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BORN
1917
DIED
2016
Fremont Wicker Obituary
"He was just one of those people everybody loved," said Whittier Councilman Bob Henderson. "He had a great personality and was a very outgoing. He was such a popular businessman and his own personality was so good. Everybody knew Monte."
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017, at First Friends Church, 13205 Philadelphia St., Whittier. Internment will follow at Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuaries.
Memories and Condolences
for Fremont Wicker
13 Entries
July 7, 2017
I just found out about Monte's passing. I send my sincere sympathy to the family, especially his son. Whittier was a better city with Monte and his family as leaders in the community.
Rosalie Tracy
Lin Sprague
May 22, 2017
I had heard that Monte had passed away, but I just found this memorial page. He was my next door neighbor for much of my childhood, and he was a fun guy to have around. I had no idea he was 99 - he seemed so youthful and full of life. I remember his mysterious motorcycle (though I mostly heard it roar.) On the 4th of July when all the neighborhood would shoot off their fireworks in the street, he always showed up with the best and brightest ones! When my dad passed away in 2001, he came over with a shaker of martinis and two cocktail glasses (my Dad's libation of choice,) poured two, set one over the the fireplace, and toasted him with the other (my brothers & sisters shared the fireplace one later.) A very funny, generous, and apt gesture.
Here's to you, Monte [clink]!
- Lin Sprague (hi, Chris, Mark and Kim)
February 4, 2017
We lost such a persona in our community. May God give strength and courage to face adversities. Do not lose hope.
Debbie Mallotto
January 23, 2017
I'm so glad to have found this wonderful blog. I was born and raised in Whittier and frequented Monte's camera store for many years. They had a great reputation for being honest, provided quality product & great customer service. I purchased my cameras from Monte's. I had my wedding photos developed there because I could count on quality results. It was always the "go to" photo shop. It brings back wonderful memories of going to a camera store to have film developed & prints made & enlarged. (A thing of the past). I'm still a camera & photo bug. Did not know he was a councilman. What a great life he had. God rest his soul.
Gary Widell
January 2, 2017
I started dealing with Monte at his store in 1954. In 1959 he hired me for a few months after college while I was waiting for an opening in a reserve unit to materialize. I have lived in the Midwest and the East since 1960, so I seldom saw him after leaving Whittier. Whenever I was in town, he was always glad to see me. He was a super guy and a real gentleman - great to deal with and great to work for - and his store was a happy place. I'm pleased that he had such a good, long life. He's one person I shall never forget.
January 2, 2017
I am so sorry for your loss. May you find comfort in what is recorded in the Bible at Jeremiah 29:11 and 12. There it tells us what God's thoughts are for us. Thoughts of peace, not calamity . He wants to give us a future and a hope.
angeli johnson
December 31, 2016
Monte was a kind person. Always polite and helpful as are his sons. You always found what you needed regarding photography in his shop. When my children were small, my husband who had a shop uptown also, would call me to let me know that Monte's windows were decorated, Christmas theme, trains, etc. They remember standing there enthralled with the window decorations. He will be remembered always. Our deepest sympathy to his family.
Greg Nordbak
December 30, 2016
Monte was a class act and a wonderful person. One of my favorite Whittier People. He truly served this community on every level possible. He will be missed, one of a kind.
Leslie Speaks
December 30, 2016
RIP Monte. You will be missed.
Bill Tibbetts
December 30, 2016
Deep condolences to Chris, Mark, Kim, Beverly and all the Wicker family. I first met Monte Wicker and his family in 1951 when I started helping out at his camera shop after school and on Saturdays. Monte's Camera was arguably the best camera shop anywhere. Monte was always cheerful and pleasant, I never heard an angry word, and he had a great sense of humor, too. Customer service was a very important part of Monte's business success. He, his family and staff always went beyond the extra mile to please their customers. Huge blocks of time were spent showing people how to operate cameras, accessories, projectors, enlargers and other darkroom equipment. And Monte always stocked the latest and best photographic items of the day, Leica, Hasselblad, Bolex, and more. If there was even a hint of a customer being less than perfectly satisfied, that customer received not only an apology, but some added merchandise as well, maybe another roll of film or package of flashbulbs. That was life at Monte's Camera Shop back in the pre-digital days. Monte has remained a good friend, he left a great family to carry on, and a treasure of good memories. Rest in Peace, Monte Wicker.
Dan and Myrna Zavala
December 29, 2016
I don't believe there is anyone in Whittier who is not familiar with Montes Camera Shop. Every camera I ever owned was purchased there. The history and legacy of this man and this family will live on forever. Here's to a beautiful and full life! Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Wicker family. Monte touched many lives directly and indirectly. Even those who never knew him personally.
Tim Traeger
December 29, 2016
This past year has claimed the life of yet another iconic American with the passing of Fremont Edward Monte Wicker. The former Whittier mayor and longtime owner of Monte's Camera Shop died of natural causes on Monday at Southern California Acute Care on Sorenson Avenue. He was 99.
The man with the booming baritone voice, easy smile and perpetual gleam in his eyes served on the Whittier City Council from 1962 to 1974 and was Whittier's mayor from 1964 to 1966. Wicker was born in his parents' Whittier home on May 22, 1917 and wended his way through Whittier schools before graduating from UC Davis in 1939.
Son Kim Wicker said his father originally wanted to be a veterinarian, but followed his passion for photography and turned it into a career when he opened Monte's Camera Shop in 1948. The longtime motorcycle enthusiast was past president and a member of the Whittier Host Lions Club, a service organization that gives away thousands of dollars every year in college scholarships and free eyeglasses to the underserved in Whittier.
In an interview in August Monte recounted the time he and a friend smuggled bottles of beer into the old American Red Cross building on Washington Avenue using a string dangled from the third floor window. Or the time he and Hubert Perry raced soap box derby cars down Greenleaf Avenue. He hinted at more than a few brushes with the law.
He was an instigator, said Whittier Host Lions Club President Ben Greer. Monte's father, Lewis, helped found the service club in 1922. Monte has been a member for, like, forever. He was heavily involved in everything that made the club great. All the fund-raisers, the horse show. For our newer guys in their 60s and 70s he's like a long lost link to the past. He kept us in stitches with his sense of humor. He was just an active guy and the older guys just revered him. He and his antics are constantly talked about. He will be sorely missed.
Greer said past members like Wicker and Perry wove the cultural tapestry that makes Whittier a unique and caring community.
Kim Wicker said his dad met Ellen Chilton in high school and the sweethearts were married in August of 1939. They had four children: Joelyn Jolly, Chris, Mark and Kim. Jolly died from a sudden illness when she was 15. Monte leaves behind four grandchildren, Lisa, Mark, Alina and Tara and five great-grandchildren.
After a stint with Southern California Edison, Wicker worked for the California Department of Fish & Game before being drafted into the Army in 1945. He served stateside before opening his camera shop in 1948. Aside from the Lions Club, Monte also had leadership roles in the League of Independent Cities, the Southeast Mosquito Abatement District, the Whittier Uptown Association, Whittier College and the Bank of America Advisory Board.
After Ellen Wicker died of melanoma in June 2000, Monte fell in love with Beverly Harris, who he met while performing in Whittier Community Theater. Beverly and Monte were inseparable until his death.
Monte loved to perform and often would belt out a tune for his fellow Lions. Although his harmonica was always at the ready, he played a mean clarinet, Kim said.
I remember going into Monte's Camera as a kid and Monte showing me how to properly use it, said Mayor Joe Vinatieri on Wednesday. As a young man, Monte was a person on the City Council and understood who we are as a community and the values for which we stand. As mayor, Monte meant to me a person who gave me advice regarding several issues. I saw him in a different light as I grew older.
Kim summed up his father's life: I would say he was easygoing, very musical and almost always happy.
Funeral services are planned for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 4 at First Friends Church, 13205 Philadelphia St., with burial to follow at Rose Hills. A reception honoring Monte's life will follow at the Whittier Museum, 6755 Newlin Ave.
For more information call 562-298-0192.
Tim Traeger is former editor of the Whittier Daily News and is currently executive director of the Whittier Historical Society & Museum.
Carla Wilson
December 28, 2016
May God comfort your family during this difficult time. Growing up in Whittier this is the only place my parents would buy or have their camera equipment repaired. We left Whittier in 1981. Have many a fond memory of the shop. Thank you Monte for all you did for Whittier. RIP.
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