Kern County Obituaries

Gerald Anderson Rife

Submitted by Don Stowell; 13 Feb 2008

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Mojave Desert News; 12 Aug 1948

I PROMINENT MAN IS SUICIDE VICTIM
Becoming despondent over business conditions Gerald Anderson Rife, 32, took his 
own life on Saturday night last firing a 38 calibre bullet into his brain. Death was 
instantaneous. He is survived by his wife, Florence and two small children, Daniel, 5 
and Gerald, 2, his mother, Mrs. Josephine Rife of Missouri, brother Oral, of Wichita, 
Kansas and a sister, Mrs. Virginia Koch of Missouri.
Mr. Rife was born in Oakwood Mo., on July 16, 1916 and at the time of his death 
was engaged in the vegetable distribution business in Mojave and Antelope Valley 
and had many friends.
The funeral was held yesterday afternoon at two o'clock and as a mark of respect all 
business establishments closed their doors during the last rites which were conducted 
by the Rev. John C Hanchett, pastor of the Community Congregational Church at the
O'Donnell Funeral Home Chapel. Interrment was in the Mojave cemetery.
The Rife's operated a small grocery in Mojave and the ladies of the Mojave Coffee 
Club, of which Florence was a member are keeping the store open for her, working in 
two hour relays, a nice gesture on their part. 
We will miss "Blackie's" smiling face as he was well liked. He had charge of the 
Carnival concessions for the coming Gold Rush Days and it will be difficult. to 
replace him since in his early life he followed this world and was an expert "carnival" 
man. 

Mojave Desert News; 12 Aug 1948

Blackie Rife As Seen by Friends and Associates	
by Joseph Martinez
The entire populace of Mojave was shocked at the sudden and tragic end of Gerald 
A. Rife, commonly known to Mojavians as "Blacky". It isn't an easy undertaking to 
write-up the death of a friend. If this were a large community and we were a large 
newspaper, Blacky's death would be smeared from one end of the front page to the 
other in the best tabloid manner.	
The reverse of this statement is true! This is a very small town and we all attempt to 
live harmoniously together; for us to write a story in a style acceptable and called for 
in a large newspaper would undoubtedly do more harm than good to close relatives 
of the deceased. Blacky was full of life and very much a character and there's no 
doubt about it, he rates a story or a personality sketch.
Blacky was loaded with memorable traits which made folks react to him in either 
a positive or negative fashion. An old philosopher once said," We remember those 
whom we love or dislike; we seldom remember a neutral personality." This is truly 
a self evident statement for in either case, theirs is a magnetic mentality which has 
the ability to impress whether in a favorable light or otherwise! Such was Blacky's 
case, he was no paragon of virtue and didn't claim to be! He had an inherent 
characteristic of out-spoke ness which approached a near-lack of diplomacy. He 
uttered whatever came to his mind and sometimes paid for it in modern society's 
accepted manner of reprisal. 
 One of our younger-set, Billy Richardson and I made a trip to the Los Angeles 
Produce Market with Blacky one night. I'm sure Billy will remember it for I was 
certainly impressed. It brought out the blunt speech and quaint characteristics of an 
outdoor man who is accepted and liked by others of his kind. The greetings which he 
had for everyone were what some fastidious person would term uncouth perhaps. At 
any rate Bill and I, were kept in stitches by the antics of this jovial madman. He 
cajoled wheedled and insulted until he had achieved the merchandise he was after. 
They called him the Desert Rat, and said, "Here comes the damned desert rat, hide the 
fresh fruit!" That was Blacky, a domineering character whose personality was 
imposing in any crowd.
Despite the fact that very few men have nothing but friends, we are forced to 
admit that the man with a dominant manner is envied by others who do not possess 
this trait. It seems to me that, if we were completely honest with ourselves and 
thought of Blacky in this light, we would doff our hats, and render a salute in 
memory of Blacky-A man's man!