For many, the memory of Dave Bonelli, who passed away on August 26 at the age of 98, is synonymous with a different era on Potrero Hill.  For five decades, Bonelli was a fixture at Atchison’s Pharmacy on Connecticut Street, during a time when local drugs stores were an integral part of community culture.

At Atchison’s, youngsters could get ice cream sodas; neighbors would bump into one another. There was a post office inside. Accounts could be opened at the pharmacy counter. Bonelli had a personal relationship with his customers, even delivering prescriptions to them, sometimes traveling as far as Hunters Point.