Jerry and Kathy Willins. Photo courtesy Jerry Willins
Though long retired from his career in pharmacy, Jerry Willins continues to dispense good medicine in the form of sage counsel and civic leadership.
Willins, 83, who resides on Channel Drive five miles north of town, played an integral part in the launch earlier this year of La Conner Community News, just the most recent of his many public service projects here and elsewhere.
Willins has served as President of the La Conner Rotary Club, on the Sedro-Woolley City Council, with the Fairbanks Junior Chamber of Commerce, and, alongside wife Kathy, in support of several nonprofit entities, including the Museum of Northwest Art (MONA), La Conner Swinomish Library, and Skagit River Poetry Festival.
Professionally, as a University of Washington trained pharmacist, Willins owned the historic Holland Drug Store in Sedro-Woolley, which at the time was considered the oldest continuously operated business in Skagit County.
Under his watch, the store became part of Holland Health Services, specializing in pharmaceuticals and medical supplies and equipment. Willins cites as one of its prized achievements the development of a custom wheelchair that allowed a client to regain mobility despite suffering from severe tremors.
“A newspaper tells stories and we learn by having people tell their
stories. Everybody has a story to tell, and the newspaper facilitates
that.” – Jerry Willins
Still, his brief though vital stint as an original La Conner Community News board member ranks among Willins’ most valued roles. The local panel navigated uncharted territory by founding a non-profit publication following the closure last December of the La Conner Weekly News, which had enjoyed a 17-year run, the last seven of those under editor-publisher Ken Stern.
“When the paper closed,” said Willins, “there was a sense of loss. People felt disconnected. The new paper has reconnected the community.”
Willins considers newspapers to be among the key cornerstones of any community.
“A newspaper tells stories,” he noted, “and we learn by having people tell their stories. Everybody has a story to tell, and the newspaper facilitates that.”
Willins’ own story is nothing short of remarkable.
As a child growing up in Lewiston, Maine, he was struck by the polio epidemic of 1949. Willins spent time in the hospital, his case so severe that an iron lung was ordered for him. But he rallied, and though weakened, was ultimately discharged.
“I walked out of that hospital,” he said. “I was one of the lucky ones.”
Still, the lingering effects precluded his participation in youth sports. But by no means did it render him inactive in the long run.
Willins took on a rigorous academic schedule at the UW, initially in an engineering program. He was following in the footsteps of his father, a chemical engineer, who had joined the Weyerhaeuser Company.
Willins, however, was persuaded by another student to switch majors and pursue a degree in pharmacy. His life as a new pharmacist took him first to the interior of Alaska and the mining supply hub of Fairbanks.
“It was an exciting place,” Willins recalled. “Before the oil (boom), it had a small-town feel. There were only 36,000 people in the entire borough (county).”
Surviving the long Alaskan winters became a challenge, though, despite a robust workload and a busy slate with the Fairbanks JCs.
“We knew we wouldn’t be there forever,” he said.
When his career brought him to Skagit County, there were nearly two dozen owner-operated pharmacies in the area.
“Now,” said Willins, “Hilltop Pharmacy in Mount Vernon is the last of that kind.”
In Sedro-Woolley, Willins built a loyal clientele.
“I loved our customers,” he reflected. “Those old-time Sedro-Woolley families were very special.
“It was important,” added Willins, “to respond to the support and loyalty of our customers. We tried to be as responsive in as many ways as we could.”
Willins continued to balance business and public ventures. He joined a neighbor in leading a successful petition drive opposing the proposed conversion of Sedro-Woolley’s Talcott Street to a main arterial. Longtime mayor and state championship high school wrestling coach Donald “Spud” Walley was a proponent of the failed Talcott campaign.
“Spud came up to me and said, ‘Jerry, you realize you went against my plans,’” Willins remembered with a chuckle.
Then Walley invited Willins to run for an at-large Sedro-Woolley Council seat.
Voters would repeatedly reward Willins at the polls. He served on Sedro-Woolley’s governing body for 14 years.
During that time Willins took note of various leadership styles. He found the approach of Sedro-Woolley School District administrator, one-term mayor, and Skagit Public Utility District (PUD) Commissioner Bill Stendel especially effective.
“He was a fine leader,” Willins said of Stendel. “There are various ways to lead. The best ones provide others the ownership of ideas.”
That’s a trait frequently attributed to Willins himself.
“Jerry is a very generous contributor to the community,” said retired La Conner Middle School Principal Maureen Harlan, who lauds Willins as an engaged listener with a team-first mindset.
“People are always seeking him out for his advice and wisdom,” she said.
The Willins’ moved to Channel Drive just over 30 years ago. Jerry was then free from daily responsibilities at the drug store.
“I haven’t filled a prescription since 1993,” he confirmed.
The couple dove without hesitation into the La Conner scene, their multiple commitments evident to this very day. Kathy, whom Jerry insists “is a far better person than me,” now serves on La Conner’s library foundation board.
Jerry, meanwhile, didn’t hesitate to sign up with the community group that formed last year to retain a newspaper here. He endorses the new publication’s focus on giving greater voice to the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community.
“The connection with Swinomish,” he stressed, “is important.”
So, too, Willins said, is the opportunity for La Conner Community News to provide an accurate, informative, and non-sensationalized product.
In that vein, the retired pharmacist is putting forth a prescription for journalistic success.
“Good news,” he pointed out, “is hard to sell. Sometimes, it just doesn’t trigger deep emotion.
But it’s important to celebrate the average person doing an everyday job, like the clerk who makes you feel good when you walk into a store or office.”
Bill Reynolds: bill@laconnercommunitynews.org. Bill is a general assignment reporter who covers Town government, schools, and spot news.
