In Memory of 2023

October 14, 1939 April 28, 2023

William Bill Douglas Verboon passed away peacefully in his Lake Havasu City, AZ home surrounded by the love of family and friends on April 28, 2023, at the age of 83.

Bill was born in Corcoran, CA on October 14th, 1939, to William and Doris Verboon. He was the older brother to siblings, Carole and Ricky. When Bill was eight years old, he and his family relocated to Hanford where they settled at Gold Top Ranch farming cotton, corn, and walnuts.

At 18 years old, Bill joined the Air Force in 1958. He worked on B-52 bombers and GAM-72 missiles at Beale Air Force Base. During his time in the Air Force, he met the love of his life, Karen Mayfield, while cruising Mooney Boulevard in Visalia, CA. He was a standout on Mooney that day in his turquoise '57 Chevy, dubbed The Flying Dutchman for his Dutch heritage and love of fast driving. Bill had an eye for beauty too, and from that day forward, he and Karen were inseparable.

Bill and Karen married on November 25th, 1960 in Woodlake, CA. They welcomed their first child, Sandra Lee, in 1962. Shortly after their second child, Doug, was born in 1963, Bill left the Air Force and relocated his young family back to Gold Top Ranch. As a family, they traveled to numerous National Parks throughout the western United States, with one of their first trips to Jackson Hole, WY. They spent evenings and weekends riding dirt bikes and water skiing together, even skiing in canals and reservoirs near the ranch.

From early childhood, Bill showed a passion for motor vehicles, ranging from motorcycles, snowmobiles, vans, boats, dune buggies, and especially Corvettes. Five days after their wedding and while still on their honeymoon, Bill and Karen purchased a 1959 Corvette, jumpstarting a lifelong fascination and love for the vehicle. In 1987, Bill bought and restored a 1960 Corvette and showed it with the National Corvette Restorers Society (NCRS). His meticulous attention to detail and mechanical know-how gained him the prestigious Top Flight and Duntov awards. From this achievement, a business and lifelong hobby was born. Unsurprisingly to anyone that knew him, Bill purchased and restored another Corvette (1962), earning another set of Top Flight and Duntov awards.

Bill's Corvette obsession led to his entrepreneurial dream of starting a Corvette restoration business. Bill and his son, Doug, restored more than 25 vehicles under the name Gold Top Restoration, earning them national fame and recognition for their fine quality, craftsmanship, and head-turning style. Car shows were a true family affair, and Karen was never far from sight, decked out to the nines in coordinating colors to match the cars. His daughter, Sandy, was often found by his side in the shop helping to prepare the cars for various events and showing her support at car shows every weekend. In addition to several other hot rods, Bill also bought and restored a '57 Chevy identical to his high school favorite, The Flying Dutchman.

Aside from his car restoration business, Bill and Karen operated Gold Top Ranch. Bill took over the family farm in 1985 from his father before retiring in 2005 and passing the reigns to the next generation. As a farmer, Bill won numerous awards and national recognition for his ranch. In addition, he participated in agriculture research for UC Davis and held a Sequoia Walnut Advisory board position for over eight years. He was personally invited to Chicago, IL, to test prototype tractors and make recommendations for further advancements.

Bill was very active with his community and family. In 2005, he and Karen relocated to Teton Valley, ID, where they lived after retirement, often spending their time gardening, traveling through Yellowstone Park, and entertaining numerous friends and family members at the picturesque sanctuary that was their Idaho home. In 2013, they purchased another home in Lake Havasu City, AZ, where he enjoyed gardening, hanging out with his car club, and spending time with his family. Bill and Karen traveled worldwide, extending to Canada, Barbados, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, and throughout the United States. He often joked his weekend started Thursday and ended Tuesday. Wednesday was for laundry and reloading the car for another adventure.

Wild Bill was a man of many talents and achievements, but most of all he was a cherished husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather that will be dearly missed. He will always be our Best of Show.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Doris and William Bill Verboon, and his brother, John Ricky Verboon. He will live on through his loving wife of 62 years, Karen Verboon; his daughter Sandra Verboon; his son Doug Verboon (Jill); his grandchildren Cassandra Verboon, Courtney Verboon Haley (Jonathan), Arie Verboon, Chelsea Verboon, Kari Barba, Kelsey Pasqual (Michael), Chase Reed; and his great-grandchildren, Drake Valdivia, Quinn Pasqual, and Liam Pasqual; and his sister Carole Delap (Chuck), as well as many nieces, cousins, and beloved friends.

On Wednesday, March 22, 2023, our favorite Southern Gentleman, William Fletcher Ensley (Bill), passed away. He was 89 years old, just one-week shy of his 90th birthday. He was preceded in death by his loving wife Donna and his parents, Fletcher and Nettie Sue Ensley. Bill was born and grew up in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. He grew up in the country, tending animals, hunting, fishing, and spending as much time out of doors as he could.

After graduation from Mt. Vernon High School he enlisted in the Navy. He was assigned to the USS Los Angeles. Bill enjoyed his time in the military. His experience with engineering and electrical work led him to his future career. After discharge, he returned to North Carolina. He completed two years at North Carolina State University. He went to work for Rockwell Corporation in Downey, CA, where he eventually became Director of Facility Services. During his time at Rockwell, he worked on a variety of projects, many of them requiring various secret security clearances. One of his favorite projects and one that he was most proud of was the work he did on the B-1 Bomber.

Donna and Bill retired to Lake Havasu City, AZ and built their dream home. Bill was very active in the community. He helped start a new chapter of Over the Hill Car Gang Car Club, served on the Elks Scholarship Committee, was active in The Deuces Car Club, and lent his support to a variety of community projects.

Bill is survived by his two sister, Sibyl Lee of Boiling Springs, North Carolina, Francis Hope Honeycutt of Lewisburg, Tennessee, nephew and wife Bill and Marcie McDaniel of Forest City, North Carolina, nephew and wife Ben and Anne McDaniel of Boiling Springs, North Carolina as well as several great and great, great nieces and nephews.

Bill was a friend and mentor to all that knew him. He will live on in our hearts and memories as the True Southern Gentleman that he was.

The family would like to extend their thanks and gratitude for all the kindness and expressions of sympathy.

Until we meet again our friend!

Donald D. Sauberan of Lake Havasu City, passed away on Jan. 1, 2023 at the age of 81 following a battle with blood cancer. Don was born on Aug. 6, 1941 in Milwaukee.

Following his high school graduation from Boys' Tech, he enlisted in the United States Army, serving overseas in Germany mainly as the driver for the company commander (a duty that he loved). Following his military service, he returned to Milwaukee and became a City of Milwaukee firefighter in 1965. He proudly served as a firefighter protecting the city for 33 years until his retirement from the department in 1998. Despite his busy work schedule, he always found time to be at nearly every sporting activity of his children (which was incredibly appreciated and served as an aspirational model). Following his retirement, he escaped the snow and cold of Wisconsin to the sun and warmth of Lake Havasu City. In 2001, he married Patricia Warzynski. While in Lake Havasu City, he continued to indulge his lifelong passion of cars (and hot rods in particular) by co-founding local car clubs The Over The Hill Gang and Havasu Deuces.

Don was a loving father, husband, brother, uncle, and friend. He is survived by his wife Patricia, son Donald P. (Jen) Sauberan, son Jay (Pam) Sauberan, stepson Raef (Danielle) Warzynski, stepson Jason (Abbey) Warzynski, grandchildren Nathaniel Sauberan, Abigail (Chase) Huether, Noah Sauberan, and Elizabeth Sauberan, along with many other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by former wife Nancy Sauberan. There is no funeral or memorial service planned at this time. The family would like to extend a special thank you for the care provided by Beacon of Hope Hospice. We are going to tremendously miss this wonderful man.
Services were entrusted to the care of Lietz Fraze Funeral Home.

In honor of the Milwaukee Fire Department lowered their flags half staff on January11th, 2023 from sun up to sun down! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Sadly, we lost another OTHG member, Jim Lyon who was 79 years old. He passed away on Aug. 11, 2023. He was a long-time member and Honorary member of the club. Jim and his wife Kathy are from Glendale, Calif. and came to Lake Havasu City, AZ 22 years ago. They have 2 children, Jay and Brenda. He was a car enthusiast for sure and he was always enjoying the club activities when he could. Jim was a witty and kind spirit that will be missed by many friends.

Bob Miller Passed away in August. His family had a private service for him.

Kandice Vera Klingele (Kandy) July 20,1947 – July 23, 2023 Kandy (Kandice) Lenington (Klingele) of Lake Havasu City, AZ, passed away July 23rd, in Phoenix, AZ, as a result of complications from a medical procedure.

She was born Kandice Vera Klingele to Wally and Dorothy Klingele on July 20th 1947. She was the youngest of three children. She graduated from Eisenhower Highschool in 1965 and married Tom billings of Yakima in 1967. She had two daughters, Michelle "Myke" in 1968 and Nicole "Bugs" in 1972. Due to Tom's career as a State Patrolman, they moved to several different locations in Washington State before eventually settling in Yakima. Kandy's father (Wally Klingele) was a founding member of the Ridgerunners Jeep Club, hence Kandy and her two older siblings Karen and Butch grew up in the backseat of their dad's jeep. We spent a lot of time at the "Jeep Bowl" as a family, where we would camp and watch the Jeep races. Kandy's father also owned a Ski-doo dealership in the beginning years of snowmobiles, so Kandy was an avid snowmobiler participating in many races over the years. Between snowmobiling and holding a black belt in karate, she earned several different trophies for her achievements. She belonged to the Yakima SkiBenders, serving as president for a term. For years, she was the only woman allowed on difficult runs with the men because of her advanced skill level. At one point she switched from Ski-Doo to Arctic Cat and her dad didn't speak to her for a couple of years! Jeeping and snowmobiling were taken very seriously in our family, and she knew those mountains like the back of her hand. Her dad sold the first Sea-Doos as well, so occasionally Search and Rescue would contact Wally to assist in efforts to locate someone who had drown. Kandy participated in many rescue missions on the Yakima River. She was also an excellent slalom water skier and was featured in the Yakima Herald once for water skiing behind a jet boat, in April, on the Yakima River. We spent countless summers camping at O'Sullivan lake and riding 3 wheelers in the Moses Lake sand dunes. She made sure her daughters were as fearless as she was when it came to all of our adventures on the lake, in the sand, and in the mountains.

Kandy met Howard Lenington, while on a date with his cousin, Lester Lenington. It was "love at first sight," and Howard and Kandy shared over 35 years together. They were very active and had several hobbies; jeeping, snowmobiling, Corvette Club, boating, riding Harleys, and car shows... always with their two daughters in tow. Kandy was bigger than life, and she definitely lived an exuberant one! Eventually, they were blessed with four grandchildren, Tyler, Justin, Maddie and Taylor; a great granddaughter Maddie and she was looking forward to meeting her second great granddaughter In November. Kandy loved being a grandma and she was an amazing one! The grandkids never got bored at grandma's house. For many years her and Howard had a home in Gleed, WA and a home in Lake Havasu City, AZ. They eventually moved to Lake Havasu permanently where she loved boating and going on adventures with her friends and they converted their garage into a bar, where everyone would gather at least once a week. "Never a dull moment" as she would say! She is survived by her sister, Karen Klingele; her two daughters, Michelle (Myke) Goldsmith and Nikki (Bugs) Kuhlmann; four grandchildren, Tyler Chapman, Justin Goldsmith, Madelyn Kuhlmann, and Taylor Kuhlmann, a great granddaughter, Maddie Mannino and another great granddaughter due in November. She was preceded in death by her husband, Howard Lenington, her parents, Wally and Dorothy Klingele, and a brother, Wallace Klingele.

It is with deep regret to announce the passing of our dear friend Bill Morris on August 20, 2023. He was born in Cut Bank, Montana on Nov 22, 1942. Bill moved in 1986 to Lake Havasu City, AZ from Gillette, Wyoming with his wife Gail and 2 children, Mike and Melanie. He was an OTHG car club member for 20 years and had many beautiful Hot Rods, plus awards! He definitely was a car enthusiast to say the least. Bill will be missed by many friends.