MendoFever wants to provide a place for the community to honor those who have lived their lives and passed on free of charge. If you want to share the story of someone’s life and passing with the community, please send a photo and a written piece to matthewplafever@gmail.com
Harley Clyde Foster departed his beloved Potter Valley, CA home on January 10th, 2025 at the age of 83. Born in Upper Lake March 14th, 1941, Harley graduated from Alhambra High School in Martinez, CA before returning to his familial roots near the Mendocino National Forest. As a young man on a US Forest Service fire crew, Harley met his wife Diane Shelton at Lake Pillsbury and spent the first summers of their marriage manning the fire lookouts on the top of Hull Mountain. After 20 years of fire prevention and mitigation with the USFS, Harley retired to spend his winters professionally trapping furs and summers planning his famous (or infamous!) trail rides. Later he worked alongside his family, in his son Ken’s businesses, well into his late seventies. He lived within walking distance of his grandchildren for most of their lives and painstakingly planned family road trips rooted in the beauty and history of the West while sharing his love of Keno and some older ways of life.
Harley spent the last few years managing his one-acre garden, collecting seed each fall to dry and store through the winter to again be planted in the spring. He could often be found waving from his garden chair while petting one of his (begrudgingly) adopted cats or gently hoeing his tomato plants. In the winter, while his pepper seeds dried on his billiards table, he compiled his collection of historical photos of Mendocino County and wrote down family histories for future generations to cherish.
Harley was preceded in parting by his parents Clyde Foster (1893-1988) and Maude McCombs Foster (1900-1996), his brothers Marion (1922-1985) and Eugene (1925-1986), many of his favorite hunting and fishing buddies, and those ancestors who arrived in Potter Valley back to the 1860s.
He will be missed by his wife of 62 years, Diane Foster, his son Kenneth Harley Foster, daughter-in-law Sharon Foster, granddaughter Hannah Foster and fiancé Steven Sims of Potter Valley, as well as grandson Warren Foster and wife Sarah Radocha Foster of Boise, ID. Harley’s first great-grandchild, Michael Warren Foster, was born this past December. He leaves behind a legacy of extended family through both relation and marriage.
Our family invites you to the Potter Valley Cemetery on Sunday March 9th, 2025 at 11:30am for a memorial service amongst the oak trees with a reception and celebration of Harley’s life following at Headwaters on Main at 1PM. In lieu of flowers, we request that donations be shared with Potter Valley Methodist Church, Potter Valley Rodeo Scholarship, or the Kathy & Kyle Vonfeldt Memorial Scholarship.
