While Hollister boasts a number of excellent teachers both past
and present, few have been able to watch several generations of
local children grow up quite the way Edith Ober has.
Hollister – While Hollister boasts a number of excellent teachers both past and present, few have been able to watch several generations of local children grow up quite the way Edith Ober has.
Born to Salvation Army Officers Mary and Ralph, Ober, 84, spent most of her childhood moving around the southern part of California – to Bakersfield, Ontario, Redlands, or wherever duty mandated.
“I’m glad I grew up with the Salvation Army,” she said. “I learned honesty, and all sorts of values. I’m proud of my parents, they were good people. ”
While she could hardly complain of loneliness, being the youngest of four children, Ober’s childhood bore little resemblance to the lives of many children today.
“Sometimes kids would take apart a roller skate and attach the wheels to two sides of a board and make a scooter,” she said. “… But most of the time we were going to church. If your parents were in the Salvation Army, you could go to the show or anything like that. I think it’s changed since then, I don’t think it’s like that any more. At least I hope not.”
As she grew up, Ober discovered a love of music that would last a lifetime. She was particularly fond of the brass instruments, and learned to play the trumpet and trombone, among others. In fact, it was at a high school band concert that she would meet Harold, a trumpet player from a different school. Soon after Ober graduated in 1938, the two were wed, and would raise four children together: Ronnie, Donnie, Sandy and Steve.
Given her parents’ extensive involvement with the Salvation Army, it was expected that Ober would follow in their footsteps. And, for a while, she did. Her position as an officer led her all over the state, to minister and help with the organization’s charity work. While she hardly considers the experience a negative one, she knew it wasn’t what she wanted to do with her life.
“I don’t know exactly when I decided I wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “But I’ve always liked kids, so it seemed natural.”
Ober enrolled at California State University Fresno through a Bakersfield Extension program – today Bakersfield has it’s own complete CSU campus. She earned her degree in education and began teaching sixth grade in Delano, California in 1963. She moved to Hollister in 1967, to be with her son Ronald.
Ober taught in Hollister for over 20 years at Fremont and R.O. Hardin Elementary schools and Rancho San Justo Middle School, where she spent the bulk of her career. While she taught, she opened her home to 15 foreign exchange students.
“I know a lot of people can’t imagine being a teacher,” she said. “But I had a great time with my kids. Sometimes I would buy them cheeseburgers because they tasted a lot better than the school food. It was little things like that that made teaching so wonderful.”
Ober retired in the early ’90s, but to her students she is still very much their teacher.
“I see old students of mine around town sometimes,” she said. “They’re all grown up now, of course. But they still recognize me. It’s a real treat to see them as adults in the community.”
Today, Ober enjoys a quiet life at home with her son and daughter-in-law. She enjoys bingo and spending time with her grandchildren from Texas, when she can.
“I’m proud of the work I’ve done, and I’m proud of how I raised my family,” she said. “I guess you could say I’ve been pretty fortunate.”
