In Memory Of Bill
It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.
-Henry Ward Beecher
Longtime Redlands resident, William J. "Bill" Locklin, passed away at his home Monday. He was 86. Mr. Locklin was a Redlands orange grower; the inventor and "father" of 12-volt outdoor lighting; and the founder and president of Redlands based Nightscaping Manufacturing business, as well as co-owner of Redlands' El Camino horse ranch.
Mr. Locklin was born in 1921 in Alhambra, CA, and was raised as an orphan in Lucerne, CA, before moving to Colton, CA to attend high school. Bill served as a chief electrician aboard the Navy USS Trepang submarine during World War II, earning the Bronze Star for action in the Pacific. He returned from the war, and was a member of the Colton, CA City Council for several years. He settled in Redlands in 1953, and established Locklin Electric, serving the local community's interior electrical needs, and doing favors for customers who wanted lighting to show off their landscaping. His first exterior lighting job was at a Palm Springs church, preparing to welcome Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower to a service. The Nightscaping trademark was registered June 2, 1964. In the Christmas season of 1964 Nightscaping was used to decorate the White House outdoor tree, and later President and Mrs. Nixon used Nightscaping in the landscaping of their "Western White House" in San Clemente, CA. During the 1950's and 1960's Bill also ran the lighting for the Redlands Bowl productions every Tuesday and Friday nights during the summers. Then again in 1987, Bill was again in Washington, DC where he lit the pathways in the park around the White House Christmas Tree. He was honored to be selected to light the traveling Viet Nam Wall when it was at the Riverside National Cemetery; and more recently lit the same wall when it came to the Sylvan Park in Redlands. Bill was an entrepreneur in every sense of the word. He designed lighting plans for homes and businesses all over the world, and always gave great consideration to pleasing the owner, often designing a new fixture to meet their needs. At one time he provided the lighting on State Street in Redlands, as well as the current lighting on the Ed Hales park structure on State Street .
Mr. Locklin has long been actively involved in Redlands civic organizations, and belonged to several local churches during his life where he participated actively, including the Presbyterian, Methodist, Bethany Reformed, Redlands Christian Center, and Packing House Church. He strongly believed in giving back to the community in many ways, including contributing to the Boys and Girls Club of Redlands; supporting landscape architecture students at the University of California, Cal-Poly Pomona; providing scholarships for the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Foundation; and in providing workers and lighting to the Redlands Assistance League in their building of a 2007 dental clinic for the disadvantaged of the area. He hired persons with developmental disabilities in his business, and was the businessman who "was there" for many individuals in need, in addition to donating building space to an organization which collects goods for trips to Mexico. Mr. Locklin was a member of ASLA; the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and of the NECA's National Education Council; and also was a member of IES, Illuminating Engineering Society of America.
Mr. Locklin was preceeded in death by his first wife, Amy Lue; his daughter, Lue Ann McKay; and his brother, Harry Locklin; and sister, Faye Locklin.
He is survived by his wife, LaVesta, his daughter and son in law, Billie and Tom Ylvisaker of Redmond, WA; four step children: Scott Reeves of Stockton, KS; Lesli (and husband, Craig) Woolley of Highland, CA; Stan Reeves and Kristin Reeves of Riverside, CA; nine grandchildren: Amy (and husband Curt) Miller of Redmond, WA; Kristen (and husband, Michael) Stewart of Seattle, WA; Laura (and husband, Corban)Cooper of Redmond, WA; and Rebecca (and husband, Ben) Gaines of Temecula, CA; Vandi Reeves of Grand Terrace, CA, whom Bill and LaVesta raised; Jessica, Ryan, Morgan, and Aaron Woolley, of Highland, CA; and seven great grandchildren, plus many neices and nephews. He also leaves innumerable "adopted" sons and daughters who considered Bill their "other Dad".
Memorial services will be held on 12-27-07 at 1:00 PM at Packing House Church, 27165 West San Bernardino Avenue, Redlands, with a reception following at the home in Redlands. Those wishing to contribute to a Memorial in Bill's name may donate one of the two following charities: Redlands Homeless Shelter, sending it to Redlands Christian Center, % Pastor Don Wallace, PO Box 7718, Redlands, CA 92375: or to the Mexican Christian Children's Association, located on the property at Nightscaping in a buildling donated by Bill for this purpose (send it directly to MECCA, 1705 East Colton Avenue, Redlands, CA, 92374.
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can,
-John Wesley
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can,
-John Wesley
I've been having a hard time finding the words to adequately describe my feelings of love and great loss of my dear friend Bill Locklin. I have been reading the incredibly beautiful tributes and memories shared here. Tonight I went to the Website and read additional memories shared there. Tears flowed. You, his friends he was doing business with, are everything that he knew you were. I received the great gift to be able to visit with him this last year on many occasions and I can say one thing for sure. He loved each and every one of you. I've never known a man who loved more than Bill Locklin. He loved God, He loved and cherished and gave great priority to his bride Lavesta, He loved with all his heart all the employees at the factory, (employees is such an inadequate word, they were his friends, his team mates). He loved his community and showed it over and over again with his un-ending generosity. The same unending generosity he shared with all of us. He gave all of Bill there was to give and was constantly looking for more ways to do so.
I'm sharing a picture here from last year when a group of us were out to the factory at Christmas time to visit Bill. A group of contractors had joined together to present Bill a gift, many of them were unable to be there personally but had sent personal messages. Mike and I were fortunate enough to be close in the area and James had come in from Canada. Rob Dischino was in town and had tricked Bill into coming out the front door of the office where we were waiting to surprise him. I remember he stood there for quite some time just looking at us and in particular James, trying to wrap his mind around what he was seeing. He was so humble, I think he had to think a while about why would these guys be here? We took him around the corner to where the gift was, on the gravel flat area near the street, and as we did the whole office staff followed to watch. The gift was a heavy duty factory style tricycle, made in the "USA". After reading the cards and repeatedly looking at the tricycle, he looked across at his staff assembled nearby, then came over to us and wrapped his arms around us. Then he said in a broken voice with tears coming down his face, "This is what it's all about, this is what it's always been about, Friends doing business with Friends". In saying that, especially in the way he said it, I believe he received that gift from all of us contractors, not just the ones who had arranged it, and felt all of our love and respect for him. In this picture you will not see his face. He took a little walk down the street to the stop sign and back to compose himself. When he returned he hugged everyone of his staff who had come out. There are a few more photos of that day I will share but this one is a favorite of mine. I love you Bill.
Kevin Islander
I'm sharing a picture here from last year when a group of us were out to the factory at Christmas time to visit Bill. A group of contractors had joined together to present Bill a gift, many of them were unable to be there personally but had sent personal messages. Mike and I were fortunate enough to be close in the area and James had come in from Canada. Rob Dischino was in town and had tricked Bill into coming out the front door of the office where we were waiting to surprise him. I remember he stood there for quite some time just looking at us and in particular James, trying to wrap his mind around what he was seeing. He was so humble, I think he had to think a while about why would these guys be here? We took him around the corner to where the gift was, on the gravel flat area near the street, and as we did the whole office staff followed to watch. The gift was a heavy duty factory style tricycle, made in the "USA". After reading the cards and repeatedly looking at the tricycle, he looked across at his staff assembled nearby, then came over to us and wrapped his arms around us. Then he said in a broken voice with tears coming down his face, "This is what it's all about, this is what it's always been about, Friends doing business with Friends". In saying that, especially in the way he said it, I believe he received that gift from all of us contractors, not just the ones who had arranged it, and felt all of our love and respect for him. In this picture you will not see his face. He took a little walk down the street to the stop sign and back to compose himself. When he returned he hugged everyone of his staff who had come out. There are a few more photos of that day I will share but this one is a favorite of mine. I love you Bill.
Kevin Islander
You will never be forgotten...and always missed.
1705 E. Colton Avenue, Redlands CA 92374
ph:909-794-2121 toll free:800-544-4840 fax:909-794-7292 email:info@nightscaping.com