Come Unto Me Invites Hope and Healing

By Diane Del Toro

One afternoon shortly after the death of my eighty-nine-year-old mother-in-law, I drove up the long incline to Spilsbury Mortuary and parked my car in the nearly empty parking lot. Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I slipped quietly through the front door and found a seat in the nearly empty foyer. Voices from the office echoed in the hallway. The rustle of clothing and muffled footsteps signaled the presence of someone walking nearby. A cell phone rang out from somewhere in the building. Yet around me, there was a sacred peacefulness that could not be disturbed.

I was there to view the beautiful and thought-provoking sculpture Come unto Me which embodied everything I was feeling at the time. Created by Silver Reef artist Jerry Anderson, the sculpture portrays the spiritual journey from mortality to immortality and shows an elderly woman’s body passing through the veil and changing back to her symbolic prime as she returns to the arms of Jesus Christ. In the midst of my grief, the statue brought me healing, consolation, and peace.

I was surprised to see that I was not alone in the foyer. Another mourner, traveling through St. George from Texas, was there seeking comfort. “I walked in and saw those arms outstretched, and I knew I was going to make it through,” she whispered. “I feel like He is not only hugging my daughter but also hugging me.”

Come Unto Me was commissioned by mortuary owner Ted Spilsbury in 1999. Anderson, acting on his desire to magnify his talent in a spiritual environment, took a full year to complete all three sections of the statuary; last December marked the twentieth anniversary of its unveiling. He describes the statue as an inspired creation. “I thought about my eighty-year-old mother and how it saddened me to see her losing her dignity to old age,” he said. “I thought about her being young and beautiful; I began to pray for God to help me create an inspiring piece of work that would be unique in concept and would express strong feelings, show sincerity in the execution of its form, and mostly have the presence to give people who would see it a feeling of hope, peace, and...a belief in the eternal life.”

Spilsbury, emphasized that Come Unto Me is the family’s gift to the community they love. Spilsbury’s father, LeGrande, purchased the mortuary eighty years ago, and since that time, the Spilsbury family has served the southern Utah community during its most tender moments. “Many times I heard (my father) say, ‘Remember Ted, serve from your heart. Each family deserves our very best effort day and night,’” he recalled. “My father...buried a newborn son, a nine-year-old daughter, Susan, as well as a son, Peter Jon. He knew and understood the heart wrenching sorrow the families he served felt. I have felt those same deep feelings. My dad’s philosophy still lives on. It is the reason we strive to offer the best service to those families we serve. It is our nature.”

Spilsbury estimates that thousands of people have come through the mortuary’s doors to view the statue and to find hope in its message. He leaves the lights on at night so that people can experience the statue at any time; he and his staff sometimes find handprints and tiny fingerprints on the glass doors and windows in the morning when they arrive at work. “The statue is a presence,” he said. “It touches the hearts of all who view it.”

Although grieving is a highly individual experience, and there is no right or wrong way to grieve, Spilsbury invites everyone to view the inspired work of art residing in the foyer of Spilsbury mortuary and hopes it will help the community and visitors to southern Utah find patience and peace in their own healing process.