She was a stickler for grammar and accuracy, could dispatch of a
rattlesnake without fright, loved animals and always participated
in the saddle horse show.
HOLLISTER
She was a stickler for grammar and accuracy, could dispatch of a rattlesnake without fright, loved animals and always participated in the saddle horse show.
Clara Joan “Ann” Lausten’s name graced columns of the Free Lance for more than three decades. She died Dec. 27 at her Tres Pinos home at age 85.
For more than three decades, beginning in the 1960s, readers could catch up on the people and events of southern San Benito County – particularly Live Oak and Pinnacles – in Lausten’s weekly columns. And fresh-faced reporters could expect from her daily lectures on grammar, spelling and style.
Born to Ralph and Belle Hain of the Bear Valley area, Lausten’s grandfather Schuyler Hain played a crucial role in establishing Pinnacles National Monument. Ann graduated from San Benito High School in 1940, was a horseback trail guide at the park for three years, helped milk cows, drove a school bus and eventually landed at the Free Lance as a columnist and copy editor.
Her daughters, Carol, Nancy and Janie Lausten, and Helen McKinney gathered at the Tres Pinos home to remember the woman who knew everyone, had a dry sense of humor up until the end, instilled in them a love of animals and valued their horsemanship over their homemaking skills.
“She always made sure we had a horse to ride,” McKinney said.
Mark Paxton was the executive editor of the Free Lance when Ann Lausten retired from the newspaper. Paxton, Weekend Pinnacle publisher, described her as strong-willed and independent – someone who had a passion about the paper he had never seen before, hasn’t seen since and likely won’t see again, he said.
“She was just a homespun journalist,” Paxton said, later adding, “I was glad I knew her.”
She may have gotten it from her grandfather, Enos Milo Ricker, who ran newspapers in Minnesota in the 19th century.
On the social side, Ann Lausten participated in the San Benito County Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo parade every year. She was also fond of costumes.
“She loved Halloween,” Janie Lausten said.
Before Halloween one year Ann Lausten swerved to avoid pigs in the road. She crashed into a ditch, broke the car in half and received a goose bump on her head, along with two black eyes.
That year she went as a raccoon.
She is survived by her daughters, Carol and Janie Lausten and Helen McKinney of Tres Pinos, Nancy Lausten and son-in-law James Sheldahl of the Pinnacles area, son Ralph Lausten of Santa Ynez; grandchildren Hudson Tropf, Jessica Walker, Cora Beth Orozco, Carrie Lausten, Kenny and Tyler Lausten; and great-grandchildren Skylar Lausten, Emilio Orozco, Frank Jr., Jacob and Josephine Leyna, and Torrie and Wylie Walker. She was preceded in death by infant daughter Irene and her husband Kenneth of 60 years.
