Month: November 2025

Sharon Miller’s Passing

Moorpark College President Dr. Julius Sokenu invites you to a special potluck brunch to honor and celebrate our amazing friend, mentor and colleague, Sharon Miller.

Please join us on Saturday, December 13 at 11:30 a.m.

Moorpark College Campus Center Conference Room
7075 Campus Road
Moorpark, CA 93021

RSVP FORM LINK
Please use this form to confirm your attendance, indicate if you’ll bring a special dish or treat to share, and let us know if you’d like to say a few words.

Questions? Dina Pielaet: gpielaet@vcccd.edu

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With sadness, VCCCDRA has learned of the passing of Sharon Miller, retired Student Activities Specialist at Moorpark College.

As announced by Dr. Julius Sokenu, President, Moorpark College:

“It is with a heavy heart that I share with you the passing of our colleague, mentor, and friend Sharon Miller. Sharon served our students and campus community from 1993 to 2017. She’s defined what it means to put students first. Students at Moorpark College for multiple generations were introduced to leadership and service because Sharon Miller, Student Activities Specialist nurtured, mentored, challenged and loved them and empowered them to lead with grace. She became synonymous with student leadership because students were her why. Sharon modeled integrity, collegiality and was always present for colleagues as well as staff. Two months ago she attended Mike Madrid’s presentation at the college. She was the advisor to ASMC when he was student body president in the early 90s. I saw the pride in her as she watched him mingle with the crowd and Sharon waited till the end and gave him the biggest hug and he in return embraced her. He kept saying, ‘she’s a reason I’m here.’ We lost a force for good and for those who did not know her, her legacy is in our ASMC, it’s in our high transfer rates and it’s in the many lives she touched by just being her kind and caring self.

“Her smile and kindness remain in our hearts!”

Please use this link to read Sharon’s obituary.

Carmen Guerrero

Retired (February 2015); Dean, Career and Technical Education, Oxnard College (2008-2015); Professor, Business, Oxnard College (1992-2008); Adjunct Professor, Business, Business Information Systems, Moorpark and Ventura Colleges (1976-1992); Intermediate Steno Secretary, Moorpark and Ventura Colleges (1970-1974).

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Obituaries

Patricia ‘Patty’ Rush’s Passing

Post author By Carmen Guerrero
Post date November 18, 2025
No Comments on Patricia ‘Patty’ Rush’s Passing

It is with sadness that VCCCDRA has learned of the recent passing of Patricia ‘Patty’ Rush. Patty retired as a professor of Spanish at Ventura College. Patty also served as Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages. Patty earned bachelor and master of arts degrees from California State University, Los Angeles; and she authored textbooks in vocational Spanish. In addition to teaching university transfer courses in Spanish, she also taught vocational Spanish for Health Workers, School Personnel, Business, and Law Enforcement.

Per her obituary, a celebration of life will be held in Ventura; details will be announced to family and friends. Donations in her honor may be made to a local education or arts charity.

To read Patty’s obituary, please use this link.

Carmen Guerrero

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Monitor Newsletter

Fall 2025 Monitor

Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the Fall Edition of the Monitor! I hope this missive finds you and your families well as we move into the holiday season.

As we prepare to usher in 2026 I want to give a nod to a couple of the Executive Board’s accomplishments this year and to those who worked to achieve them. You may recall that one of the goals from the Executive Board’s long-range planning was to improve ways in which we communicate with the membership. Sandy Hajas, Carmen Guerrero and David Magallanes developed a new website for the Association, and members of the Executive Board assisted with the testing to refine the functionality and content. The result is an attractive and user-friendly new website that provides us with ways to communicate current information like benefits updates and pictures and provides members with the ability to make online payment for dues and donations. It also provides a secure area, accessible by password only, where we can share confidential information with the membership. This same team also established the VCCCDRA Facebook Group, which is a members-only Facebook page that provides yet another way for us to stay connected with one another and the Association news. Your Executive Board members volunteer their time and efforts to projects like these in addition to carrying out their regular responsibilities for the Executive Board and the Association. I hope you will take a moment to check out the website if you haven’t already done so, to join the Facebook group if so inclined, and to thank your Board members for their work on the Association’s behalf!

Our Fall Social Event was held on October 30th at the Oxnard College Bistro, and I have to say that it was one of the most enjoyable social events that I have attended. First and foremost, we were welcomed and treated to an excellent lunch by Chef Dan Ceco and his Culinary Arts students. We also had the opportunity to honor OC’s 50th Anniversary in a very special way, by recognizing and thanking six of the college’s founding faculty members who were in attendance. Please read Marie Son Hoo’s article on the event in this edition, and check out the website for some great pictures, at https://vcccdra.org/oc-bistro-2025/

Chad and I will spend the next few weeks trying to figure out where to put a Christmas tree in the midst of a major downstairs remodeling project. Here’s hoping your holidays are a bit less crazy than ours will be!

Happy Holidays!

Susan Bricker, President
Ventura County Community College District Retirees Association (VCCCDRA)

read the
fall 2025
monitor

Carmen Guerrero

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