LAKE COUNTY — Jessica Pritchett and Shadow Abreu of Lucerne became the first same-sex couple to tie the knot in Lake County after the California Supreme Court issued a May 15 ruling that overturned the state”s ban on same-sex marriages.
A small group of friends and family members joined the happy couple in the Lake County Board of Supervisors” Chambers. The wedding took place at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, the first available appointment time for a county clerk to perform the ceremony. Jan Pankratz, a retiring deputy commissioner of civil ceremonies in the Lake County Clerk”s Office, officiated.
“We were going to get married in Fort Bragg, but then the lady (Pankratz) was so sweet,” Pritchett said.
Pankratz is retiring Friday, and said out of more than 600 civil ceremonies she”s officiated in her six years as a deputy commissioner, the Wednesday morning ceremony was her first same-sex marriage.
“They came to our counter last week, and we told them we couldn”t issue them a license yet. Then they decided they wanted to get married here,” Pankratz said.
Pritchett said as of their wedding day, Abreu would take her last name. Abreu”s one-year-old daughter Savannah will also eventually assume the Pritchett name, after what Pritchett described as a lengthy legal process.
Tuesday was the first day after the Supreme Court ruling that marriage licenses could legally be issued to same-sex couples. Pritchett said news of the ruling allowing her to marry Abreu was welcomed and long awaited.
“We were considering going to Canada, but we didn”t want to stay there in order to be legally married,” Pritchett said.
After making it official in Lakeport Wednesday, the couple headed to Fort Bragg to a reception with family and friends.
Pritchett said she and Abreu were together seven years, since they were 15 and 13 years old. After living together for a year in Lucerne, the couple knew a year ago that they wanted to get married.
The couple”s married status allows Pritchett to be named on Savannah”s birth certificate and to be covered under Abreu”s health plan as a certified nursing aid at Meadowood Nursing Center. Pritchett is a massage therapist who teaches at LifeStream Massage School in Napa.
County Clerk Pam Cochrane said no other same-sex marriages were scheduled as of Wednesday.
Marriage licenses are available at the County Clerk/Auditor-Controller”s Office in Room 209 on the second floor of the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Civil ceremonies can be performed by appointment only. To make an appointment, call 263-2311.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
