Jerry Morissette's trip through life began in a desert town, wound through the Navy and a monastery, then took a detour through alcoholism. Now he has found a rest stop - a real one - on a California highway.
Morissette has turned a rest area once notorious for sexual pickups, drugs and vandalism into a safe, immaculate place renowned for bouquets on the sinks, well-tended flower beds and his own friendly presence.He also has turned it into a home. Morissette has lived illegally in a storage area at the rest stop for the past five years.
"This gives me a good feeling. People enjoy it and they tell me about it, and then I feel good," said Morissette, 51, a cheery man with a lined brown face and long beard. "It's sort of like a dream of reverting to the '60s. People had concern and they weren't afraid of showing it."
But Morissette isn't feeling quite so good about his future. An eviction order was issued after an inspection related to a plan by the California Department of Transportation to seek corporate sponsors for rest stops.
The order was withdrawn after Caltrans management learned about Morissette's good works from the public's letters and calls, agency spokesman Greg Bayol said. The two sides are now trying to work out a compromise, perhaps allowing Morissette to live in a trailer or small dwelling built for him.
The rest stop 14 miles south of San Francisco overlooks Interstate 280 and a scenic portion of the San Andreas fault. It is popularly known as the Father Serra rest stop because a statue of the 18th-century Spanish mission founder sits above the road.
It was once a popular hangout for men seeking gay sexual encounters. Vandals defaced the walls with graffiti and made sinks and toilets unusable. Used syringes and trash littered the ground.
Those blights vanished after Morissette became the caretaker in 1990. He works for Social Vocational Services, a private welfare agency with a contract to maintain the rest stop.
Morissette and his crew of three mentally disabled workers are responsible for keeping the grounds and bathrooms clean. But Morissette soon went beyond the basic job description.
With the approval of Caltrans, Morissette planted dozens of varieties of flowers, expanding from a small plot in back of the bathrooms to beds and pots throughout the grounds. Some plants were donated, but Morissette bought many himself - including 61 fruit trees - and he pays for fertilizer and sprays.
Bouquets of flowers picked from the garden adorn the sinks in the women's bathroom. Morissette also offers "humanitarian" cups of coffee to motorists and police officers.
"The place is immaculate - absolutely immaculate. We have got probably at least 100 letters . . . raving about the guy, what a great job he's done," Bayol said.
Letters of commendation and a regional transportation award have a place of pride in the small storage area that is home to Morissette and his two dogs, Spike and Butch. One unsigned, heart-shaped note reads: "To the gardener - God bless you."
After growing up in the Southern California town of Brawley, Morissette served as a Navy medic and ran a restaurant at Disneyland. He spent several years in a Benedictine monastery in Oceanside but left before taking final vows. He says he took his last drink 10 years ago.