REGION — An Oceanside native’s first published book explores the origins and nature of his grandparents’ relationship through a series of love letters dating back nearly 100 years.
Over the years, John W. Thill compiled a collection of love letters that his grandparents, Ray and Dora Wilcox, sent to each other through their courtship in the mid-1920s. Thill’s book, “A California Love Story,” recounts the love letters and blossoming love between the young couple, who fell in love with each other and California after moving from the Midwest.
Thill’s grandfather, Ray Wilcox, had moved to Wichita, Kansas, where he met the first love of his life, Dora. Then in September 1925, he met the second love of his life — Southern California — as he stepped off the train.
In the 1980s, Thill discovered a hatbox filled with his grandparents’ love letters and typed them up to preserve his family history while mourning the death of his grandfather.
“I realized there is historical value in these letters,” Thill said, who especially admired how his grandfather described the region. “(Ray) wrote beautifully and romantically. He saw the potential for this region and himself as a potential leader and business person.”
According to Thill, his grandfather was amazed at the remarkable sights surrounding him: the vast Pacific Ocean, the California beaches and the coastal mountain ranges. But, despite the natural beauty surrounding him, none of it was complete without his love, Dora.
According to Thill, Ray convinced Dora to move to California with him through his letters. Finally, after nearly two years of writing to each other, she agreed to join him, and the two began the rest of their lives together in Oceanside.
Both Ray and Dora were highly involved in their community over the years. Ray managed a Safeway store before going into real estate, starting the Ray A. Wilcox Company in 1934 as the broker/owner.
Ray served as the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce president and clerk of the Oceanside-Carlsbad Board of Education. He also chaired the first Armed Services YMCA governing board, was appointed by the U.S. Navy to appraise Rancho Santa Margarita to become Camp Pendleton in 1942 and served as Oceanside’s mayor in the 1940s.
Ray also established and served as president of the Eternal Hills Memorial Park, founded and directed the Boys Club of Oceanside (now the Boys and Girls Club) and the West Coast National Bank, and also served as a member and later president of the Tri-City Hospital Foundation Board of Trustees.
Thill’s grandmother, Dora, cheered her husband on throughout his pursuits.
“She took a great leap of faith coming out here,” Thill said. “She was really wonderful – she gave him a ton of encouragement and inspiration.”
Ray promised the world and more to his beloved, and he delivered. The couple raised two daughters in Oceanside, one of which was Roberta “Bobbie” Thill, John Thill’s mother.
Bobbie Thill was one of the founders of Heritage Park and the Oceanside Museum of Art. Like her father, Ray, Bobbie was recognized for her involvement in the community throughout her lifetime.
“(Ray) had a tremendous impact on my mom growing up,” John Thill said.
Born in 1961, John Thill attended Oceanside and El Camino High Schools and studied business and speech communication at San Diego State University.
Thill went on to serve on the Hi-Noon Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Carlsbad for 24 years and worked as a partner in Carlsbad’s Personal Strengths Publishing company for 19 years.
“A California Love Story” is Thill’s first published book and is available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and at the Oceanside Historical Society.
“I was drawn in by both the love story and the historical backdrop,” said Kristi Hawthorne, director of the Oceanside Historical Society. “What a read, what a love.”
The book recently appeared as the top new release in Amazon’s Western U.S. Biographies category.
