otati resident Donald B. Head spent most of his life driving trucks, even after he and his wife purchased a Cotati bar more than four decades ago. Here's the story from the Press Democrat.
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Head died Tuesday at his home after a long battle with cancer. He was 75.
Head spent many years driving big rigs, including his own truck. Even as the owner of the Cotati Beer Gardens, he regularly drove a special wrecker for Andreoli Trucking that could tow tractor trailer rigs.
“He drove the tow truck until he was 72,” said his wife of 47 years, Joan Head.
Born in Eureka, Head grew up in Oakland and Richmond. His father drove trucks for West Transportation, a company the son eventually also worked for.
Head served in the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division during the Korean War.
He came to Cotati about 40 years ago. In the early 1970s his wife and he purchased a bar and renamed it to the Cotati Beer Gardens. They owned it until the late 1980s.
Family members described Head as strong and independent, someone who enjoyed people but also could work alongside police to handle an unruly bar patron.
“He was such a man’s man,” said his daughter, Danise Head of Cotati.
But he also enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren. And Joan Head said he raised her son Everett Wicker as his own from the time the boy was 2-years-old. Wicker died in 1996.
Head was a member of Berean Baptist Church in Rohnert Park. With his family, he belonged to the Rancho Riders horse club.
Along with his wife and daughter, survivors include another daughter, Ladona Rossiter of Cotati, a sister, Marilyn Cramlett of Hercules; a brother, Robert Head of Mississippi; and eight grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Dec. 12 at Berean Baptist Church.
The family prefers memorial contributions in care of the church to the Berean Baptist Christian Academy.
— Robert Digitale
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