Paul Luvera Journal

Eighty years ago, in 1935, Adolph Hitler announced German rearmament in violation of the 1919 treaty of Versailles. The following year Nazi Germany reoccupied the Rhineland in further violation of the treaty. Ultimately, his provocations  led the world into World war II. The economy of 1935 was still in a depression. The Wall Street crash of 1929, known as Black Tuesday, had devastated the stock market and brought the economy to its knees. Unemployment was 25% that year and many were working on a part-time. Industrial production…

Read More Read More

Last weekend my Gonzaga Law School class reunion took place in Spokane on Friday and Saturday. I was there on Friday and pleased to see class mates Gene  Annis, Joe  Gagliardi, Phil  Raekes and Pat Sullivan there. Fred Frohmader, Dennis smith, Bob Kovacevich and Richard Guy, the other  surviving members of the class  were not there on Friday when I attended. Lita and I had to return on Saturday so I  missed seeing anyone else that weekend. What's significant is…

Read More Read More

My maternal grandfather Peter (Petar) Babarovich was born April 12, 1861 in the village of Splitska on the island of Brac in the Adriatic Sea. He died in Anacortes, Washington March 5, 1935 see:  https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2012/03/peter-babarovich-1861-1935.htm I was born on February 21, 1935 and he died on March 5th of that year. I had no opportunity to know this unique man. He and my grandmother had seven children all of whom, except my mother Mary, were born in on a small island Brac off the…

Read More Read More

My sister Phyllis Ennes died on January 7, 2013. She was the oldest of the three children with Anita Mayer in the middle and I as the youngest. For my previous post about Phyllis see  https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2013/01/phyllis-luvera-ennes-1928-2013.htm  Born to Paul and Mary Luvera in Anacortes she graduated from Anacortes High School in 1946 with honors and attended the University of Washington where hs obtained a degree in English. In 1953, the year I graduated from high school, she earned a teaching certicate from…

Read More Read More

I've written about this extraorindary woman every year since her death. Elizabeth (Betty) Catherine Devitt, who was born December 5, 1910 in Butte,Montana and died December 20, 1985 in Puyallup. Her children included my wife, Lita, Devitt (deceased) Hollis, Barbara and Monica. She was a very remarkable woman in so many respects. She was also someone for whom I had a great deal of admiration, respect and love. For a complete biography of this amazing person please see https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2012/12/elizabeth-catherine-barnett-1910-1995.html.html     I loved…

Read More Read More

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 Elizabeth Barnett 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…

Read More Read More

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…

Read More Read More

On an early Friday morning, July 7th2000, my mother Mary Thelma Babarovich, died in her sleep at the San Juan Care Center. Her  death was not unexpected. After all, she was born on December 28, 1905 and was ninety four years old when she died. She had been in failing health for some time. Her passing was, in fact, a personal blessing to her as she had been ready to meet her maker for some time. My sisters, Phyllis Ennes…

Read More Read More