TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

Drivers Use Back Windows As Memorials

Highlands Today photo by JASMINA MEYER

The rear window of Janice Adams' vehicle displays a decal as a memorial to her late husband John Grill and a message to wear sunscreen, a plea spurred by Grill's cancer death.

ADVERTISEMENT

By GARY PINNELL

Highlands Today

Published: November 8, 2008

When Lance Durrance died, half of the mourners couldn't fit into the Lake Placid Presbyterian Church.

"We had no idea how many people he knew," said his girlfriend, Heather King.

"We met through a good friend, Amanda Sherley, at her house one evening," said King. That was August 2006. They began dating a few months later.

"He was a cowboy," said King. "He was a day worker. He worked everywhere."

But on April 12, 2008, Durrance was driving his pickup truck along U.S. 98, ran off the road, overcorrected and hit a tree in the woods.

"His truck caught fire," said King. But she believes Durrance died on impact.

One of his friends, Justin Duncan, designed a back window memorial to Durrance that King placed on her car.

"In Loving Memory," it says. A cowboy hat rests on top of his initials, LD.

"It's just a constant reminder," said King. "Not that I could ever forget him. Every day, I see his smile. He had an amazing smile that could melt anyone's heart."

More than 200 of those white stickers were printed. They're on the back windows of Durrance's friends and family.

"We print a lot of memorials," said Pam Soler, owner of Signs Now in Sebring. "I'm guessing one a week."

When Trooper Nick Sottile was killed last year, hundreds were printed, Soler said. "They were in camouflage. They're a small circle, about five inches, and they say, 'In Memory of Nick Sottile.'"

The minimum charge is $25, and customers usually get two or three for that price, Soler said. "We design them on the computer. They're normally white or chrome. There's a book people can look at, and they can put a cross or a deer on it, or whatever their life was about."

Wear Sunscreen

Janice Adams has a public service message on the back of her SUV.

"My husband, John Grill, died April 15 of metastaticmelanoma brain tumors," she said.

Melanoma, of course, is skin cancer.

"He had a small melanoma removed from his back in May 2000," said Adams. "He was cancer free for eight years."

Here's where the metastatic part comes in.

Grill, 67, was diagnosed Jan. 4, 2008 with eight to 10 tumors in his brain and one on his lung, his wife said.

"Metastatic means it comes from somewhere else, not the primary site," she said. The tiny cancer on his back probably spread to his lung and brain, but no one knew it was there.

Aggressive radiation and chemotherapy didn't work. Grill died April 15, 2008.

Grill was an industrial commercial contractor who moved from Alabama to build the Wauchula Wal-Mart. He settled in Avon Park to operate his company, Performance Contractors of South Florida. But he was best known in Highlands County as a sportsman.

As a youth he'd played football, then as a sailor he boxed and ran track and was a lifeguard and a diver. He played semi-pro baseball in Birmingham, and in Highlands County he was an inveterate supporter of the local baseball and softball scene.

For no apparent reason, his throwing arm became weak.

"On New Year's Eve, he fell, and he couldn't get up for a few minutes," said his wife.

They thought it was a stroke. But a CAT scan found the brain tumors.

"My son, Josh Adams, created a memorial for Johnny," said Janice Adams. "I thought it was a great idea and decided to have decals made."

The decal says, "In loving memory of Johnny Grill, 12/6/40 - 4/15/08, Please Wear Sunscreen."

About 160,000 new cases are diagnosed worldwide; 48,000 people die from melanoma every year. It occurs most frequently in caucasian males who live in sunny climates.

"I thought, if it encourages one person to put sunscreen on their child and themselves, it might save their lives," Adams said, who has sent out 600 decals.

Gary Pinnell can be reached at gpinnell@highlandstoday.com or 863 386-5828

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT