Slain Star Once Lived In EP, Attended Irvin

Sharon Tate was murdered August 9, 1969, by followers of Charles Manson. Here is an article about the recent search at his ranch.

Actress Sharon Tate, the movie star who was found murdered in her home in Los Angles Saturday, was a former El Pasoan and had attended Irvin High School her junior year.

Her parents, Mr. And Mrs. T.J. Tate, Miss Tate and two younger sisters, resided at 9303 Roanoke. Tate who was then a captain in the army, was later reassigned to Verona, Italy, and the family moved there in January, 1960.

El Pasoans recalled Miss Tate as a very “vibrant, happy and beautiful young lady with very strict parents.”

Mrs. Buck Rogers, 3009 Zion, said that her older son, Tom Rogers now of Dallas dated Miss Tate during her high school days in El Paso.

“Tom went steady with her and only had kind words for her,” Mrs. Rogers said. “Apparently her parents were very strict because Tom had to bring her back by midnight after a date,” she said.

Mrs. Rogers also said that when she and her late husband first toured Europe, they visited the Tate family in Verona.

Mrs. Susan Rogers King said that Miss Tate had been a frequent visitor in the Rogers home. Even when she moved to Italy, she corresponded often with the Rogers family.

“I recall a letter she wrote one time in which she told us all about her introduction into the movie industry, Mrs. King said. “It seems that she was walking down the street in Verona one day and two producers, one named Ransahof, had discovered her and started her in the movies.”

Mrs. C.L. Hatchel, 7608 Parkland, the former Miss Pam Stratton, said of Miss Tate, “Sharon was a real sweet girl. We ran around together and spent the night at each other’s home,” she said. “After her family moved to Italy, our friendship sort of dwindled and I only got a couple of letters from her then.”

Manuel Gonzalez, a math and drafting teacher at Irvin recalled that he used to see Miss Tate go up and down the halls every day. “She seemed like a vibrant and happy girl,” he said.

Mrs. N.E. Desper, 9305 Roanoke, and neighbor to the Tates, said that Sharon used to babysit for her two children, Steve and Cindy. “We enjoyed the Tates very much. Tate and my husband served together in the Army in California before our assignment in Ft. Bliss,” she said. In 1964, we visited them in San Pedro, Calif., but Sharon was in Los Angeles at the time.

Comments

[Tate Webmaster]

Thanks for the nice article on Sharon. Just one quick correction, Sharon's Father was P.J. (Paul J.) Tate (not T.J.)
These are very nice remembrances and I enjoyed reading them and will pass them on to Sharon's sister Debra. I encourage anyone with memories of Sharon to contact me : [email protected] or [email protected]

[Trish Long]

Thanks for the information. I thought maybe I had made a typo but the original article does say T.J. I will add a note to that article.

[Tate Webmaster]

Thank you. It's just a minor thing. It was very nice to read the article. Thank you, again, for posting it.

[Alicia]

Very interesting to see so many celebrities with ties to El Paso. She would've been a great mother I'm sure. :)

[SunCityCynic]

Rest In Peace Sharon and baby boy.
What a horrible ending for such a beautiful woman and her innocent child. According to The Internet Movie Database, her sister Debra was born in El Paso.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1693002/

[VICKI SECRETO]

I NEED AN ADDRESS FOR SHARON TATE SO I CAN SEND HER A BIRTHDAY CARD,PLEASE HELP ME I HAVE ALLWAYS GOON TO HER WEB SITES.WHAT PERSON DO I SEND THIS CARD TO IHAVE MENNY PICTURES OF HER AND I FELL VERY BAD ABOUT WHAT HAPPEN TO HER.

[Steven Patrick]

You can see Sharon's former home by going to Google.com and selecting Maps. From there enter the address "9303 Roanoke El Paso, Tx 79924" in the search box. Then click on "Street View".
I lived just 4 miles from Sharon and attended neighboring Andress High School.

[ROY FELTON]

CAN YOU GIVE ME ANY INFORMATION ON THE HOMICIDE/SUICIDE INVOLVING DR. WALTER DALE EASTMAN? I BELIEVE THE INCIDENT OCCURRED IN JULY OF 2007. I AM NOT SURE ABOUT THE DATE.

[Trish Long]

The shooting occurred on July 1, 2007.

From a July 2 article on the shooting:

About 1:15 p.m. Sunday, police were called to the 6300 block of La Posta Drive for an unknown problem.

Once there, they found a man, age 49, had apparently shot and killed his 29-year-old wife before he killed himself, police spokesman Officer Chris Mears said.

From July 3:

Police on Monday identified the couple involved in Sunday's apparent murder-suicide in an upscale West Side neighborhood as a long-time dentist and his wife of seven years -- a part-time criminal justice professor at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Officials believe Walter Dale Eastman, 49, shot his wife, Joni Eastman, 29, and then turned the gun on himself about 1:15 p.m. Sunday.

Police spokesman Javier Sambrano said no other details about the incident in the 6300 block of La Posta Drive were available.

"We still believe it was a murder-suicide," Sambrano said Monday. "But we won't be able to confirm that until the investigation and the autopsies are completed."