The Memorial Wall

Really sad news, Vern. One of the men who brought Ernest P. Worrell to life has died. Filmmaker John Cherry died Sunday after a long battle with Parkinson's disease at the age of 73. 

"Buster, as his friends lovingly knew him by, was probably the most brilliant man I've ever met," reads a post from Melissa Laster on a Facebook page dedicated to the iconic character portrayed by Jim Varney. "Even as Parkinson's began to rob him of some things, that creative mind of his was always going full-force to the best of its ability.

"He was kind, amazingly funny, generous and had a heart of gold. In addition to being a brilliant writer, he was also an amazing artist, a skilled fisherman and an all-around amazing human being."

Cherry, a longtime resident of Williamson County, helped create the lovable good ol' boy Ernest character for his ad agency Carden and Cherry, alongside then-rising stand-up comic Varney in the role that would wind up defining both of their careers. The character was created to help advertise a then-rundown Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky.

In a 1990 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cherry described the appeal that Ernest had during the advertising days. 

"Every time we do a study on who Ernest appeals to, it’s the under-13 and over-35 age groups,” Cherry said at the time. “If you’re under 13, it’s OK, and when you’re over 35, you know it doesn’t count anymore — you don’t have to be cool.”

The Ernest character first was used in regional advertisements (including an eight-year run with Nashville's Purity Dairies) and in short comedy skits before he hosted a direct-to-video special, Knowhutimean? Hey Vern, It's My Family Album, in 1983. He made his theatrical debut in 1985's subversive cult film Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam, which saw Varney play seven roles, including Ernest, the titular Dr. Otto and his recurring character Auntie Nelda. That film started Cherry's longtime practice of mainly shooting the Ernest films in and around Nashville. 

Cherry is survived by his children Josh, Emilie and Chapman. His son Josh appeared in Ernest in “the Army” as Corporal Davis. 

Closing up one night in 1961, workers at the Original Spanish Kitchen on Beverly Boulevard set out silverware, saltshakers and napkins at each table and neatly stacked the chairs.

And there the settings and chairs remained, unmoved for more than a quarter of a century.

A “Closed for Vacation” sign, hung outside that night, gave no clue that the restaurant would never reopen.

So what happened?

One rumor held that the owner had been shot to death inside and that his wife had wanted the place left undisturbed until the killer was caught.

Some believed the restaurant was haunted. There were stories of knives flying in the night.

The TV show “Lou Grant” set a murder mystery there.

But there was a quieter explanation.

“The truth is,” The Times reported in 1989, “that this decaying building has simply frozen in time a moment of happier days in a love story of an elderly woman who has shut herself off from the world . . . “

The woman was co-owner Pearl Caretto. She and her husband, Johnny, had opened the restaurant in 1932, and it became a favorite of stars such as Bob Hope, Linda Darnell and John Barrymore. Mary Pickford, who had a special booth near the door, would bring in recipes.

Then in 1961, the husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and Pearl closed the restaurant to take care of him in their residence on the second floor. He died a few years later, and she could never bring herself to reopen.

“Isn’t it sad how so many people never find their one true love?” she told writer Michael Szymanski, who tracked her down in 1989. At that time the restaurant was still closed, tables still set. “And always, always, it ends in heartbreak. You’ll see.”

Caretto, who has since died, was living in an apartment by then, having moved away from the restaurant after it was vandalized. The family sold the property in the late 1990s.

All of this was a long time ago, and yet the restaurant’s mystique lives on.

Its sign is still standing, though it’s partly covered so that only the “Spa” in “Spanish” can be seen. Perfect for the upstairs occupant, Ona Spa.

“The neighbors wanted it left up,” explained Fabienne Dufourg, co-owner of Ona as well as Prive hair salon, which now occupies the former Spanish Kitchen space. A cafe there shut down.

When Dufourg reopened the building eight years ago, the rumors of ghosts were still alive.

“I am very grounded -- I don’t believe a word about ghosts,” she said. “My husband, he’s an artist. He believed it.”

But she converted one day in August. “It was very hot,” she said, and she was standing inside the building when “I felt like my legs were freezing.”

And, so, she said, “We did a clearing.” In other words, she hired a psychic from Arizona to check for poltergeists.

The psychic found five ghosts. “The ghosts were coming after my mother-in-law -- oh, it’s a long story,” Dufourg said. “There was a nasty one. I think he was a sort of killer from the ‘50s.”

The psychic, who charged $70 an hour, chased out the spirits in an impressive time of 30 minutes. These days, the building is ghost-free, more or less.

“Sometimes I wonder,” said Lane Lenhart, a manager at Ona. “Funky things happen once in a while, lights going on and off...”

Aside from the “Spa” sign, the old place’s name has survived in other ways.

A rock group christened itself Spanish Kitchen and posed by the building for a website photo. The group later dropped the name, but not because of ghosts. It seemed that people kept asking if it was a salsa band.

Meanwhile, a new Spanish Kitchen restaurant materialized on La Cienega Boulevard.

“I wanted to capture some of the romance of old Hollywood,” explained owner Greg Morris, no relation to the Carettos.

He didn’t inherit any ghosts, but he did meet a link to the Original Spanish Kitchen.

“The owner’s daughter came in and gave me a great paella pan with the name stamped on it,” he said.

Morris knows the real story of the old restaurant but enjoys listening to versions told by his older customers.

“I’ve heard stories that there was a Mafia killing there,” he said. “Or that the owner was a bullfighter, and his wife was a flamenco dancer and he killed her because he didn’t like her dancing.”

Morris added: “I never correct any of the stories.”

Mike Marley, who went from Reno to the highest levels of professional boxing and won an Emmy for his work with legendary broadcaster Howard Cosell, died March 2 in Cape Cod, Mass., after battling Parkinson's disease.

He was 72.

Marley moved to Reno from Massachusetts to box for Jimmy Olivas at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he studied journalism.

As a teenager, Marley had been president of a Muhammad Ali fan club. He met Ali before his rematch with Sonny Liston in May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine, which Ali won via first-round knockout.

After leaving Reno, Marley went on to work as a sportswriter for the Las Vegas Sun, according to the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame, and later for the New York Post, mainly covering boxing.

According to a story-filled obituary from Phil Mushnick in the New York Post, and other accounts, Marley left the Post after 13 years to work for Cosell on ABCs "SportsBeat" TV show, while also attending Fordham Law School. He won an Emmy while working as a producer for "SportsBeat."

He later became a criminal defense attorney. His slogan was, "Reasonable doubt for a reasonable price."

In 1992, Marley went to work doing publicity for boxing promoter Don King, who was Ali's manager.

In 1997, he left to become the manager for boxer Terry Norris. Norris had been set to fight Oscar De La Hoya, but lost a tune-up fight and never faced De La Hoya.

Boxing matchmaker Eric Bottjer wrote that Marley "was pure New York Post — brash and funny, usually with a wink." He said Marley was quick-witted but had a deeper side and was never mean-spirited.

In 2015, the RGJ spoke with Marley prior to the U.S. Olympic Trials coming to Reno in a story chronicling the Biggest Little City's rich history with the sport of boxing.

In the story, Marley spoke about Cuban heavyweight Teofilo Stevenson — a three-time Olympic gold medalist who was arguably the greatest amateur to fight in Reno.

“This guy was like Franklin D. Roosevelt, he was in power so long,” Marley said in the story. “For 16 years, from 1970 to 1986, he was the top amateur in the world. There was all this speculation about how he would have fared against Muhammad Ali.

"When he fought his last fight against Alex Garcia (in Reno in 1986), he had more belts than Macy’s department store.”

Mike Marley, who went from Reno to the highest levels of professional boxing and won an Emmy for his work with legendary broadcaster Howard Cosell, died March 2 in Cape Cod, Mass., after battling Parkinson's disease.

He was 72.

Marley moved to Reno from Massachusetts to box for Jimmy Olivas at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he studied journalism.

As a teenager, Marley had been president of a Muhammad Ali fan club. He met Ali before his rematch with Sonny Liston in May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine, which Ali won via first-round knockout.

After leaving Reno, Marley went on to work as a sportswriter for the Las Vegas Sun, according to the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame, and later for the New York Post, mainly covering boxing.

According to a story-filled obituary from Phil Mushnick in the New York Post, and other accounts, Marley left the Post after 13 years to work for Cosell on ABCs "SportsBeat" TV show, while also attending Fordham Law School. He won an Emmy while working as a producer for "SportsBeat."

He later became a criminal defense attorney. His slogan was, "Reasonable doubt for a reasonable price."

In 1992, Marley went to work doing publicity for boxing promoter Don King, who was Ali's manager.

In 1997, he left to become the manager for boxer Terry Norris. Norris had been set to fight Oscar De La Hoya, but lost a tune-up fight and never faced De La Hoya.

Boxing matchmaker Eric Bottjer wrote that Marley "was pure New York Post — brash and funny, usually with a wink." He said Marley was quick-witted but had a deeper side and was never mean-spirited.

In 2015, the RGJ spoke with Marley prior to the U.S. Olympic Trials coming to Reno in a story chronicling the Biggest Little City's rich history with the sport of boxing.

In the story, Marley spoke about Cuban heavyweight Teofilo Stevenson — a three-time Olympic gold medalist who was arguably the greatest amateur to fight in Reno.

“This guy was like Franklin D. Roosevelt, he was in power so long,” Marley said in the story. “For 16 years, from 1970 to 1986, he was the top amateur in the world. There was all this speculation about how he would have fared against Muhammad Ali.

"When he fought his last fight against Alex Garcia (in Reno in 1986), he had more belts than Macy’s department store.”

Georgia’s Republican amiable politician Johnny Isakson died on Sunday after being promoted from a legislature to become a US Senator known as an effective behind-the-scenes consensus maker. He was 76 years old.

Isakson’s son, John Isaksson, told The Associated Press that his father fell asleep at his home in Atlanta before dawn. John Isakson said his father had Parkinson’s disease, but the cause of death was not immediately apparent. “He was a wonderful person. I miss him,” said John Isakson.

Johnny Isakson, a millionaire in the real estate industry, spent more than 40 years in Georgia’s political life. In the Senate, he was a tax-deductible architect popular with first-time homebuyers, who said he would help revitalize the struggling home market. As Chairman of the Senate Veterans Commission, he worked to expand the program to provide veterans with more folk medicine options.

Isakson’s famous motto was, “There are two kinds of people in this world, friends and future friends.” Due to that approach, he was very popular among his colleagues.

“Johnny was one of my best friends in the Senate,” Kentucky Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday. “But what’s amazing about him is that about 98 other Senators always felt the same. With his infectious warmth, charisma, generosity, and honesty, Johnny Became one of the most admired and beloved people in the House of Parliament. “

In 2015, Isakson announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease while preparing for his third term in the Senate. Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, progressive movement disorder that significantly slows walking. Immediately after winning the reelection in 2016, he underwent scheduled surgery on his back to deal with the deterioration of his spine. He often relied on wands and wheelchairs in later years.

In August 2019, Isakson announced that he would retire at the end of the year shortly after falling in his Washington apartment and breaking his four ribs, leaving him with a two-year term.

In a farewell speech in the Senate, he begged for bipartisanism during a fierce division between Republicans and Democrats. He cites a long friendship with Atlanta Democrat and civil rights hero John Lewis as an example of two men who are willing to set aside the party to tackle common problems. 

“Let’s solve the problem and see what happens,” Isakson said. “Most of the people who call a person’s name and point their finger are those who don’t have a solution on their own.”

Lewis, who died last year, paid tribute to Isakson on the house floor in 2019, saying, “We have always found a way to get along and do the right job for people.”

After the speech, Lewis said, “Brother, I’m coming to see you,” and walked to hug Isakson.

From Atlanta, Isakson failed in 1974 with his first bid for an elected position, a seat on the Cobb County Commission. Two years later, he was elected to the Georgia State Representatives and became the only Republican to defeat the incumbent Democratic Party of Georgia. That same year, Jimmy Carter was elected president. Isakson served in the State Capitol and the Senate for 17 years. Always a minority in Georgia’s parliament, boosted by the Atlanta suburban boom, he helped pave the way for Republican dominance in the 2000s. By the end of Isakson’s career, some of those same suburbs were looking back towards the Democrats.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said in a statement, “As a businessman and talented retail politician, Johnny paved the way for Georgia’s modern Republican Party, but partisan politics do the right thing. Never disturbed me. “

Isakson suffered a humble setback before being sent to the Senate. In 1990, he lost to Democrat Zelmirer in the governor’s race. In 1996, Guy Milner defeated Milner in the Senate Republican primary before he lost to Democratic Max Cleland.

Many observers chalked the loss to Isakson, who was not tough enough with regard to abortion. In the Primary, Isakson advertised on television and said he would “not vote to amend the constitution to create criminals for women and their doctors” while opposed to government funding and the promotion of abortion.

“I trust my wife, daughter, and Georgian woman to make the right choice,” he said.

He changed his mind about the issues that later became controversial.

Isakson’s jump to Congress took place in 1998 when US House Speaker Newt Gingrich decided not to seek reelection. Isaksson won a special election in 1999 to fill a seat in the suburbs of Atlanta.

He finally arrived in the US Senate in 2004 when he defeated Democratic Denise Madget with 58% of the votes. He served Georgia’s senior senator Saxby Chambris, a close friend and classmate at the University of Georgia.

Isakson was considered an exorbitant early favorite to take over Republican Sonny Perdue at the Governor’s mansion in 2010. But he instead chose to seek a second term in the Senate. While there, he built a reputation as a moderate, but rarely split up with the party in major votes.

He was a major negotiator on immigration law endorsed by President George W. Bush in 2007, but was eventually abandoned after encountering strong resistance from the right. Chambris and Isaksson were booed over their immigrant stance at the Georgia Republican Convention that year.

Isakson supported limited school vouchers and played a major role in developing Bush’s signature education plan, the No Child Left Behind Act. He would also push for a compromise on the politically prosecuted issue of stem cell research, which would also expand research funding, ensuring that human embryos would not be harmed.

The approach to doing that deal is no longer endorsed by many voters, but Isaksson’s pedigree continues to exist in Georgian politics. State Attorney General Chris Kerr was the former Senator Chief of Staff. “When I was young when I was just starting politics, I wanted to be like Johnny Isakson,” Kerr said on Sunday.

Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock said “everything in Georgia” was saddened by Isakson’s death. After defeating Republican Kelly Loeffler in the January final vote, Warnock, who took over Isakson’s old seat, pays homage to the late Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Evernizer Baptist Church in Atlanta. I had a special relationship with Isakson who attended. The pulpit of the church belonged to King and later to Warnock. Warnock also continues Isakson’s tradition of offering an annual barbecue lunch for all Senators.

“The model of public services sets an example for the next generation of leaders in how to make progress on the principle while governing with compassion and compromise,” Warnock said on Sunday.

Isakson graduated from the University of Georgia in 1966 and joined the family-owned company Northside Realty in Cobb County a year later. With over 20 years of command, it has grown to be one of the largest independent residential real estate brokerage companies in the country. Isakson also served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966 to 1972.

He was survived by his wife, Diane, who married in 1968, three children, and nine grandchildren.

Joel Dwight Janzen passed away peacefully in his home on Thursday, October 7 with his wife Lucille by his side. Joel was born to Frank and Marian (Regier) Janzen in Hillsboro, Kansas on April 22, 1938. He lived in Hillsboro until he went to college. He received his degree in Mathematics at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas. He received his Masters degree in Guidance Counseling at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.

On August 25, 1959, he married Lucille Klaassen, also of Hillsboro, Kansas. They were married for 62 happy and adventurous years. In 1961, Joel and Lucille moved to Lawrence Kansas, where he taught math at West Junior High.

In 1966, Joel answered the call to teach in Africa. Joel, Luci and children Julie and Greg left Lawrence and Joel spent the next 4 years teaching and counseling in the Congo at The American School of Kinshasa. Daughter Jane was born in Kinshasa before they returned to the United States, this time to settle in Tacoma, Washington. Their fourth child, Emily, was born in Tacoma.

Joel was hired as a counselor at Hunt Junior High in Tacoma in 1970. Joel had caught the Travel Bug, for which there was no vaccine. In 1974, the family headed to Lagos, Nigeria with the opportunity to teach at the American International School in Lagos. After three years, Joel was hired as guidance counselor at the International School of Kenya. The family lived in Nairobi for four years.

Joel took his family back to Tacoma in 1981, where he continued as a school counselor. Still afflicted with the Travel Bug, Joel and Luci went back to the international school in Lagos in 1993, where Joel was counselor and Luci taught 2nd grade until 1997. He retired in 2002 after serving as a high school counselor in Tacoma Public Schools. Joel and Luci have been living on Anderson Island since 2013.

Joel enjoyed a variety of hobbies. We remember him most for his love of singing and listening to music. He was known for his beautiful tenor voice. He loved Africa and took his family on many safaris. He especially enjoyed bird watching. The Travel Bug was still very active after retirement, so Joel and Luci traveled to Europe, Asia, and South America.

He is survived by the love of his life Lucille and four children: Julie Janzen Shires (Paul Shires) of Arroyo Grande CA; Greg Janzen (Doris Acosta) Fox Island, WA; Jane Ellen Kramer (David Kramer) Grass Valley, CA; Emily Janzen Reimer (Troy Reimer) Lawrence Kansas. He is also survived by his brother Don Janzen (Irene) of Newton, Kansas, and Ruby Derksen (Carl) of La Canada, CA. His brother John Janzen (Shirley) preceded him in death. He took great joy in his 10 grandchildren: William Shirefley (Tess Shirefley), Addison Kramer, Adam Shires, Benjamin Reimer, Elliott Kramer (Sam Kramer), Jonathan Reimer, Greta Kramer, Griffin Janzen, Lucy Reimer, and Matthew Reimer.

Joel's last words were, "I have a song in my heart." A memorial service will be held on July 16, 2022.