Zella Vonola Fairbanks

The above photo is of Alexander Revard Modine and Zella Vonola Fairbanks Modine with their two oldest children, Ralph and Wylder. Ralph was accidentally burned to death before anyone could save him when he was playing with his brother Wylder in a hillside cave. Ralph was almost four years old and his brother Wylder was almost three years old at the time. The family refers to this event as "the tragedy", and it represented a milestone in their lives. People spoke of life before the tragedy and life after the tragedy. These were two different lives. (From a story written by Nola Josephine Modine Fairbanks Larkin, the sister of Wylder and Ralph. There is more from her story below.)

When it was time for me to be born, my family traveled to Santa Paula, California, where my mother had friends and there would be a doctor. Of course the family was feeling a lot of sorrow at the time. We returned to China Ranch and lived there until I was about 2 years old. At that time, my mother was determined to move away from the place that had so many sad memories, and so she burned the house down and my parents sold China Ranch and moved with little Wylder and Nola to Santa Paula for good. Mom didn't tell the truth about the fire for years and everyone assumed it was accidental at the time.