Eagle Rock Gathers to Remember John Stillion

“Such a wonderful, caring person.”  

This sentiment by Toni Hudson, speaking for the Compulsive Gardeners, echoed around the many guests in Michael and Eugénie Nogueira’s back yard on Sunday, who had come to remember John Stillion, a larger-than-life figure in the Eagle Rock community. Stillion strived constantly to change the visual and aesthetic status quo.

In the course of his 79 years, he improved every community he lived and worked in—starting with planting trees at the inner-city L.A. school he taught at after college, and ending of course with all his achievements here in Eagle Rock, with stops in Moorpark, Crestline, and Occidental along the way.

Stillion worked hard at the many organisations he joined. From the Compulsive Gardeners to the Pasadena Elks, from a local painting group to, of course, Collaborative Eagle Rock Beautiful (which he co-founded), members turned out, many teary-eyed, to remember the man and mourn a good friend, who was often a driving force in their organizations.

At the memorial, many discovered new facets to their friend, who was known as humble. Danny Kayanan, who was Stillion’s caretaker for the final three weeks, remembers Stillion telling him,  “Oh Danny, I hate recognition.”

Eric Ekstrund, a neighbor, found out that Stillion was an accomplished pianist. Members of a painters group John helped  discovered he was a great painter in his own right, when they saw his pictures on display in the Nogueiras' garden.

The garden itself, in fact, also contained John’s touches, as Michael Noguiera pointed out, as Stillion had planted small groups of succulents, which he frequently distributed among friends and in the neighborhood, throughout the yard.

And as several speakers pointed out, Stillion will live on in the many projects he started around Eagle Rock, but especially in his signature endeavor, the Eagle Rock Canyon Trail. The CERB members unveiled a plan to name the paved path down to the trail the John Stillion Memorial Pathway. And as Cheryl Leutjen, a CERB member who held a tearful remembrance for Stillion, reminded the crowd, the way to preserve his legacy is to go out, get engaged, and carry on the many projects he cared for.

Take his favorite quote, Margaret Mead, to heart: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."