It was just an ivy-overrun, litter-strewn, weed-infested little
corner of Gilroy. Early mornings often found it piled with beer
cans after loiterers used the old shed nearby to hide behind while
drinking the night before.
It was just an ivy-overrun, litter-strewn, weed-infested little corner of Gilroy. Early mornings often found it piled with beer cans after loiterers used the old shed nearby to hide behind while drinking the night before.
Four and a half tons of rock, a redwood fence, wind chimes and a weeping cherry tree later, Don O’Dell has turned it into a little patch of heaven.
O’Dell spent weeks planning the transformation of the small plot of land at the back of a parking lot on Church Street between Habing’s and the Music Academy. Technically on Methodist Church property, O’Dell took on the project at his own expense. As the former owner of O’Dell Pool Finishing, he had never built a memorial garden before, but he was inspired to do it by his late wife, Arlene O’Dell.
He lost her to cancer in 2007 after 53 years of marriage, just as they were about to begin their golden retirement years together.
“She was the the love of my life,” he said with tears in his eyes.
Working on the garden brought out a creative side O’Dell never knew he possessed. He began by drawing the design on paper with colored pencils. Figuring out how to do it as he went along, he began to create his first original wood carving of colorful flowers for the centerpiece of the arbor.
When O’Dell hired Armando’s Fence Company to build a redwood fence, Armando Tavares went above and beyond what was asked. He cleared the ivy, trash, and debris from the corner with his Bobcat and dump truck, saving O’Dell and his fellow volunteers a week’s worth of clearing by hand. He spent an additional 2.5 hours placing eight big 500-pound boulders into place.
When asked what he wanted to be paid for the extra work, Tavares said, “No charge.”
As people saw the garden beginning to take shape, they wanted to join in. As enthusiasm grew, each day brought someone new asking whether they could be a part of contributing to the garden.
Friends Joyce and Howard volunteered, son Mike laid the rock for the garden, and bowling buddy John Jepson (aka J.J.) gave advice to O’Dell on how to improve the plans. He and his wife, Jo-Ann, hung beautiful wind chimes and planted ferns and shade-loving plants in the garden. Others brought azaleas, camellias, and gardenias. Sandy and Manny Aguilera donated a garden bench.
Septuagenarians Charles Krahenbuhl and Jack Gifford came out and spent a day demolishing the unsightly shed in the garden area. A number of people including Andoni Bundros helped place rocks; even children helped push the large rocks into the cement.
When San Martin resident Tina Bartunek asked O’Dell if she could plant a yellow rose in his garden in memory of her grandmother – longtime Eigleberry Street resident Doris Kallas – O’Dell was quick to say, “This is not my garden. It is our garden. It’s for everyone.”
Vi Taylor, who at 84 years old still volunteers several days a week at the local hospital, planted flowers in the garden to commemorate her late husband.
“Your husband is next to my grandmother,” Bartunek joked with her.
“As I worked under this old oak tree for about three months laying out the garden,” O’Dell said. “I thought about how during the 200 years it’s been here, God has tested it, and it’s withstood so many storms. It represents the hope and strength people will find when they spend time here.”
Four stepping stones at one edge of the garden seemingly lead nowhere.
“I woke up at 2:30 in the morning thinking about those stones, wondering ‘where do they lead?'” O’Dell said. “But then I realized what they represent. They lead to our path of life, to the unknown. We don’t know what the future holds. When you lose someone you love, you have to learn to go on, but it’s helping and doing good for others that will really give you peace and comfort in your own mind.”
Creating a little corner of beauty out of what once was a dump is bringing joy to many others.
“Life is harried – we live at frenetic paces because of our ‘doing’ oriented culture,” Sandra Marlowe said after visiting the garden. “It’s a place that invites just being for its own sake – breathe in, breathe out, be in the moment.”
O’Dell carries a coin in his pocket, so worn that the words once engraved on it are completely gone. That’s because it’s been in his pocket every day since November of 1953, when it came as a good luck charm in the box of wedding invitations ordered by his bride, Arlene.
“Always desire and expect the best, and the best will come to you,” O’Dell recites from memory, rubbing the well-worn charm between his fingers. “It really is true.”
