From the May 2 – May 8, 2002 issue

Columns

Obits

by Clark Humphrey

Harry "Jerry" Eduardo Dorr, 86, had a long and colorful life that began in Philadelphia, where he was born to a pair of Russian immigrants. As a child he was placed in the care of the Children's Aid Society of New York, which sent him on an "orphan train" to adoptive parents in Nebraska. As an adult he went to Hollywood and became a hairstylist to the stars. In the 1950s he came to the hair salon at Seattle's Frederick & Nelson department store. Over the years he branched out to write magazine articles and appear on TV talk shows discussing the importance of the proper haircut. He also ran an antique shop for 10 years, worked as a licensed estate appraiser of fine-art pieces, acted in dozens of local theatrical productions, and served on the boards of Civic Light Opera and other local theater groups. Dorr died April 16 of unspecified causes.

The Green Cat Café on East Olive Way closed suddenly on April 9. The Capitol Hill institution was famous for its light veggie meals, espressos, and smoothies--until new owners took over last fall and tinkered with the menu, to the dissatisfaction of some regular customers. The former owner has retaken control of the Green Cat's name and assets.

Bushell's Auction House, Seattle's oldest dealer of antiques and fine arts, is shutting down on June 30 after 96 years in business--86 of those at the same building on Second Avenue near Virginia Street. Its weekly Tuesday-morning auctions were low-key, informal rituals for a regular clientele of personal collectors and professional antique dealers. (Among the latter group is your Obits writer's mother, a Bushell's regular for over 30 years.) The business was also known for its finely picked merchandise, its exceptionally scrupulous sales policies (never knowingly misrepresenting an item), and its rejection of "modern" conveniences (credit cards, computers). The causes of Bushell's demise: The advancing age of the three fifth-generation Bushell sisters currently running the place, and (natch) the site's potential as a future high-rise condo location. The property has been put up for sale; the low-rise brick building, a relic of a more personal and less hyperactive age, will almost certainly be razed.

Sherman LaVoise Wilcots, 77, worked at Seattle Central Community College from 1971 to 1991, starting as a drafting teacher and later becoming director of cooperative education and division chairperson of trade and industry. In the '90s he had small roles and/or extra appearances in seemingly every movie filmed in Seattle (Sleepless in Seattle, Disclosure, Assassin, Born to Be Wild, Little Buddha, The Vanishing). Wilcots died April 17 from complications of diabetes.

obits@thestranger.com