411Whittier

06/19/2023

Now the park is named after her, too!

By Tim Traeger
Editor
John William Orth was a prolific painter. Over the course of his life he created thousands of works of art.
Now some of his masterpieces are on display at the Whittier Museum in the form of 20- by 24-inch paintings of the first 35 American presidents – from George Washington to Richard Nixon. Similar to the miniature oil paintings we have displayed in our Wardman Hall, the larger paintings represent the third set of presidential portraits create by Orth, the father of Museum key patron Erika Owens. She is the wife of late Whittier Daily News Publisher Lee Owens, a founding member in creating the Whittier Museum and the Boys & Girls Club of Whittier.
“He started painting as a small boy,” Erika Owens said about her father from the kitchen of her longtime Friendly Hills home. “He was talented in art and painting and his family sent him to the famous art school in Munich, Germany.”
Ironically, Erika said her father had no special love for the presidency, nor any particular commander in chief.
Erika said her husband was instrumental to getting the paintings donated to the Wardman Library at Whittier College on Oct. 19, 1977. The Museum acquired them in February with the help of former Wardman Library Interim Director Mike Garabedian.
“The Museum is the perfect place to display them,” Garabedian said. “They belong there.”
Erika said her husband was well-versed in all types of painting, including a true-life drawing of Erika’s mother’s dog, Nellie.
“He was in the middle of painting lots of things. Flower bouquets and reproductions of all kinds of things that people wanted,” Erika said. “Coming to the U.S., he thought ‘well, the presidents were kind of important.’ And there weren’t any big collections of the presidents around at the time. So it was open season on going out and doing research.”
After moving to California from Houston, Erika said her father painted many bouquets of flowers.
“Being an artist was a full-time job. Just to make a living you had to keep putting out and putting out all the time,” Erika said. “An artist’s life was very difficult. He did a lot of painting just to get by, just to earn a living. One of the things he was most famous for was painting bouquets of flowers. Flowers and vases. People would buy those to decorate their houses. He painted hundreds of those in Southern California, and they all sold. He could paint anything.”
“He could do oil or watercolor or etchings. He did a lot of etchings,” Erika said.
Grandson, Tim Owens, spoke about his grandfather’s penchant for art.
“He was prolific. When I was a kid we’d go to his house in Santa Ana, a three-bedroom ranch. And one or two rooms were empty, except rows of pictures stacked against the walls,” Tim Owens said.
Erika and Lee Owens were married in 1952 and the union lasted close to 50 years.
“It was a wonderful marriage,” Erika said. “Lee was a great man. He worked hard for Whittier. He’s the one that got the Museum. He got that building. Then he worked so hard building the boys and girls club.”
Upon his death in 2001, a park on Greenleaf Avenue was named after Owens.

12/25/2022

It was recently asked what's the best Christmas movie. I'm going with "It's a Wonderful Life" with Stewart and Reed. Airing now on NBC.

02/16/2020

Framing history

By Tim Traeger
Editor
The Friendly Hiller
There’s a man in town who can take you back to where you’ve been. To that end the native of Murphy Ranch Hospital and lifelong Whittier resident can make history re-happen despite the harrows of age, sunlight and time.
Richard Rinaldi used to visit his future store along Whittier Boulevard when he was going to Evergreen Elementary. From the school project panelboards to the pastel colors that followed, a lifelong desire to inspire and design brought his shingle to The Framery, 13105 Whittier Blvd.
Whereas one can stumble into any number of Michael’s for a cheap frame, Rinaldi takes it personal.
“We have the largest frame selection of any store, more than 3,000 samples, the largest selection of mats, 2,100 colors to choose from,” Rinaldi said. The store has a long history, The Framery has been around for more than 60 years so our selection is huge. You don’t walk out the door saying, ‘gee. I couldn’t find what I wanted.’”
Although The Framery helps pay the bills, it’s only Rinaldi’s side hustle. The spry 62-year-old’s passion is project management and design. He owns RJR Associates, a young company at 35 that can double as a time machine.
“You come to me and say you’ve got this home and you want it to be a Spanish Ranch. I want the exterior done. The landscaping done. We pull it together for them,” Rinaldi said.
RJR hires the subs, does the bidding and hires local. But always with an eye on history. It was evident in a six-unit remodel era-specific to 1930s Burbank.
“Complete with the appliances,” he said.
And if Rinaldi and assistant Rose Montoya didn’t have enough to do, they opened abuting The Gallery 10 years ago in November to showcase and sell art created in the community. Each year The Framery Fine Art Gallery hosts a 5 x 5 contest where any medium, 5 x 5, stands to display on Gallery walls and is judged on its creative merits.
He and his wife of 25 years, Kimberly, live up Painter near Walnut. They have block parties for the Fourth of July.
A true slave to architecture, Rinaldi loves it when a project comes together and he gets to tie the bow.
“So when we finish a home, I can hang the artwork. Really finish it.”

“Our goal was to see som**hing we framed in every home in Whittier,” Rinaldi said. “And that the art was from a local artist. That would be the goal. We’ve got a gold mine of artists in Whittier and surrounding areas too. But if you just take what you have in Whittier, you could fill every home with artwork.”
For info call 562-693-5714.

01/28/2020

Off the hook
PIH Health doctor a national expert in substance abuse therapy
By Tim Traeger
Editor
The Friendly Hiller
When Corinna Megan Ortega was found dead at Parnell Park on New Year’s Day, it dumped the nation’s exploding opioid epidemic squarely at our doorstep. The 22-year-old was found unresponsive in a tent surrounded by transients she had reportedly been partying with the night before.
The tragedy is not new to Dr. Randolph P. Holmes. The spry 69-year-old is one of the preeminent authorities on substance abuse and addiction in the United States who is also a family medicine doctor in Whittier. Holmes has spent decades treating “many thousands” of patients in his family practice, but the battle against opioid addiction is where his true passions lie.
“Many, many thousands of lives are being lost to overdose deaths – from op**tes, alcohol and tobacco,” Holmes said in the living room of his Friendly Hills home. “I think the drug companies play a part, but I don’t blame them entirely. I think part of the mess we’re in now is due to an over-emphasis on pain. I think hospitals and national accreditation agencies nationwide emphasize pain relief. In the 1990s they had a campaign that said pain was a fifth vital sign … doctors were being graded on how well they controlled pain, so there was a big push to treat pain, primarily with more op**tes.”
Holmes chairs the Public Policy Committee for the California Society of Addiction Medicine. He laid out how nationwide dependence started with the prevalence of OxyContin, morphed into a reliance on he**in and now faces lethal fentanyl.
“Doctors started being graded and criticized or penalized if patients said they weren’t treating their pain adequately. We responded by saying, ‘fine. We’ll just prescribe more op**tes.’ The pharmaceutical companies responded by producing newer versions of op**tes to answer the demand. We were prescribing more. Patients were demanding more pain relief,” said Holmes, who travels each year to Sacramento and Washington, D.C. to write policy on the issue.
“There was a whole constellation of things that came together in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. The companies released a drug called OxyContin and began promoting the drug. In parts of the country where there were large numbers of people on chronic pain medication – primarily in the industrial rustbelt areas of West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia, a lot of coal miners and the logging industry.
“There were a lot of injuries and doctors were overzealous. By the end of the ‘90s we were in a full-blown pain-pill epidemic,” Holmes said. “Entrepreneurs got into the game and in the 2000s there were pill mills - doctors opening up pain clinics and prescribing thousands and thousands of doses of pain pills. By about 2008 and 2009, we began to shut down the pain pill clinics in Florida and California.
“Laws were enacted to shut these pain-pill mills down. By then we had hundreds of thousands of people that were inappropriately prescribed large amounts of predominately op**te pain pills. Narcotics. And they were dependent,” Holmes said. “They couldn’t stop. So what happened is we had a huge influx of he**in. The Mexican mafia saw a very good business opportunity. They had a huge number of people who were now dependent on op**tes. The doctors are not prescribing them anymore. So they moved in with vast quantities of he**in. About 2009, 2010, you began seeing a huge influx of he**in- primarily black tar he**in in the Western United States. He**in from Afghanistan.
“By 2011 most of the people dying from overdoses were dying from he**in. They switched from pain pills that were much harder to get and more expensive over to he**in. In 2008 and 2009, most of the op**te deaths were from pain pills. By 2011 and 2012 most of the deaths were from he**in. That went on for several years and by 2016, fentanyl came into play. By 2017 most opioid deaths were from fentanyl. So fentanyl has now replaced he**in,” Holmes said.
“It was all driven by economics and cost. Fentanyl does not require large fields of poppies. It doesn’t require a large labor force. He**in is very labor intensive. You need lots of people. Lots of land. You have to grow poppies and process it. It exposes you to a lot,” Holmes said. “Fentanyl you can make in a chemical laboratory. You can get a place the size of this room and manufacture millions of doses of fentanyl. On a kilogram of fentanyl the profit margin is huge because it’s so concentrated.
“The cartels realized, rather than smuggle a kilogram of he**in across the border and make $50,000, you can smuggle a kilogram of fentanyl and make $1 million. Currently fentanyl is the main source of overdose deaths in the United States,” Holmes said. “We have not been as affected by fentanyl as they have on the East Coast but I’ve been told in terms of drug seizures, he**in is getting hard to find in New York. But fentanyl is very easy to find. Drug dealers from an economic standpoint are mostly dealing fentanyl now.”
Police suspect fentanyl may have claimed Corinna Megan Ortega.
Holmes the neighbor and fellow friendly hiller:
The 30-year member of the Whittier Host Lions Club was sponsored by Jerry Perisho and he and his wife, Cynthia, have raised three children, Ethan, Andrew and Courtney and have three grandchildren.
Holmes was drawn to Whittier in 1980 to serve his residency. He and his wife fell in love with the town and decided to stay.
The avid bicyclist and USC grad also serves as medical director of L.A. CADA, a substance abuse help center in Santa Fe Springs.
“I have known Randy for 20-plus years,” said Mark Scott, a licensed advanced alcohol and drug counselor, substance abuse professional and fellow Lion’s Club member. “He’s engaging, empathetic and humorous. I have referred numerous people with a substance use disorder to Randy over the years for help with medications to combat cravings. I have always found him very knowledgeable, open to input and supportive of the recovery process in general.”
Holmes said Cynthia has also been involved in the substance abuse battle. As a member of the East Whittier Junior Women’s Club, she helps out at a women’s crisis shelter near Cal High called How House.
“We’ve enjoyed the community and made a lot of good friends here,” Holmes said. When he’s not practicing family medicine or being an advocate for the dependent he and Cynthia love to travel. The pair just got back from a safari in Tanzania after a stint with friends in Amsterdam.
“I’m just a regular guy trying to make a difference. I don’t see myself as anything more than that,” Holmes said. “I do a lot of stuff, not because I have a particular talent, but just because I’ve been willing to show up and volunteer, to raise my hand. Substance abuse stuff is in my family. So I have a natural affinity for that.
“Coming from a primary care background, taking care of people with drug problems is like managing a chronic illness. Patients relapse, then they come back for more treatment,” Holmes said. “You don’t boot people out if they relapse and start using or drinking again. It’s like diabetes or hypertension or asthma. A lot of these chronic illnesses really don’t go away. You just say, ‘Come back. Let’s talk.’”

10/31/2019

This man deserves our support.

Homeless ‘guardian’
Friendly Hills man entrenched in uphill battle
By Tim Traeger
Editor
The Friendly Hiller
He is both revered and reviled, depending on where your head rests at night.
For the last several months Paul Ramirez has been centric in the fight against homelessness in Whittier. With his smartphone handy, the 57-year-old avid jogger and bicyclist has been scoping the alleys and parks where the homeless reside. When the Friendly Hills man finds a new encampment, the advertising executive snaps a picture and shares it with the Whittier Police Department using the city’s 24/7 app.
“I’ve got more than 500 photos of rotting food, filth, needles, balloons - you name it - that I’ve picked up off the streets,” Ramirez said. “Let me be very clear. This is not a war on the homeless. This is a war on drugs. There’s been a lot of debate about me being mean to the homeless. I’ve worked to get a lot of these guys shelter. They don’t want help. They’re service-resistant. If you need help I will pay to get you housing.
“This is a war on drugs and crime,” the Monterey Park native said. “That distinction is all important. If you’re service resistant and an alcoholic who is stealing bicycles from kids. If you’re using needles and drugs, urinating and defecating in the park, and you’re not willing to accept a shelter bed, then that’s on you and you need to leave.”
On a recent Saturday at Leffingwell Ranch Park, Ramirez was accosted for his actions. “Sabrina,” 41, accused him of “stealing her stuff,” which allegedly included important court documents.
“I’d like to see you come out here and try to survive. In two days you’d be in a ball whining for your mommy. You’re just a snotty-ass little bastard who grew up with a golden spoon in his mouth,” the single mother said. “If you actually want to know, we’re not bad people at all. This dude has stolen my stuff. He prevents a lot of us from getting off the streets. Tell him and his little group of vigilantes to back off. All we’re doing is just trying to help each other. Some of us get defeated, but some of us get stronger. A lot of us wouldn’t survive if we didn’t have each other.”
On Oct. 29, one day after the Whittier City Council held an emergency meeting about the homeless crisis, Whittier Mayor Joe Vinatieri invited KNBC reporter John Cadiz Klemack to Parnell Park to continue the network’s “Streets of Shame” series. The park was disinfected and power washed before the city’s Easter egg hunt in April. Now the homeless have returned, knowing they cannot be displaced because of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court ruling in Martin vs. Boise that said it’s not a crime to be homeless and the homeless can’t be displaced if there are not adequate shelter beds to accommodate.
“We have a number of Whittier people who are engaged in the homelessness issue,” Vinatieri said. “Paul has been a leader in both personally helping those homeless who desire help and calling out those who choose not to have a bed and services.”
Councilman Fernando Dutra said he’s concerned for Ramirez’s well-being.
“Paul is the ‘guardian’ of Whittier public spaces. I appreciate his passion but worry for his safety. I can’t endorse all of his m**hods but I trust his sense of right and wrong. To many Paul is like ‘Batman.’ You may not like him but he is needed,” Dutra said.
With housing costs skyrocketing and wages flat, the systemic problem plaguing cities across the Southland isn’t soon to fade. Yet Ramirez is resilient.
“These are smart people. They know the law. They know how to navigate it. And the Boise decision in the Ninth Circuit Court says homelessness is not a crime. Unless you have a shelter bed, you can’t kick them out of the park. So they can stay on public property. I don’t have a problem with that but it doesn’t say you can urinate, defecate, litter and steal,” Ramirez said.
Councilwoman Cathy Warner is his biggest fan.
”It has been a pleasure for me to work with Paul dealing with homeless issues in our community,” said the District 3 representative on the city dais. “He is the epitome of an engaged and proactive resident. Nothing dissuades Paul in his quest to make our community better. If one avenue doesn’t work in finding a solution, he finds another,” Warner said.
Ramirez said he communicates with more than 300 people on Nextdoor.com and urges everyone to download the free 24/7 app on their phones.
“There’s a wide misunderstanding of what homelessness is. These guys over here are shooting up, using m**h, stealing bicycles, breaking into cars, breaking into homes and destroying this park,” Ramirez said. “I think every person has a responsibility to the community in which they live.”

10/07/2019

God I love this town. I can't wait for the Nov.1 launch of the "Greenleaf Guardian." Praying it flourishes in a town so bereft of quality coverage ... ?

07/02/2019

How are you spending your Fourth of July?

12/12/2018

Country Club gets $4 million makeover
By Tim Traeger
Editor
Russ Onizuka is like a kid in a candy shop. The golf pro and PGA Class-A member gets to go to work each day at one of the premier golf courses in Southern California. As general manager and COO of Friendly Hills Country Club, Onizuka gets to oversee a pristine 18-hole golf course on 145 acres of prime Friendly Hills real estate. But he offers far more than golf. Members of his country club have the luxury of culinary excellence, a swim club, a 38,000-square-foot clubhouse, a fitness center and four tennis courts.
He sees his about 600 members as family.
“We have 18 holes of championship golf. We have three practice putting greens, a practice chipping green, a full-length driving range, four tennis courts, a swimming pool with two diving boards, a fitness center and formal dining,” said the Tustin resident with an easy smile.
Over the past three years the club underwent a $4 million renovation with new bunkers, fairways and greens. Established in 1968, the club is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
What’s not to smile about?
In the past the bunkers looked more like kidney beans.
“Now they have a more 3-D effect to them,” Onizuka said. “It’s also modernized the course from a playability standpoint.”
The club is mostly member-owned. He said it costs $5,000 to get in and about $1,000 a month for a full-equity membership.
“We have social memberships as well - $500 to get in and about $250 a month. We try and make it an exclusive feel for them, but somewhere that’s still comfortable. We’re not a stuffy club. We’re very family oriented. Our members treat this as their second home. It’s a great social environment. To interact with one another. To get to know one another. It’s a great networking opportunity for each other. They make a lot of new friends. It’s a big family. A special place. We probably have the best members in the club business.”
Other nearby clubs are Candlewood and the California Country Club, but few can match the class of Friendly Hills.
“We take a lot of pride in this place. You take good care of the grounds, we have a 38,000-square-foot clubhouse. So it’s a pretty significant piece of property. And you can’t beat that view” Onizuka said.
Twenty-eight-year member Bob Souders retired from the produce industry and now enjoys the club experience. On a recent Monday he was working out on state-of-the-art equipment in the newly refurbished gym.
“I’ve lost 20 pounds since I retired,” said Souders, 64. “The gym is really nice to have. That practice facility for golfers is amazing. It’s one of the best facilities in Southern California.”
He said Onizuka puts an emphasis on drawing commercial filming on the grounds.
“Russ does a great job attracting the movie industry. We’ve had several commercials filmed here,” Souders said. “There’s always som**hing going on here. There’s always an activity. He’s constantly coming up with creative new ideas for our members.”
Marketing and Events Manager Taylor Stewart echoed these sentiments.
“We are the center of the Friendly Hills community,” Stewart said. “We host over 200 events throughout the year for members and non-members. Events include but are certainly not limited to weddings, quinceaneras, birthday parties, anniversaries, golf tournaments, corporate meetings, conventions and more.
“The family dynamic at FHCC is unparalleled,” Stewart said. “Between our monthly family nights, kids’ club and award-winning swim and dive team, we are like their home away from home.”

12/12/2018

Country Club gets $4 million makeover
By Tim Traeger
Editor
Russ Onizuka is like a kid in a candy shop. The golf pro and PGA Class-A member gets to go to work each day at one of the premier golf courses in Southern California. As general manager and COO of Friendly Hills Country Club, Onizuka gets to oversee a pristine 18-hole golf course on 145 acres of prime Friendly Hills real estate. But he offers far more than golf. Members of his country club have the luxury of culinary excellence, a swim club, a 38,000-square-foot clubhouse, a fitness center and four tennis courts.
He sees his about 600 members as family.
“We have 18 holes of championship golf. We have three practice putting greens, a practice chipping green, a full-length driving range, four tennis courts, a swimming pool with two diving boards, a fitness center and formal dining,” said the Tustin resident with an easy smile.
Over the past three years the club underwent a $4 million renovation with new bunkers, fairways and greens. Established in 1968, the club is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
What’s not to smile about?
In the past the bunkers looked more like kidney beans.
“Now they have a more 3-D effect to them,” Onizuka said. “It’s also modernized the course from a playability standpoint.”
The club is mostly member-owned. He said it costs $5,000 to get in and about $1,000 a month for a full-equity membership.
“We have social memberships as well - $500 to get in and about $250 a month. We try and make it an exclusive feel for them, but somewhere that’s still comfortable. We’re not a stuffy club. We’re very family oriented. Our members treat this as their second home. It’s a great social environment. To interact with one another. To get to know one another. It’s a great networking opportunity for each other. They make a lot of new friends. It’s a big family. A special place. We probably have the best members in the club business.”
Other nearby clubs are Candlewood and the California Country Club, but few can match the class of Friendly Hills.
“We take a lot of pride in this place. You take good care of the grounds, we have a 38,000-square-foot clubhouse. So it’s a pretty significant piece of property. And you can’t beat that view” Onizuda said.
Twenty-eight-year member Bob Souders retired from the produce industry and now enjoys the club experience. On a recent Monday he was working out on state-of-the-art equipment in the newly refurbished gym.
“I’ve lost 20 pounds since I retired,” said Souders, 64. “The gym is really nice to have. That practice facility for golfers is amazing. It’s one of the best facilities in Southern California.”
He said Onizuka puts an emphasis on drawing commercial filming on the grounds.
“Russ does a great job attracting the movie industry. We’ve had several commercials filmed here,” Souders said. “There’s always som**hing going on here. There’s always an activity. He’s constantly coming up with creative new ideas for our members.”
Marketing and Events Manager Taylor Stewart echoed these sentiments.
“We are the center of the Friendly Hills community,” Steward said. “We host over 200 events throughout the year for members and non-members. Events include but are certainly not limited to weddings, quinceaneras, birthday parties, anniversaries, golf tournaments, corporate meetings, conventions and more.
“The family dynamic at FHCC is unparalleled,” Steward said. “Between our monthly family nights, kids’ club and award-winning swim and dive team, we are like their home away from home.”

12/11/2018

By Tim Traeger
Editor
John William Orth was a prolific painter. Over the course of his life he created thousands of works of art.
Now some of his masterpieces are on display at the Whittier Museum in the form of 20- by 24-inch paintings of the first 35 American presidents – from George Washington to Richard Nixon. Similar to the miniature oil paintings we have displayed in our Wardman Hall, the larger paintings represent the third set of presidential portraits create by Orth, the father of Museum key patron Erika Owens. She is the wife of late Whittier Daily News Publisher Lee Owens, a founding member in creating the Whittier Museum and the Boys & Girls Club of Whittier.
“He started painting as a small boy,” Erika Owens said about her father from the kitchen of her longtime Friendly Hills home. “He was talented in art and painting and his family sent him to the famous art school in Munich, Germany.”
Ironically, Erika said her father had no special love for the presidency, nor any particular commander in chief.
Erika said her husband was instrumental to getting the paintings donated to the Wardman Library at Whittier College on Oct. 19, 1977. The Museum acquired them in February with the help of former Wardman Library Interim Director Mike Garabedian.
“The Museum is the perfect place to display them,” Garabedian said. “They belong there.”
Erika said her husband was well-versed in all types of painting, including a true-life drawing of Erika’s mother’s dog, Nellie.
“He was in the middle of painting lots of things. Flower bouquets and reproductions of all kinds of things that people wanted,” Erika said. “Coming to the U.S., he thought ‘well, the presidents were kind of important.’ And there weren’t any big collections of the presidents around at the time. So it was open season on going out and doing research.”
After moving to California from Houston, Erika said her father painted many bouquets of flowers.
“Being an artist was a full-time job. Just to make a living you had to keep putting out and putting out all the time,” Erika said. “An artist’s life was very difficult. He did a lot of painting just to get by, just to earn a living. One of the things he was most famous for was painting bouquets of flowers. Flowers and vases. People would buy those to decorate their houses. He painted hundreds of those in Southern California, and they all sold. He could paint anything.”
“He could do oil or watercolor or etchings. He did a lot of etchings,” Erika said.
Grandson, Tim Owens, spoke about his grandfather’s penchant for art.
“He was prolific. When I was a kid we’d go to his house in Santa Ana, a three-bedroom ranch. And one or two rooms were empty, except rows of pictures stacked against the walls,” Tim Owens said.
Erika and Lee Owens were married in 1952 and the union lasted close to 50 years.
“It was a wonderful marriage,” Erika said. “Lee was a great man. He worked hard for Whittier. He’s the one that got the Museum. He got that building. Then he worked so hard building the boys and girls club.”
Upon his death in 2001, a park on Greenleaf Avenue was named after Owens.

12/11/2018

By Tim Traeger
Editor

They’ll take you from Friendly Hills to Rose Hills, but chances are you’ll enjoy the ride.
Phil and Paul White run White Emerson Mortuary, a full-service company that deals with what all of us humans face. Mortality.
For six generations the Whites have comforted us when the Lord says it’s time to go.
There’s a spiritual underpinning that can’t be overlooked. The Whites are devout Christians and it shows in their work.
“We enjoy the wonderful families we’ve been blessed to serve,” said Paul, 32. “We comfort grieving people. That’s what our aim is. We feel that’s what the Lord has carved out for us to do. Faith is a big part of who we are.”
Adversity hasn’t escaped the Whites. The magnitude-5.9 Whittier Narrows Earthquake on Oct. 1, 1987 destroyed their building on Philadelphia Street. But with a strong faith in God, the family rebuilt.
“It’s pretty evident through two world wars and an earthquake that destroys a business and a community and all those types of things, that we’re still here,” Phil, 55, said. “Obviously it means God intends to have us do what we do. Since 1894, all that stuff has happened.”
With the exception of Whittier College, White Emerson Mortuary, 13304 Philadelphia St., is the oldest business in Whittier.
“And they’re a nonprofit,” Paul said.
The father and son said the mortuary serves between 30 and 40 families a month. It doesn’t happen without compassion.
When a family experiences a loss, the Whites are there to give solace in a time of great need.
“First, we express our condolences. This is the first day of your life you’ve known without your mother. That’s a tough thing to have to sift through, but we’re going to take you by the hand and offer the best care for your mother. We’ll give you the peace of mind to know that she’s well cared for. Then we’re going to make sure that all the tasks that go along with saying goodbye are handled appropriately and patiently. We’re going to take that burden off your shoulders. So you can focus on the most important thing. To grieve.”
Together with their daughter and sister Annie, the Whites have undertaken a huge responsibility.
How do they stay upbeat?
“I don’t know you can ever leave it at work,” Paul said. “We use a tremendous amount of energy taking care of those families. Unfortunately sometimes I feel like my family doesn’t get the best of me. That’s the case for any job.”
Phil finds much strength in his wife, Becca.
“After 34 years of marriage, honestly she doesn’t ask anymore. You try not to talk about how your day went because there’s nothing your wife can do about it. We have supportive wives who realize that what we do is hard, so they’re in the battle trenches as well trying to take care of our homes and our kids,” Phil said.
For receptionist and systems clerk Esther Snell, it’s all about comforting grieving families.
“I’m not dealing with death. I’m dealing with families,” Snell said. “You can’t decide when somebody’s going to pass. So we take care of families when they need us.”
For more information call 562-698-0304.