Dr. Stanley E. Willis II died April 17 at his Misty Meadows ranch in Myrtle Point, Ore. He was 80.

The prominent San Diego psychiatrist had been a San Diegan for more than 20 years when he bought the Park Manor Hotel, on Sixth Avenue and Spruce Street, for $1.3 million in 1978.

His dream was to restore Old World charm and elegance to the tarnished San Diego relic that was showing its age in all the wrong places. He pumped more than $1 million into upgrading the property, including furnishing it with antiques and opening The Inn at the Park restaurant and intimate penthouse bar.

The Park Manor Suites, as it came to be known, was designated a historical site by the City of San Diego in 1991.

Known for his sophisticated and multifaceted lifestyle, Dr. Willis was, as his friend and former neighbor Ted Geisel of Dr. Suess fame once wrote, a “psycho-legalistic-wine bibing-thespianistic-seagoing hotelier.”

Not the least of his attributes was a wry sense of humor. When asked, “How are you?” his traditional response was, “No meaner than usual.”

A native of Kansas, Dr. Willis earned a bachelor’s degree at Stanford University before completing his medical studies at McGill University in Canada.

He taught law at USD, specialized in Freudian psychoanalysis in La Jolla and served in the late 1980s as a civil service commissioner.

On stage, Dr. Willis acted in such Old Globe Theatre productions as Light Up the Sky, Holiday for Lovers and Captain’s Paradise.

On water, he sailed his 45-foot yacht, The Pacifica, to repeat wins in the Newport-to-Ensenada race.

Survivors include an adopted son, Alan; brother, Bill of Scottsdale, Ariz.; and two granddaughters. A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, May 2.