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Trinity Cemetery Statue Captures Couple's 'Endless Love'

Tribune photo by ANDY JONES

William Bissi admires a bronze sculpture of his deseased wife Dorothy and himself created by artist Tamara Gerkin.

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By TOM JACKSON

Published: May 15, 2008

TRINITY - An artistic triumph either 10 months or 64 1/2 years in the making debuted near the heart of Trinity Memorial Gardens on Sunday when an extended family spawned by a single, enduring and long-ago union gathered for the unveiling of "Endless Love."

The cast-bronze statue of a World War II-era couple in a spooning embrace memorializes Dorothy Jones Bissi and her era-spanning marriage to New Port Richey nonagenarian William Bissi, who commissioned the $30,000 work not long after his wife died, at 86, in June.

Accomplished muralist and first-time sculptor Tamara Gerkin brought the widower's vision to fruition, laboring long and earning, despite the substantial fee, "less per hour than I did when I did babysitting as a kid."

Nearly 20 Bissi relatives comprising four generations attended the dedication, shepherded by the Rev. Bob Zasimovitch of Hudson. All watched and nodded as, with one hand resting tenderly on the bronze representation of his beloved Dot, William Bissi said, "I am grateful to God that he gave me that lady for 64½ years. ... I miss her every day."

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