2018 October Issue PASO Magazine

By Millie Drum
By Chuck Desmond
o Ann Switzer is truly a “Country Girl at Heart.” She’s blazed the
ow, yet again, the selection committee has chosen a great candidate
trail with boundless energy and enthusiasm as life presents many
for Pioneer Day Marshal to represent El Paso de Robles.
opportunities to share her love for cattle ranching, the agricultural
Bob Tullock, PhD has led a life that most could only dream of.
industry and the legacy of pioneer families in San Luis Obispo county. We’ll explore that in a moment but setting the stage, Bob is a super
The fifth and sixth generations of the Arnold/Switzer family are family man, had a terrific career and really stands apart for his non-stop
still ranching on the original homestead in Pozo. Her ancestors, “giving back to the community.”
who symbolize the pioneer spirit, settled in California with a willingness
“What defines a man is not what he does, but rather, what he does
to endure hard times, to explore new places, do new things for others.”
and raise their families. Jo Ann’s great-grandparents, James and Let’s step back to the beginning and look at Bob’s life.
Anna Sinton Arnold, arrived in New York in 1875; James from Born as Robert Johns Tullock on Oct 3, 1940, his parents Margaret
England and Anna from Ireland. Jo Ann’s grandparents Thomas and and Robert Sr. undoubtedly had no clue as to what lay ahead. She was
Josephine came from Nebraska, settling in Santa Margarita in 1913; from Edmonton, Canada and he from Rockford, Ill. They met while
later buying the family ranch in Pozo in 1919. They had three sons — Bob Sr. worked at Santa Isabel Ranch and she was across the street at
Claude, Loyal and Guy Arnold.
the Drew Ranch. They married in 1936. Bob was sandwiched between
Jo Ann’s parents are Guy and Grace Arnold. During the Great an older sister, Dorothy and a younger one, Karen.
Depression, Thomas lost the ranch, Guy stepped in and bought the Bob attended Templeton schools and graduated
note, buying the ranch. At the end of World War II, the economy high school in 1958. Bob said he wasn’t the greatest
allowed Guy and Grace to pay off the debt of the ranch and buy more student and decided to go to work after graduation.
Taking a variety of jobs, he found himself
ranches in the Pozo Valley. Along with farming and the cattle herd,
they raised registered Hereford cattle. As a youth, Jo Ann learned doing grunt work in Atascadero delivering feed.
to process the cattle’s registration paperwork. Little did Jo Ann He also noticed that guys who were doing the
know that this knowledge would help later in life.
same work, but had a little more formal education,
She’s the youngest of her siblings Mary (deceased) and John Arnold. were making more money. The light dawned that
In 1936, Jo Ann was the first baby born at the Mountain View Hospital
in San Luis Obispo. She attended the one-room school in Pozo he’d need more money. With that, he enrolled in
if he wanted to get ahead or even get married,
from first to sixth grade. Since she was the only student in her class, her Taft College for a year and then transferred to Cal
parents chose to send her to Santa Margarita Elementary to complete Poly.
seventh and eighth grades. Besides being “scared to death” and feeling Bob had always had an affinity for the soil, perhaps because he
the major culture shock from being the only student to having 17 in also raced motorcycles or maybe just because it “felt natural as he
her class, she also had to ride 18 miles on the bus to get to school — recognized it all comes from the Earth.” It didn’t take long for Bob
from Pozo to Santa Margarita. The next step was Atascadero High to go just nuts over a pretty little gal named Janet Brown whom he’d
School and SLO Junior College (now Cuesta
met at her father’s motorcycle shop. They married in the Fall of 1962
College).
at the Methodist Church on 14th and Oak, just as he was about to
Jo Ann married Don
enter Cal Poly.
Switzer in 1956.
College years were hectic. Bob and Janet lived in a mobile home in
“The very most
SLO. She worked at Central Savings while he attended classes and
important thing
worked at odd jobs, most of which were auto-mechanic oriented. Bob
I have accomplished
and am
quarter. Folks were dropping off cars for him to repair every weekend.
kept his full-time student-schedule by taking at least twelve units each
most proud of is
He even became a refrigeration tech. That would keep most over-busy,
having our four
but not Bob. Daughters Judie and Peggy were born while he was in
wonderful sons,”
school. In 1967, he graduated with a BS in Soil Science. Bob describes
Jo Ann said.
the degree as “the nuts and bolts of agriculture.”
The Switzers are
Bob wasn’t even really sure what states were next to Indiana but his
a family of accomplishments.
professors suggested he attend Purdue. “Why not do it?” he thought.
Jo Ann, John and Mary on a pony The family moved and Bob became a working student as a TA (teach-
Please see QUEEN page 26 that was a gift from Alex Madonna.
Please see MARSHAL page 26
24 | pasomagazine.com PASO Magazine, October 2018