Motorcycle mishap claims Ojai man's life
by Lenny Roberts

A 61-year-old Ojai man was killed Sept. 10 after he lost control of his motorcycle in clear and dry conditions on Ojai-Santa Paula Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Earl Thomas Jones had just come out of a curve westbound on Highway 150 just east of Osborne Road at 6:50 p.m. at an unknown rate of speed as 74-year-old Barbara Jane Cullisson was turning left onto Osborne Road at a slow rate of speed, according to the report. Jones lost control of his 1993 Ducati and overturned, and he and his vehicle continued skidding off the roadway, eventually striking Collissun's 1990 Oldsmobile at the entrance to Osborne Road. Cullisson was uninjured.
Jones was transported to the Ojai Valley Community Hospital by local ambulance where he was pronounced dead.
The cause of the collision remains under investigation.
Jones, reportedly an experienced motorcyclist, was employed at Soule Park Golf Course, where he had worked as a mechanic for about a year, according to general manager Don Miller.
"Earl was a wonderful guy, very kind and a gentle soul. I never heard him say anything nasty; he was not capable of even thinking a nasty thought. He was always willing to do whatever you asked. This is a real tragedy," Miller said.
"I don't know the circumstances of the accident, but he was not a daredevil - just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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