Paul Luvera Journal

My grandmother on dad's side of the family, Phyllis Filippa Luvera died in Anacortes, Washington on December 20, 1946.  By coincidence, that is also the day my wife's mother died. Nonna Luvera was born in Italy May 26, 1870 and spoke little English. Since dad believed the children should speak English we never learned Italian and could only communicated with her through dad. She was typical Italian grandmother, an excellent cook and who was always feeding us something. She  had Italian candy she offered us when ever we visited. Nonno and…

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Nancy and Eric Anderson are resident travel and cruise columnists for Physicians Money Digest. They sent me an E-mail after seeing Anacortes, the town where I was born and raised, and the murals around town includinjg one of dad and my grandfather. As a result of their visit, they wrote a couple of wonderful short articles about Bill Mitchell, the artist who painted them, along with outstanding photos to go with the articles. See one article at http://www.physiciansmoneydigest.com/your-life/Anacortes-Washington-States-Painted-LadyYou will enjoy…

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I was watching a movie the other night involving coal miners and it made me reflect on the fact that I am the son of an immigrant Italian coal miner. After working for the Canadian Pacific Railroad laying track, my grandfather moved on to Coleman Alberta, Canada where he worked in the coal mines with his oldest son. He was soon joined by my father who began working in the mines at age fifteen years. Dad was injured on the…

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Today is the anniversary of the death of my father, Paul Nicholas Luvera Sr. Born on March 25, 1898, he died in Anacortes, Washington on November 4, 1990 at the age of 92. I've published several accounts of his memories from his youth over the past couple of weeks. This is a brief outline of dad's accomplishments in living the American dream. A man with less then a seventh grade education who became a community leader and achieved a middle class level…

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Dad’s journey from Canada to Anacortes, Washington was serendipity and what he regarded for his entire life as a total blessing. He was very proud of being a naturalized citizen and an American. This is what he typed back in 1990 about how that came to happen. "In mid-1918 I took my father to Dr. Ross because dad was having fainting spells at work and at home. There were three doctors who consulted each other and then Dr. Ross said:…

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"About 1915 or so we went on strike for better wages. The John L Lewis miners union started placing pickets in front of the coal mine. The union was distributing some necessities such as tea, coffee, sugar, flour etc. so much per week. I had a friend Rocco, who was three years older than I was. He said "Let’s hop a freight train and go to Calgary." A big city in comparison to Coleman. He said "We don’t have to…

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One of Dad's typed reports of his experiences as a boy and young man involved his injury while working in the coal mine. Here's what he said about that: "My father Nicola, my brothers Salvatore, and Consolato and myself worked for the International Coal and Coke Limited company in Coleman, Alberta.Once I was injured while I was working. Small steel cars were used in the operation that carried three tons of coal each, with ten cars to a train. When the…

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When the miners went on strike, Dad and his friend Rocco decided to hop a box car to another town to look for work until the strike was over. Here’s his account of what happened when he got home after the strike ended. This was about 1917. "After I got home I realized Salvatore was missing. I said "Where is Salvatore?" Mother said that he wanted a change and that he is now in Edmonton, Alberta. So at home now…

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Both of my parents were of immigrant families in America. Neither had more then a modest grade school education. Dad lied about his age, left school and went to work at 15 years old in the coal mines of Coleman, Alberta for the International Coal and Coke Ltd company. Each miner was given a metal number they wore around their neck to identify them in case of injury or death and to indicate whether they were in the mine or…

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Maybe it's my age, but I seem to be reporting on a lot of people who have died over the past few weeks. Today I'd like to share information about my maternal grandmother Marija Babarovich who died on August 5th, 1953 and whose anniversary of death is a few days away. She died the year  I graduated from high school in Anacortes, Washington.Her life story is one of great courage and sacrifice involving immigration to America while not being able to speak English….

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