John B. Tallman, 85, a longtime Winnemucca, Nev., business and civic leader died April 7, 2007, at Harmony Manor at Winnemucca.
His funeral was April 11 at St. Paul’s Catholic Church at Winnemucca. Interment was at the Winnemucca Cemetery.
John Tallman was the father of former Baker City residents, Maryanne Tallman, and well-known rodeo announcer Bob Tallman.
He was born on July 13, 1921, at Boise to Aaron Vetter “A.V.” and Grace Brenner Tallman. He and his only granddaughter, Nicole Tallman Pennell, shared the same birth date.
In 1931, John and his father helped chart the Humboldt River from its headwaters to the Humboldt Sink in a canoe. The Tallman family settled at Winnemucca, where in 1931 they purchased the Tallman Lazy T Dairy at Grass Valley.
John attended Humboldt County schools and after graduation attended the University of California at Davis where he studied at the College of Agriculture and Environmental Science.
With the outbreak of World War II, John enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he served as a torpedoman’s mate third class. He was stationed at the U.S. Navy’s submarine base in the Florida Keys.
He married Irene Capelli of Winnemucca on Oct. 6, 1946. After their marriage, John Tallman purchased the Flying A Mobile Oil bulk plant at Winnemucca, which served the greater northern Nevada ranching and mining communities.
The family next purchased the Willow Creek Ranch north of Orovada in Humboldt County where they were associated with Mrs. Tallman’s family members. In 1955, they returned to live at Winnemucca where John and Irene purchased the Scott Lumber Co. John owned and operated the successful Tallman Lumber Co. for more than 44 years until recently selling the operation.
As an avid horseman and rodeo enthusiast, he was one of the driving forces in establishing the Humboldt County Fair and Rodeo Association. And he served for more than a decade as chairman of the Humboldt County Republican Central Committee and also was a Nevada state and national committeeman.
He was appreciated as a storyteller for his insightful thoughts and colorful quotes, his family said. He had appeared on national television, including a segment on CBS’s “60 Minutes” where he said “the West was won in Nevada and it wasn’t with a registered gun!”
Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Irene Capelli Tallman; his daughter, Maryanne Tallman of Reno, who moved to Winnemucca to care for her father in his final years; his son, Bob Tallman, and his wife, Kristen Goodrich Tallman, and their daughter, Nicole Tallman Pennell, and her husband, Daniel Pennell, all of whom live in the Weatherford, Texas, area, carrying on a fifth-generation family tradition of raising horses and cattle; and many cousins scattered throughout Idaho, New Mexico and Florida.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the Harmony Manor Skilled Nursing Facility, 118 E. Haskell, Winnemucca, NV 89445, Attention: Polly Landa.
Albertson Funeral Home of Winnemucca was in charge of arrangements.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, April 16, 2007
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor