A LOOK BACK:

These days we think of Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley as two separate cities. But the history of both communities is so intermingled that one could find roots to their families in both towns.

We have seen how the Talbert families came to be pioneers in both Orange County communities and how each member shared in each city’s history.

A while back we looked at the life of one of those individuals, Joseph R. Callens, whose name graces one of Fountain Valley’s shopping centers, Callens Corner at Ellis Avenue and Brookhurst Street.

For this week’s column we’re going to look back at one of Joe Callens’ sons and see how his life revolved around Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and Southern California.

The Callens family had originally emigrated to America from Mein, Belgium, in 1885. The family came to settle in Orange County at the Irvine Ranch in 1908, and Joe’s uncle Rene moved to Talbert (Fountain Valley) in 1910, where he built a house on Ellis Avenue.

It was in Santa Ana that Joseph R. Callens was born Sept. 26, 1911, and it was in Fountain Valley where he would remain for the rest of his life.

In 1946, 35-year-old Joseph married Valentine Lerno, and to this union came five children: Joseph, Rene, Albert, Louise and Alice. It is Rene’s life that we’ll explore this week.

On May 23, 1951, Rene Norman Callens was born, and from the very first, he had a work ethic and desire to learn about farming instilled by his father.

Rene had come to understand farming methods from watching and listening to his father and neighboring farmers Joe Calderon, Ernie Lagier and others.

Rene was enrolled in Fountain Valley Elementary School, where he learned to read and write.

After primary school he attended both Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley high schools.

After he graduated from high school, Rene enrolled at OCC where he took every agricultural class the college offered. He became such an expert in farm mechanics that he helped one of the school’s instructors teach the proper use of the tractor in modern farming.

In 1962 the family took a chance and, instead of growing lima beans as everyone in the area was doing, they began to grow tomatoes instead.

By 1971 the Callens farm was growing cauliflower and chili peppers, and Rene still found time to receive his associate’s degree in agriculture from OCC in 1973.

Rene married Linda Courreges, from another prominent pioneer family of Fountain Valley, on March 18, 1977.

Rene took his new bride on a honeymoon through the Imperial Valley and fell in love with the opportunities it held.

It was in late 1977 that Rene and Linda, and brothers Albert and Joseph, moved from Fountain Valley to Brawley in the Imperial Valley to set up their farming business.

Rene was genuinely concerned with the growth of farming in the Imperial Valley and the J. R. Callens & Sons farming operation had become a major concern in the area.

Large corporate farms such as Hunt’s, Peter Rabbit, Balthouse Farms and the De Francesco Brothers would give Rene a chance to learn more about large business farming methods.

Meanwhile, he enjoyed the challenge of diversifying his farm with several new crops and farming practices, which gave him more time to spend with his family.

In 1996 Rene was diagnosed with cancer; but he would not let the disease get him down, and he continued to be a working part of the business. He died Sept. 2, 2006.

During his life he believed in hard work, never asking anyone to do a job he could not do himself, for he believed there was only one way to do things and that was the right way.

But Rene recognized mistakes were inevitable and acceptable as long as you recognize and learn from them.

If more people believed and practiced that philosophy, what a better world it would be.

JERRY PERSON is the city’s historian and longtime Huntington Beach resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box 7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.