April 2026
Charles “Chuck” LeMenager
1926 - 2022 Charles “Chuck” LeMenager’s long list of accomplishments include working in Gov. Ronald Reagan’s administration and serving as a city mayor, but what he found most rewarding was developing San Diego Country Estates (SDCE) in Ramona. “I call it a community designed for living,” said the Estates resident, adding that it’s a nice place to raise a family, has good schools “and a healthy, wholesome environment.” LeMenager said he was intrigued when developer Ray Watt asked him in March 1970 to look at the large tract of land in San Diego County. The two had met while LeMenager was the state director of Housing and Community Development, and Watt had learned that LeMenager planned to go back into the private sector after one term. “After seeing San Vicente Valley, I was sold,” stated LeMenager in his book “Off the Main Road,” which details the history of the 3,250-acre development. “The objective of San Diego Country Estates was to create a low density, environmentally sensitive residential community that would appeal to a mixed market of primary and secondary homeowners,” he said in the book. Completed in six phases with each phase consisting of 300 to 400 custom-built homes, the Estates also features a golf course and clubhouse, two equestrian centers, tennis facilities and parks. Living in a house overlooking the 17th tee box, LeMenager relished his expansive views. “We have a view of the whole golf course, the full length of it. And also, what I love so much is that we have a full view of the Cuyamaca Mountains.” There were no mountainous views where LeMenager spent his childhood. He grew up on the South side of Chicago and remembers that when he became interested in flying he used two modes of transportation — train and bicycle — to reach the airport in Valparaiso, Indiana, for lessons. He was 16 then but wouldn’t get his pilot’s license until decades later. With World War II underway, he enlisted in the Air Force at age 17 so he could be in the cadet pilot program, “but the war ended before I could be trained.” His move to California came when he joined the Air Force. He studied Industrial Relations while attending night school at the University of California Los Angeles. When LeMenager became vice president of a division of Fluor Corporation, the promotion took him to Santa Rosa. That’s when he became active in community development and local government. He was appointed to the city’s public utility board and served as vice president of the chamber of commerce before he was elected to city council in 1962. LeMenager served as mayor in 1965 and ‘66. While mayor, LeMenager became acquainted with Reagan. When Reagan was elected governor in 1966, LeMenager found himself being considered for the post of state director of Housing and Community Development. “He was a great man,” LeMenager said of the late governor who would become the 40th U.S. president. “He was a very sincere, compassionate man, down to earth. His record speaks for itself.” Through his position in the state administration, LeMenager worked with Watt on legislation and federal and state housing development programs. When the developer approached him to look at the land that would become Country Estates, LeMenager said he saw it as a “tremendous opportunity.” “Ray wanted somebody who knew what planned communities were all about,” said LeMenager. The partnership that they formed in July 1970 would lead to other successful developments, including Fairbanks Ranch in Rancho Santa Fe. They were also involved in staging the first Battle of the Sexes tennis match with Bobby Riggs vs. Margaret Court in the Estates in 1973, which drew worldwide attention. Throughout his professional career the desire to fly never left LeMenager. He took flying lessons at Ramona Airport and earned his pilot’s license at age 60. Four years later he received an instrument rating. Among his flights were four round-trip intercontinental solos. The experience led him to write the book “Flying After 50, You’re Not Too Old to Start.” That is one of five books LeMenager has published. “Off the Main Road” is one in a trilogy about the history of the area with the other two “Ramona and Roundabout” and “Julian City.” He also documented the history of the LeMenager family, which hails from Belgium. He continued with public service, serving on the Ramona Municipal Water District Board as Division 5 director from 1980-84, serving on the Country Estates association board, and participating in a county task use as well as on a North County San Diego Union-Tribune advisory board in the 1990s. He was active in the Ramona Branch of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego, has been a member of the Ramona Rotary Club and the Ramona Chamber of Commerce since 1983, and in 2009 received the chamber’s Lifetime Achievement Award. establishing force for planning and LeMenager has also been active in the Friends of Ramona Library and with Dr. Michael Barker organized the annual Authors Day six years ago. He and his wife, Elizabeth “Betty,” are getting ready to embark on a new adventure: moving to Prescott, Ariz. They are planning to move in April 2018 to an active senior community with plenty of recreational opportunities. “We’re both determined to stay active,” said LeMenager, who noted they will celebrate their 17th anniversary on Feb. 6, Reagan’s birthday. LeMenager’s first wife, Nancy, died after they were married 51-1/2 years. He has four children: Jack, who has a public relations/corporate communications company in Boston; Bill, a retired Lt. Col. Command Pilot who served in the Air Force Special Operations and flew the first raid into Bagdad during Desert Storm, and now lives in Florida; Tom, who lives in Oceanside and does marketing for a connectivity company; and Kay, a real estate broker in La Mesa. LeMenager also has eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Charles "Chuck" LeMenager June 3, 1926 - December 19, 2022 Charles R. "Chuck" LeMenager of Prescott, AZ, formerly of Ramona, passed away on December 19 at the age of 96. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth "Betty" Boos Haas LeMenager and his four children. Additionally, he leaves eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. |
Mesa Grande’s Himalaya Mine
The world-famous Himalaya Tourmaline Mine is located in Mesa Grande on quiet, Gem Hill across the valley from Mt. Palomar in San Diego County, California. The mine is an underground five-mile labyrinth of steep passageways that were dug, drilled, and blasted over the past 100 years. There are several gem-grade tourmaline mines in San Diego County, but the Himalaya Mine is the most prominent tourmaline mine in the world! Opened in 1898, the Himalaya Tourmaline Mine is known for producing tons of beautiful gem quality green and pink tourmalines. An estimated 250 thousand pounds of tourmaline and mineral specimens have been extracted from the mine. The Himalaya Mine produced more tourmaline than any other tourmaline mine in the world, for 15 years, including an amazing 5.5 tons in 1904 (the most tourmaline ever produced in one year). But that’s not hard to imagine considering some of the largest pockets have produced roughly a ton of tourmaline. The tourmaline is found in pegmatite veins that run at a 45-degree angle deep into the earth. Several pegmatite dykes on Mesa Grande contains tourmaline. The Himalaya Mine is located on the largest tourmaline pegmatite dykes. Pink, green, bi-colored, tri-colored, and watermelon tourmalines can be found here. Approximately 5 percent of the tourmalines produced are gem-grade. Many tourmaline specimens have also been extracted from the mine, some of which can be seen at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. 
In 1930 Major A. P. Ebright wrote: “The purpose of Banner Canyon Camp is to ensure your boy a safe, happy and healthful summer vacation. We are fully equipped with everything necessary for a boy’s safety, happiness and welfare. ……..
In sending your son to Banner Canyon Camp you are assured that everything has been provided and planned to give him the happiest time of his life.” Major A.P. Ebright, Superintendent of the California Military Academy , a private school in the state of California, was the camp director and spent his summers there, too 
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