In the mid-1930s, Bill and Jeanette Tunison established very popular bar, restaurant and gas station five miles east of Westwood near Goodrich Creek. Tunison, it should be noted had been a Westwood resident since 1916. The establishment became very popular in a short order, known for its good food and hospitality. As Marian Hull Herrick recalled, “People would call ahead to see if they serving were Jeanette’s Rum pie that night. People raved about the fried chicken and biscuits. Jeanette confided in me that they were made with Bisquick.”

On Sunday December 13, 1942 tragedy struck Tunison’s. Ray Bollinger, Tunison’s brother-in-law was temporarily working there. Though when new year arrived he intended to return to his former profession as a barber in Westwood. He never saw the new year for that fateful Sunday he was murdered by Westwood resident John Cooper.

Earlier in the day Cooper had arrived at Tunison’s in a drunken state. Tunison refused to serve him, as Cooper was belligerent and obnoxious spewing profanity. Tunison escorted him out of the building to Cooper’s truck. In short order Cooper returned and again Tunison escorted him to the door. Finally, Cooper left and drove away.

About nine o’clock Cooper returned and this time Bollinger who informed Copper he was not welcomed and escorted him from the premises. An incensed Cooper returned to his truck and produced a rifle and started back to Tunison’s. Before he got to the building he fired a shot, which missed the building. This alarmed Tunison who kept a revolver near the cash register and armed himself. By this time, Cooper had propped open the front door with his foot and fired two more shots, one fatally wounding Bollinger. Tunison with his revolver fired two shots at Cooper slightly injuring him. Cooper then fled from the scene to seek emergency treatment at the Westwood hospital. At the hospital Cooper did not mention a word as to what had transpired.

Once Lassen County Sheriff Olin Johnson and Coroner C.W. Morrill arrived on the scene at Tunison’s the tragic event was revealed. Cooper was arrested and brought to Susanville for his safety, to prevent a rioting and/or an attempt of a public lynching. The next day, the authorities questioned Cooper as to what transpired, who responded without showing no remorse for his actions and said, “Tunison can’t treat me that way.”

On February 8, 1943, jury selection began on trial that was expected to last nine days to decide Cooper’s guilt or innocence. In a bizarre move the day before the trial began, Bollinger’s body was exhumed for an autopsy. Even though a coroner’s inquest had been held at the time of the incident, the inquest focused on the details of the shooting, and the presumed cause of death. Since this was a death penalty case, it required for the record the exact cause of death, which it was determined that it was caused from instantaneous shock and hemorrhage.

In an unprecedented move Cooper took the stand during the trial. He testified that he only recalled one shot being fired and that his mind went blank and he had no recollection until the following day when he awoke at the Riverside Hospital in Susanville. On February 18, at four thirty in the afternoon the jury went into deliberation and shortly after midnight reached a verdict of guilty and handed down the sentence of life imprisonment and spared him execution.

The tragic loss of Ray’s death was too much for Bill & Jeanette and had no desire to carry on with the business. By the end of December, they sold to Phil Schuldies who took immediate possession of the place. Schuldies was no stranger to the region, a Westwood resident since 1924 where he worked as a crane operator for Red River. With the change ownership, begat a name change, it was now known as Phil’s Place.[1]

In September 1948, Schuldies constructed a new home for Phil’s Place at the Westwood Y. Over the years various owners operated the roadhouse. On April 21, 1961, the gas station and cafe, then known as the Little Red Barn Cafe, was destroyed by fire. The cause of the fire was not determined, though it appeared to start in the kitchen. The owners, Milton and Ernestine Booth, were not present.

The lone chimney is all that remains of Tunisons, and has in time become a landmark of its own. On Christmas Eve, 1992 several Westwood residents gathered at the old chimney. Being benevolent by nature they decided to form an organization to help those less fortunate. This new entity became known as the Chimney Fund. In its first year, twenty food baskets were distributed. Over the years, the Chimney Fund has donated thousands of dollars of food and monetary assistance and does so on a year-round basis. They assist numerous worthy causes such as the Westwood High School, Chester Library, Battered Women’s Shelter, Seneca Hospital to name a few.

[1] Tunison remained in Westwood and in 1945 with Vern Ricketts purchased the Westwood Service Company, formerly known as the Westwood Garage. Tunison, was one of the longest serving Supervisors of Lassen County whose career spanned from 1936 to 1964.

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