Dawn Leann Staples

Dawn Leann Staples, 76, a long-time resident of Whitney Oaks and Springfield in Rocklin, CA, passed away suddenly on November 24, 2023, in the Kaiser Permanente Roseville Hospital, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage on Thanksgiving Day. She was a devoted wife of 55 years, a homemaker superb, a loving mother to three wonderful children, a doting grandmother to 4 grandchildren, and a great-grandmother from afar to two bright and wonderful great-grandchildren. Dawn was born in Akron, Iowa, on April 18, 1947, to Ford and Marcine Hansen. Dawn was the second of five children born to the Hansens. She was preceded in birth by Robert, who died abruptly of a seizure at the age of five. Dawn was blessed with three younger sisters: Linda, Carla, and Teresa, all of whom currently live in the Midwest. Dawn grew up in Akron, which is 25 miles north of Sioux City, IA, enjoying all the benefits of a small town in an agricultural setting. She exceled at all levels of her education, while enjoying an interest in music and band. As a member of the marching band, Dawn performed as the Majorette for her high school. In expressing her interest in music, Dawn chose the clarinet to play all through her school years. With the support of her parents, band director, and music teacher, she received the honor of being an “All-State” musician for all four years of high school. She traveled to the state capital in Des Moines, IA, to perform with the All-State band each year of her selection. Upon graduation from high school in the summer of 1965, Dawn received a scholarship to the University of South Dakota to continue her pursuit of a career in music and teaching. She went on in the fall to attend USD in Vermillion, SD, just 25 miles west of her hometown, and majored in music and education. She enjoyed her college life and was able to get home often and work during the summers. During the summer of 1968, Dawn was asked to be a bridesmaid at her cousin’s wedding. She traveled to Los Gatos, CA to do so, and met her future husband, Tim, who was asked to also join the wedding party on behalf of the groom. Upon meeting, Tim and Dawn fell in love immediately. So much so, they got married in the fall in Carson City, NV and moved into their first apartment in Alameda, CA. Beginning their family right away with Kimberly Kae, they decided to move into a rented home with more room, also in Alameda. Tim was working in the East Bay area as an accountant for a lighting manufacturer. In a matter of a year, Tim was asked to move his family to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to assume the responsibilities of Plant Accountant for their facility there. While there, Dawn became pregnant with their second child, Angela Tracy, and delivered her in the fall of 1970. In that following year, Tim’s company suffered a downturn in business, and Tim decided to take a job offer as Accounting Manager in Hayward, CA in 1971. This required another cross-country move with furniture and belongings. Dawn was always the best at organizing moves, even with 2 small children in tow. Thank God, because many more such moves were in her future! With the job being in Hayward, Tim and Dawn decided to find a home there, as well. They rented a home just 5 miles away, with schools within walking distance. Tim decided to enroll in an MBA program at Cal State Hayward to further his education at night, while he was working. As the girls got older and spent more time in school, Dawn decided to attend the same college as Tim to finish her pursuit of a college degree, majoring in history. In 1974, Tim was asked by his employer to evaluate a neighboring business for potential acquisition. At the completion of the acquisition, Tim was asked to become the Controller for this manufacturer of school and transit buses, also located in Hayward. In 1976, Tim and Dawn decided to move to Dublin, CA, to buy their first home, having rented all those early years as a family. Dawn delivered their third child, Sean Michael, in the fall of that year. With a full house, a bigger home was needed. By this time, Tim had completed all his MBA courses and passed a comprehensive exam for his MBA. Dawn was continuing her school studies at night and was nearing the end of her academic efforts. The following year, Tim and Dawn decided that the Bay Area was getting far too crowded. Car trips with the kids on the weekends to Sonoma County set them to dreaming of living in the wine country. Tim pursued a job as a Controller for a furniture manufacturer, and they moved to Healdsburg, CA in 1977. In time, it became clear that the commute into south Santa Rosa took way too much time. Plus, the schools in the rural town were limited. So, Dawn and Tim decided to buy a home in the Rincon Valley area east of Santa Rosa. Not only was the commute much better, but the house they purchased had a swimming pool, which provided lots of fun and entertainment for the family. Dawn finally got her bachelor’s degree in history by taking a few more courses at Sonoma State University. Soon thereafter, Tim was offered the Chief Financial Officer’s position with an electronic scale manufacturer. Once the kids were all in school, Dawn decided to become a teacher’s aide in a local elementary school close to home. She loved doing it and helping the grammar school kids with their crafts and other academic programs. Dawn, Tim, and family continued to thrive, living in Santa Rosa. The public primary schools were great, and the kids all did well. Dawn made the family’s home life a happy and nourishing environment. As the kids got older, and more independent, Dawn decided to work outside the home. She took a job working in the office of the Santa Rosa Symphony. She enjoyed the work and loved being close to the musicians and their performances at Luther Burbank Center. Kim and Angie went on to attend parochial high school in Santa Rosa, while Sean completed his primary school education in Rincon Valley. In 1990, Tim accepted an Executive VP/CFO position in the Sacramento area. This necessitated another move, so Dawn swung into action. The family, minus Kim, who decided after high school to begin her working career in Sonoma County, moved to El Dorado Hills, CA. By this time, Angie had graduated from high school, and entered UC-Davis to pursue an undergraduate degree in Economics and Business Administration. In the meanwhile, while working in Santa Rosa, Kim met and married a local man, who worked in Lake County, CA. They moved there and began their family in the fall of 1991. Kim gave birth to Tara, a sweet little girl, who was Dawn and Tim’s first granddaughter. Dawn was eager to be a grandma, and to bounce a beautiful baby on her knee. Car trips to Lake County became instantly necessary on a regular basis. Enjoyment was had by all! In addition to caring for her family, Kim decided to pursue a career in nursing, and in 1992 received her LVN. While in El Dorado Hills, Dawn took a part-time job with the Chamber of Commerce, managing their day-to-day office requirements, along with planning their events. She enjoyed being an integral part of the business community. Angie went on to receive her bachelor's degree in 1992 from UC-Davis, along with her MBA in 1994. Sean graduated from the local high school in 1995 and entered Sacramento State University in the fall. In 1995, Tim received an offer to be the Chief Executive Officer from a small high-tech company in Spokane, WA. With Sean away to college, Angie pursuing her career in business, and Kim working as a nurse and raising her own family, Dawn and Tim moved to the Spokane area to live and work. Tim’s job required large amounts of travel to raise money from investors for the company’s eventual growth and anticipated public offering. Dawn got a chance to become reunited with the snow, ice, and cold, which of course she grew up with in Iowa. She quickly remembered why she married a man from California! The shock of the great Northwest was stunning to both Dawn and Tim! After three years, the high-tech company’s potential brought the attention from a major investor, who decided to buy the company out from under the initial public offering. With the change in ownership and an altered business strategy, Tim chose to leave the company and return to Santa Rosa, where they had lived for so many years. Dawn was excited to be back to California weather, near the kids and granddaughter; not to mention, to be so close to the beach again. Once back in the greater Bay Area, Tim decided to launch his own consulting firm, based in Santa Rosa. With his MBA in hand, he also decided to teach as an associate professor in the California State University system, teaching at the Hayward, San Francisco, and Sacramento campuses. Dawn and Tim enjoyed living back in Santa Rosa again and reuniting with old friends. In the year 2000, their son, Sean, met and married his lovely wife, Lindsey. They chose to live and work in Roseville, CA. Our daughter, Angela, also chose the Sacramento area to pursue her working career as an accountant. Dawn and Tim quickly realized that they missed their children, being some distance away in Santa Rosa. It was also a very difficult to commute into the San Francisco-Oakland area to teach and to service consulting clients. As a result, Tim and Dawn decided to move their home and his consulting business to Davis, CA, to be centered roughly between the Bay Area and Greater Sacramento Area. During this time, Angie’s job required her to move to the East Coast to the greater Washington, DC area. It was while working and living there in 2005 that she decided to marry the man of her dreams. They both worked for the same company, plus they were both accountants; these circumstances only made the relationship that much better! After being married in Hawaii, Angie became pregnant with their first child. With the impending birth, they decided to move back to California, where Dan, her husband, had received an offer of employment as Assistant Controller with a prominent bank in San Francisco. They decided to live in San Ramon, CA. Their son, Logan, was born in 2006, and Dawn became even more excited at her expanded role as Grandma! In the meanwhile, Dawn and Tim had moved to Rocklin to be close to Sean and his wife, and to get ready for retirement. With Angie, Dan, and Logan in the East Bay Area, it was just a quick jaunt to see them. Life was good for Grandma and Grandpa. Two years later, in 2008, Angie and Dan had another beautiful baby, Lauren – another girl for Grandma to smother in love! Dawn was beside herself. So much grand-mothering to do! Trips were made back and forth to the Bay Area for ballet performances, gymnastic recitals, and the like; and, a good time was had by all! By 2010, it was time for Tim to retire. Dawn and Tim decided to stay in the Rocklin area but thought it would be better to get into a smaller, one-level home with a smaller house and yard to maintain. They moved into a senior community called Springfield, up on the hill overlooking their previous home below. Dawn took advantage of the community offerings and joined the Cardmaking Group, which meets twice a month. Likewise, she focused on her gardening, which she always loved no matter where she lived. Retirement was good, but it was missing something. In 2016, Lindsey became pregnant with theirr “miracle” grandchild, and delivered Juliet in early 2017. Since that glorious day, Dawn’s life has been enhanced by Juliet almost weekly. Her visits kept Dawn doing crafts and loving every minute of her time with Juliet. Obviously, with this long (probably too long!) life story of Dawn (and, her husband, Tim) you can see clearly how God gave her His every possible blessing! Her wonderful and loving children and grandchildren; not to mention her great grandchildren, as a cherry on the top. Fifty-five years of marriage to her loving partner in life, her best friend, was the most special gift of all! She had the love of her life to share all the highs and lows of living on this earth; and, the comfort and support they gave to each other to enjoy and/or endure those ups and downs, respectively. Dawn is survived by her husband, Timothy George Staples; her children, Kimberly Bennett, Angela Beck, and Sean Staples; her grandchildren, Tara McCosker, Logan Beck, Lauren Beck, and Juliet Staples; and her great grandchildren Shane McCosker, Hannah McCosker; her daughter-in-law, Lindsey Staples; her son-in-law, Daniel Beck; and her grand son-in-law, Donnie McCosker.

Dawn Leann Staples

April 18, 1947 - November 24, 2023