Oil paintings by Scurlock to be featured at library

FALLBROOK — Selected oil paintings by Fred Scurlock, one of Fallbrook’s favorite sons, will be displayed at Fallbrook Library next month as the last leg of a three-city tour launched a year ago at Grace Mellman Community Library in Temecula.

The Fallbrook showing will feature several firsts, according to library and local art group officials. It is believed to be the first time a collector, rather than a local artist, has exhibited works in the library. It is also believed to be the first time that a public reception will be held in conjunction with a show’s opening at the library.

Tim and Margaret O’Leary, who have lived in Fallbrook nearly seven years, in a roundabout way came to own about 20 of Fred’s paintings. In an effort to rebuild a treasured art collection that was lost when the couple’s home was destroyed by fire, the couple initially purchased several of Fred’s paintings at a Temecula resale shop.

Enchanted by Fred’s style and use of color and composition, the couple mined the archives of a newspaper’s obituaries to track down his daughter, Lana Walker, who lives in Oregon. The O’Learys then contacted Mrs. Walker and met with her twice during her trips to Southern California to purchase the remainder of Fred’s available paintings.

In an effort to share the paintings with the communities Fred knew and loved, groupings of the paintings were shown in the rotunda of the Temecula library for a month last May and were prominently featured at the Moreno Valley Mayor’s Gala ball on November 3. Many of those paintings will now be shown at Fallbrook’s library under the auspices of Fallbrook Art Association. The paintings are not available for purchase.

Fred was born in Tennessee. He served for three years in the Marine Corps during World War II and was in combat in the Pacific Theater for two of those years. At some point, he met his future wife, Ada, who lived in Fallbrook.

After Fred was shipped stateside to Camp Pendleton, he oversaw dry cleaning at the base and later took work in the same trade in Fallbrook. The couple lived in Fallbrook and Oceanside for 13 years before they moved to Moreno Valley in 1960.

Over the next 38 years in Moreno Valley, Fred and Ada owned and operated Sunnymead Cleaners, where Fred exhibited many of his paintings, including at least one that will be featured in the Fallbrook library show.

Fred also helped build sports fields in his new Inland community, helped found the Moreno Valley Youth Foundation, served four years on the school board, was master of that city’s Masonic Lodge and became a father, grandfather and great-grandfather. His many friendships ran deep throughout the region.

Fred died in May 1998. About one year later, the Moreno Valley Masonic Lodge dedicated the Fred Scurlock Memorial Library there. Ada, his beloved wife of 44 years, followed him in death about seven years later.

The O’Learys will be hosting a public reception to celebrate the opening of the Fallbrook show at the library, 124 South Mission Road, from 6:30 until 7:30 p.m. on May 1. They will also be present then to share what they know about Fred’s paintings, his life and family.