Vernon J. Tillman
I'm going to miss sitting and talking with my Uncle Vernon. When I was grade school age, Uncle Vernon, Uncle Curtis, and Aunt Betty would regularly come to visit their Dad and Mom, my Grandparents, who lived next door to us. We enjoyed many enormous holiday dinners with both my Parent's and Grandparent's homes packed. By the time I was in High School, we had lost my Aunt Corky, who was Vernon's first wife, as well as Vernon's Parents, my Grandparents. Uncle Vernon married Aunt Gen, and from then on Dad, Mom, and I would have many visits and wonderful dinners with them at their home in Lakewood. Quite often my Uncle Curtis would join our visits as well. My mother Ida, Vernon's little Sister, passed away a few years ago, followed by my Father a short time later. Vernon's Sister Betty passed away many years ago. The last few years the visits had dwindled to just Vernon and I sitting together, talking about our family, our mutual hobby of all things firearm related, and his long, fascinating life. My Sister June came along a few times as well. There aren't many from the Mason side of the family left here in Eastern Washington now. I was fortunate to have Uncle Vernon in my life all these decades. Vernon's Father, my Grandfather Vernon A. Mason, and Uncle Vernon were always more than just family to me, they were also my very best friends.