Started by Dr. Ennis J. Ogorsolka (Dr. "O"), a veterinarian for over 40 years, Eden Memorial Pet Care has been serving San Luis Obispo County and surrounding areas from Monterey to Bakersfield.

Dr. "O" pioneered personal pet cremation in San Luis Obispo County over 18 years ago, when many local veterinarians saw their clients having difficulty deciding what to do with their beloved pet after death.

More and more clients were unable to take their pet home for burial for different reasons - didn't own property, county ordinances, and inability to dig a proper grave. There was another alternative to home burial - cremation.

Eden Memorial Pet Care has expanded on the basic principles and now has raised the bar in quality of service.

Personal touches like a wooden urn as the standard urn, sympathy cards, certificates of cremation for all cremations, and (soon to be offered) engraving all set the stage.



Christine Johnson
General Manager & Marketing

Christine grew up on the Central Coast for 18 years, when college took her north to the Bay Area. After graduating from San Francisco State University with a BA in Broadcast Electronics Communication Arts, and a few years of traveling, surfing, and snowboarding, she settled down in a "real" job as GM of Las Olas Surf Adventures for Women. Marketing, sales, and operations management took a backseat after her husband and she wanted to start a family. Now years later, she finds herself back with her passion - helping animals and people. Christine, now mother of 3 (doggie- Aztec, son -Eli and new baby girl- Dyllan), spends most of her time in her Oakland home office but traveling to and from Paso Robles when needed. "Being a daughter of a veterinarian, I understand what it is like to lose a pet. Our pets are our family and sometimes it's not about closing that door, it's about keeping their memories close to our hearts in hopes of seeing them again someday."



Laurie Abshire
Paso Robles Facility Manager - Head of Crematory Operations

Laurie is a Southern California Native, born in Los Angeles has never lived more than two blocks from the ocean. Laurie graduated from Mary Star of the Sea in San Pedro. She attended Orange Coast Community College with an interest in small animal care. After many years working in Banking, Retail & Customer Service, Laurie retired from her long time job to raise her sisters two children along with her husband.

In her spare time, she started volunteering at the El Dorado Nature Center and got involved in the rescue and rehab of the urban wildlife in and around the city of Long Beach. Laurie also volunteered for the Marine Mammal Care Center at Fort McArthur in San Pedro. She was nominated for Volunteer of the Year Award for the City of Long Beach two consecutive years in a row.

When the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach solicited for volunteers, she was one of the first Marine Mammal volunteer trainers to begin working with their collection of Seals, Seal lions and Sea Otters. She stayed with the Aquarium for 15 years during that time she landed a full time job as Marine Mammal trainer.

Always looking for new adventures, Laurie moved to the Central Coast in the West Side of Templeton two years ago. She soon started working for Dr. O at the Cambria Animal Medical Center which in turn led to Eden Memorial Pet Care.

Having had many different types of pets over the years, Laurie knows the kind of unconditional love a pet gives to us and what it means to loose that family member. Laurie comments that her career has come full circle. "What a great opportunity to help people who love their pets buy being able to participate in the remembrance process."



Jerry Spencer
Crematory Operations & Equine Division

Jerry was born and raised in Paso Robles. As Jerry says, "You won't find many people around here that have been here as long as I have." He is a true local and wonderful addition to our staff. Jerry graduated from Paso Robles High and attended Cuesta College before he went to work for the state of California for 20 years. He then went into business with his father, who was the founder of the Paso Robles Elks Club. Recently, Jerry has been self employed with his handy-man business. Jerry is also a father of two daughters, one who lives in Idaho and another in Oregon; and a son, who also lives here in Paso.



Patrick Morrow
Crematory Operations

Patrick Morrow is originally an "Oregonian" having been born and raised in Grants Pass until the age of 15 when his parents moved to the Los Angeles area. Talk about huge culture shock, but he graduated high school and enlisted in the Air Force a few months later.

Pat wound up being stationed at Vandenberg AFB then Laughlin AFB in Del Rio Texas. After five years active duty, he was discharged and moved back to California, locating in Pasadena. After some time working as a medical equipment repairman, he was accepted to the CHP Academy in 1977 and graduated from the Academy in 1978.

For thirty years, Patrick worked as an Officer in the Glendale, Santa Barbara, Buellton, Quincy and San Luis Obispo. Finally in 2007, Patrick wanted to "retire" and just take life easy - enjoying backpacking, reading and visiting his sons.

For Pat that didn't last long, until he was ready for a new adventure. This is where Eden was fortunate enough to find him. "Being a person who has always had a pet of some type, I know how hard it can be when you lose a "friend" and I feel like I am in some small way helping those who are experiencing such a loss." Patrick and his adopted cat, Sven, currently live in Paso.



Tracy Suttmiller
Eden Memorial Guardian Angel

Born in Berea, Ohio a neighboring suburb of Cleveland, Tracy graduated from North Olmsted High School and Polaris Vocational Center as a Cosmetologist. Tracy has an impressive resume from professionally handling horses to Broadcasting school. Tracy worked as a radio announcer for 10 years while doing hair in various salons, until she finally bought her own salon business. Eden was lucky enough to find Tracy this past year, after she had moved here with her husband and two daughters, Olyvia and Natalya. Within the past 2 ½ years of being in California, she has had 5 rescue dogs and 3 cats. Four out of five doggies, she has found their owner's and the remaining one stays close to her side and loves coming to work. In her "spare time", Tracy volunteers for the American Cancer Society and manages the Elkhorn Bar. Tracy is the definition of loyalty and friendship, someone we are proud to have on our team. When, and if, you ever get to meet Tracy, ask her to tell you of her friend, whom she rescued from a motorcycle accident, and waited nearly an hour for a rescue squad. When it comes to her work here at Eden, Tracy says, "I feel this job helps me give something back to humanity."