LYNN FILLMAN He was a consummate salesman,...

LYNN FILLMAN

He was a consummate salesman, a selfless father and one heck of a

dancer. Lynn Fillman made his living working with people, perfect for

a man charged with bringing in new membership to the Huntington Beach

Chamber of Commerce. He died Nov. 17 from complications related to

liver disease. He was 61. He joined the Huntington Beach Chamber of

Commerce in 1996, after nearly three decades of sales with the Rycoff

Food Co. Longtime chamber volunteer Dale Dunn was always impressed by

his ability to bring in new members. “He was a great salesman,” Dunn

said. “He was very good at convincing people why they should join,

whether it was for networking opportunities or legislative support.”

Pam Wilkinson, the chamber’s director of programs, said his secret to

success was that he understood people.

‘BOB’ BARKER

Robert “Bob” Barker, a veteran Orange County newsman who covered

Huntington Beach for more than two decades, died Nov. 18 after a long

battle with brain cancer. He was 73. Barker began his journalism

career as a sportswriter in 1957 at the Garden Grove Evening News,

later doing stints at a number of newspapers as a copy editor,

managing editor and reporter covering county and city government,

mostly in Huntington Beach. He and his wife, Barbara, whom he met on

a blind date in 1959, lived in the same home in Garden Grove for more

than 40 years, where they raised their two sons, Corey, 47, and

Scott, 42. Bob Barker was known around Huntington Beach City Hall as

much for his hard-nosed, muckraking-style exposes as he was for his

softhearted features. He ended up at the Daily Pilot in 1970 as a

copy editor, then moved back to the reporting ranks in the late

1970s, mostly covering Huntington Beach. He remained on the writing

staff of the Daily Pilot and the Huntington Beach Independent until

1992. He left to be a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times Orange

County Edition. He worked at The Times for about two years before

returning to the Independent as a part-time writer. In 1997, he

retired from journalism for good.

WILLIAM C. JAMES

William C. James spent his childhood searching for his calling,

and when he decided to join the Marine Corps after graduating from

Huntington Beach High, he felt like he finally found a match. Friends

and neighbors said James took an immediate liking to the discipline

and honor of military life and planned to make a career for himself

in the service. His life ended Nov. 10 during heavy fighting in Iraq.

He was 24. Officials with the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base said

James died fighting alongside two other American troops. The

circumstances surrounding James’ death have not been made public, but

the al-Anbar province where he was killed is known as the Sunni

Triangle, which includes Fallouja. James was a highly decorated

Marine whom friends said eagerly planned to make a career out of his

service with the Marines. His achievements include the Navy and

Marine Corps Achievement Medal for exemplary service beyond the

normal call of duty. He was a rifleman assigned to the 3rd Battalion,

1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.

IRVING WIEDER

Irving Wieder, husband to former Huntington Beach Mayor Harriet

Wieder, died on June 8 of injuries sustained in a household accident.

Irving Wieder, 86, was in good health before he suffered a hemorrhage

after a fall, Harriet Wieder said, recalling that her husband, an

Orange County entrepreneur, was known by his friends for his physical

strength. “He had been a prizefighter, and what everybody remembers

was his strong grip that could bring you to your knees,” she said.

Irving Wieder’s business was international trade, and he owned

Trans-Oceanic Traders, an importing firm. Harriet Wieder recalled

that her husband traveled to Asia to pioneer the trans-Pacific toy

market.

JUDY OETTING

Judy Oetting, who served the Huntington Beach Independent and its

sister paper, the Daily Pilot, for 21 years, died in February of

pancreatic cancer. She was 51. As the Independent’s advertising

director, Oetting handled people with the ease of a seasoned

psychiatrist -- be it her superiors, those who worked under her or

the advertisers who bought space in the paper, said the paper’s

publisher, Tom Johnson. “She had the knack for treating all people

equally but differently,” he said. “She identified qualities that

made different people successful.” Oetting joined the paper as a

legal advertising clerk in 1982. She was promoted to legal

advertising supervisor and later headed that department. But it was

1998, when she became advertising director, that her leadership

qualities sparkled, Johnson said.