Friday, February 27, 2009

The Mortuary


There's one mortuary in town, Anker-Lucier, located on the corner of Commercial and School Streets. The red tile roof with white stucco is rare in this county, and reminds me of the Spanish Colonial Revival style found in more southerly parts of the state. There were a couple of Mexican land grants in Mendocino, but the Spanish era missions came no further north than Sonoma county.

I did not personally know Dave Tiller, but earlier this week he lost his long battle with pancreatic cancer. I do know that he was a police officer who touched many lives here in Willits, and his memorial will be this Saturday. Photos of a barbecue to raise funds for his treatment trips to San Francisco were posted here last June.

5 comments:

Dina said...

It looks pleasant enough on the outside. But glad you didn't go in for more pictures.

Hilda said...

Except for the sign, it just looks like a lovely home. And I agree with Dina!

Sorry to hear about your Dave Tiller. It warms my heart to hear how your community helped him during his battle. Bless you all.

Halcyon said...

It's a very friendly-looking mortuary!

Petrea Burchard said...

Your mention of Officer Tiller makes me want to ask, what is the population of Willits? It's certainly large enough that you don't know everyone, but do you know *of* everyone? Thoughts go out to Tiller's loved ones.

USelaine said...

Dina - Yeah, I'm not an in-the-mortuary type person either.

Hilda - It seems to me that policemen and other emergency service workers have a real brotherhood among them. I know he had a lot of moral support from the community at large as well.

Halcyon - It was a bright, cold day earlier in the month, before these wonderful rain systems came through.

P - Inside the city limits are about 5,000 people. I heard a politician say the Willits "market area" has about 14,000 people. Seems about right. Mendocino county overall only has about 90,000 people. To tell you the truth, I'm not very well connected at all, and haven't been much of a joiner. I'm also a bit odd and off-putting, but we don't need to get into that here.

Thanks everyone! I always appreciate getting your comments.