provision, safety, warmth and laughter. It was also a place where much do-it-yourself work was completed, as Bud and Cleo worked together on many household improvement projects through the years.

Bud had a great sense of humor and was always ready with a funny comment or a joke. He knew how to tell a story, and how to deliver a punch line. Some of those tales were so hilarious they were hard to recover from, especially some which he'd heard from characters on the job or out on the road.

He liked humorous stories alright, and he loved trucking, but Bud McQueen's first love was his wife Cleo and his family. They always came first.

Summing Up

The life history of Bud McQueen consists of hundreds of stories and lessons that would require volumes and days to tell. How can one possibly do it in only a few minutes? If we could distill His life and character, along with Cleo's, into a few words of instruction and encouragement, it might read something like this:

Whatever you decide to do, do it as well as possible; say what you mean and do what you say; always love and care for your family and friends; treat your animals and your property with respect; and when things do not go the way you want them to, keep your head up, stay with it, and never, ever give up.