Plaque Honoring Jerry Garcia Unveiled Near Childhood Home
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – A plaque honoring Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia now sits not far from his first childhood home in San Francisco. The plaque was unveiled on what would have been his 75th birthday.
Located near the Roma Pizzeria at Mission Street and Amazon Avenue is the plaque, featuring the likeness of a bearded Garcia, holding a guitar and peering over sunglasses on the bridge of his nose.
"This plaque, we just installed in the Excelsior District is a great memorial to inspire new generations of kids growing up in this neighborhood in San Francisco and another step in seeing Jerry's legacy turn into this historical event," said Trixie Garcia, the third of Jerry's four daughters and the acting point person for her father's estate.
Just down the street from the plaque is the house at 121 Amazon, where Garcia spent the first five years of his life.
Bill Dolbin and his wife Anna, who live near Philadelphia, made a pilgrimage to San Francisco and attended the unveiling.
"We took our daughter to her first show when she was four years old. She's now 32 and she has turned into an amazing young woman," Bill Dolbin said. "And I like to think what we exposed her to and how we brought her up had a lot to do with that."
"It will always be a part of me," Anna Dolbin said. "I love Jerry's music, it was very inspirational and uplifting. Whenever you're feeling sad, just turn on Jerry and there's nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile."
Garcia died at the age of 53 in 1995, but the music lives on.
