Berkley Dean Halstead
Berkley (Buck) Halstead was born September of 1924 in Jamestown, North Dakota and passed away January 30, 2010 in Fresno, California. Growing up, baseball was the center of his life.
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Berkley (Buck) Halstead was born September of 1924 in Jamestown, North Dakota and passed away January 30, 2010 in Fresno, California. Growing up, baseball was the center of his life. Not only a southpaw pitcher with a dangerous fast ball, he was also a switch hitter with .357 lifetime average and centerfielder with an accurate and strong throwing arm. During the forties and fifties he played semi-pro baseball throughout the Midwest and was inducted into the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in the 1980s.
During World War II, Buck trained as a parachutist in the 505th Division of the 82nd Airborne and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He met Dora Youngberg in 1947 and they were married in August of 1948 in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The couple moved to Fresno in 1957 with their two daughters. A son arrived two years later. Berkley became a teacher and retired from Sun Empire Union School District in Kerman after more than 30 years of service. For more than 20 summers, Berkley was also a Fresno County agricultural inspector working in the melon packing sheds on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.
Buck was an avid hunter and fisherman; he and his son Jeff shared many adventures. He was active in Little League baseball, Cub Scouts, and the Pinewood Derby. He collaborated on each and every school project his children were assigned. His children and grandchildren will always remember him as a man of his word, a man of integrity and principle who loved them all unconditionally. He will be greatly missed.
Berkley was pre-deceased by his wife Dora in February of 2009. His survivors include his daughter Deborah and her husband Matthew Roberts; his daughter Nancy and her husband Larry Sullivan; his son Jeffrey Halstead and his wife Pamela; his grandsons, Ryan Sullivan, Christopher Roberts, Andrew Roberts, and Joshua Roberts.
The family would like to thank his and Dora’s caregivers, Tina McMahan and Debbie Blythe for their faithful and loving care.
There will be no services per Berkley’s request. His ashes will be buried with wife Dora in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota.
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