How do you find something negative to say about somebody that is respected, admired and beloved by many in the community?
You find the people that know him the best.
While Pastor Mike Dillman – who transformed Manteca’s Place of Refuge church into an active component in the local community through it’s Memorial Day celebration that is considered one of the largest displays of patriotism in the Western United States – is friends with nearly everybody he comes into contact with, that doesn’t mean that there weren’t a few people who could fill an evening with light-hearted jabs, funny anecdotes and embarrassing stories in his honor to benefit Veterans of Foreign Wars Jimmy Connors Post 6311 and the work that they do in the community.
Dillman’s roast on Thursday evening at the Manteca Senior Center, which served as a fundraiser for the well-respected and flourishing VFW, of which he is a member, drew plenty of laughs from the packed house comprised of the movers-and-shakers of the community that have long supported Dillman’s vision for turning what used to be a weekend to get away and unwind into one for somber reflection and admiration for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of protecting their country and their fellow man.
In fact, his ability to coax money out of some of those movers-and-shakers – like Manteca Ford owner Phil Waterford – were central to the light-hearted jokes Thursday night that kept everybody, including Dillman, doubled-up in laughter.
“The older my father gets the more I realize that he doesn’t care how people perceive him. And I have to say that my father is getting very old,” Dillman’s son Steve said in a five-minute joke-a-thon that brought the house down. “He’s so old that when he was a young man the Dead Sea was just sick. He’s so old that his first job in high school was bussing at The Last Supper.”
Dillman, an Assembly of God Pastor, retired from full-time ministry last year – ending a 50-year run that culminated with assisting Manteca in becoming known as one of the most “patriotic” communities on this side of the Mississippi River.
Of those who came up to roast him on Thursday, two of those men could speak to Dillman’s patriotism and dedication – East Union JROTC Instructor Karl Knutsen and Manteca Gold Star Father Chuck Palmer – to join VFW Commander Carlon Perry, a fellow veteran, and close friend and confidant Phil Waterford at the lectern to take playful jabs at the man that they all love and respect.
“You’re here to help recognize a gentleman that has done a lot for our military folks and this community and to show that you support the VFW,” Perry said in his remarks before telling a funny story about Dillman breaking the group’s pop-up tent and skirting the issue all day. “He’s done a lot for a lot of people.”

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.