Faces of the West County: Jerry Overstreet

One of the few vocal Trump supporters in Sebastopol tells his story

Jerry Overstreet (Photo by Steve Einstein)

My sister-in-law and her partner, who live in Berkeley, just bought a piece of land on the outskirts of town. They fit the profile of people moving in here - older, with some money to burn, and generally more progressive. There’s a game played by kids at Berkeley High called My Mom’s So Liberal… You fill in the rest of that sentence with what you think qualifies as the most liberal thing your mom can do. The other day, someone posted, My Mom’s So Liberal,…she’s thinking of moving to Sebastopol!

So after tennis at the high school the other day, I was biking home and passed that house on the south side of the softball field with two Trump flags flying. The flags are a bit of an anomaly here in the liberal capitol of the county. As far as I know, they’re the only Trump flags flying in Sebastopol. An older gentleman was on the front porch and he waved at me as I rode by. I circled back and approached the man on the porch, an older black dog, asleep at his feet.

The guy couldn’t have been sweeter and warmer, and more welcoming. It took seconds to befriend him, after which, he quickly agreed to be a subject for this ongoing series of profiles, and we arranged to meet the next day. I promised him I wasn’t going to be challenging whatever political beliefs he held. I just wanted to get to know him.

When I arrived this morning, Jerry was at his station on the porch, with Maddie, his 11-year-old dog, born on Christmas Day I’m told, still asleep at his feet. Jerry’s wife, Judy, served us coffee and then retreated into the house.

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So Jerry, where and when were you born?

Oroville, California. 1/20/43. Same day as they inaugurate the president!

And who is in your immediate family?

My wife Judy, and two kids, - Jerry Jr., and Stephanie Lynn. Two grandkids and one great-grandkid too.

When did you get to Sebastopol?

It was 1955. I was 12 and put into the 6th grade at Pine Crest. The next year we went to Park Side. It was the Jr. High back then.

And then on to Analy?

Yes, in ’57.

You know, in Oroville, I suffered from asthma. I was at the doctor’s office every week. My big brother, Reuben, which is spelled just like they spell it in the Bible, he came along and saw me get shots and have blood drawn so often, that he became phobic of needles!

Reuben went into the canning industry, just like our dad, and me. He worked Sebastopol Co-Op Cannery, plant #2 at Molina Corners. He was the plant manager.

And you?

I was in the office at the main plant, #1, that was across from the old Ford place. I had a pick-up and traveled between all six plants in the area. My dad was hired in ’55 to be the general manager of the Co-Op plant. That’s how we got here from Oroville.

Where did you live when you first got here?

We first moved to a house on Covert Lane, next to where the Catholic Church is now. The house is still there. There were lots of chicken coops in the neighborhood.

You know, there were lots of Pomo Indians who worked in the cannery. I was friends with them all, maybe partly because my grandmother was Osage Indian. I played on their (the Pomo team) fast pitch softball team. I held down first base. Batted cleanup! They called me The Hammer.

You know, they didn’t drink beer at all, but they bar-b-qued seaweed! I learned to like it. That was a native Pomo thing. They may have been seaweed eaters, but man were they big people, and so good to me.

You and I have something in common. Tell us about that other grandmother of yours.

My dad’s mom, Elma, was a German Jew. She looked just like Golda Meir. She always had a fresh baked cake in her absolutely spotless house. … You know, she hid her Jewishness. The Germans had just finished killing six million of them, so she figured, especially in Oroville, where there were hardly any other Jews, that nobody needed to know that she was Jewish. The Jews and the Native Americans were probably the two most mistreated people in history.

Let’s go back to this lovely house of yours. How old is it?

It was built in 1909. That’s the same year as when the high school was built. You know, the high school was first built of wood, and only later did it get the stucco. Jasper O’Farrell donated the lumber for the original school.

We moved into the house 60 years ago. I was 20, and my wife, Judy, was 18, and still a senior over at the high school. We had just married.

Where did you meet?

We met at the First Baptist Church across from the fire station. We were Missionary Baptists back in Oroville. We met in a Sunday school classroom which is where the teen group met on Sundays. She was a Baker (her family name). Half this town was Bakers back then.

So how soon after meeting did you marry?

Well, we had to wait. Her mom wanted the older ones to marry first. We married two years later. She was 18, but just by three days!

We bought this house, which wasn’t inhabitable at the time, and got busy fixing it up until we could move in. Get this! We paid 7,000 dollars for it!

Well, it’s a gem today.

I’ve got three rentals on the property now. All paid for!

My dad spent a lot of time at the bar that was next to the old Pinecone (restaurant). He bought the house from the bar owner.

My dad was part Jewish, so he drew up a good contract with me to repay it at 6% interest. He was angry with me when I paid it off early because he liked the interest.

He ran away from home in Idaho at the age of 15. Hopped a freight train to Oroville where his uncle lived. Once, on the train, he was being assaulted by a hobo, and another hobo came to his rescue, and threw the other guy off the train at 60 miles an hour. He was sure the guy died. That was a tough memory. … Once he got to Oroville, he worked like a dog for his Uncle Bob.

At Analy, I heard you played football. Is that how you broke your nose? (Jerry’s nose looks like it’s been broken a few times.)

I started before high school getting my nose broke. I played Pop Warner before high school, and we had no face masks on our helmets. I was a skinny asthmatic kid who never played sports in his life, but they stuck with me and made me a player. I was an end who played both offense and defense. You only came out of a game if you got hurt, which we sometimes faked just to sit down.

(Jerry takes a break to wave at passersby. Many, seemingly in approval of his Trump flags, wave from their cars. “I get a lot of fingers too, but mostly friendly waves,” he said.)

You know, my dad was a staunch Democrat, until about the Reagan era. He switched to the GOP like Reagan did. (Jerry proudly showed me a picture of his dad and mom with Vice President Gerald Ford, who served well before Ron Reagan.) I started with the GOP ever since I backed Nixon against Kennedy. I’m proud to say that I’ve voted straight Republican my whole life.

Hey, this town was very conservative when we first got here. Everyone was Republican and right wing. Very few democrats.

When do you think that changed?

Gradually, as people moved up from the city. Probably started in the early 70’s. I still love it here, even though I have neighbors who won’t talk to me because of my Trump flags. It is, what it is. 

I’m a proud citizen of this town, no matter who lives here. I served as a volunteer firefighter for eight years and with the Sebastopol Police Department as an auxiliary volunteer officer for about seven years. 

Service to ones community has always been an important value to me. 

Where do you get your news from?

Up until two days ago, The Press Democrat. We’re Fox News people, but now we’re going towards Newsmax. I like the Fox people, but I didn’t like it when they fired Tucker, and they’re cutting Trump out too. Newsmax has their arms wide open for people like me.

What did the PD do to piss you off?

All their commentaries have a left-leaning edge to them. We took it for 40 years, but no more.

So what are you going to read now for news?

Newsmax and Fox will have to do the trick. We watch an hour of Channel 2 news for local stuff, but they’re Fox too. The news is so damned depressing these days. You can get too much news.

Do you still go to church?

Oh, yes. The Hessel Church. That place feels like home. Not every Sunday, maybe half of them. We watch Christian TV on Sundays, - Rev. Hagee, David Jeremiah, and the young guy at The Cornerstone Church. It all gives us comfort. We believe in God, and that Jesus Christ is our savior.

Do you have any particular heroes?

I’d start with my dad. He did a lot for a high school dropout.

Do you have a favorite restaurant here in town?

Not really. Maybe The Olive Garden or Red Lobster, or Cattleman’s. They’re not here in town, but nearby.

Finally, do you have a favorite charity you want to give a shout out to?

St. Jude is outstanding. Danny Thomas, a little Jewish guy, he did a great thing there.

Wait a minute. I think Danny Thomas was a Lebanese Christian.

(Jerry asks Siri, and it turns out that Thomas was a Maronite Christian.)

Well, he looked Jewish to me! (We both laugh.)

Can I tell people you’re open for business here on the corner of Wallace and Taft?

You sure can. I’m always on my porch ready to chat and straighten out the world’s problems.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital can be found at www.stjude.org