Paul Luvera Journal

My grandfather, Nicola Luvera died in Anacortes on Independence Day, July 4, 1956 after living more then ninety years. My chief regret is that he spoke no English and I spoke no Italian so we never had a real conversation – only through my father's interpretation. Dad believed our family should speak English because we lived in America so my sisters and I never learned either parent's native language. My grandfather's story is one of courage and determination. After working…

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My father in law, Hollis Barnett died on March 22nd 1990. He was a unique and wonderful man. You canread about his extraordinary wife Betty Barnett and more about this couple whoI grew to love. https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2010/03/i-write-this-in-memory-of-my-wifes-father-hollis-hall-barnett-whodied-in-puyallup-washington-on-march-22-1990-at-the-a.html Hollis Hall Barnett died in Puyallup, Washington on March 22, 1990 at the age of 83. Hollis was born inBuckley, Washington on May 3, 1907 and spent his younger years at Mt. Rainier National Park where his father, Herman "Herm" Burke Barnett, was a…

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My maternal grandfather Peter (Petar) Babarovich was born April 12, 1861 inthe village of Splitska on the island of Brac in the Adriatic Sea. He died inAnacortes, Washington March 5, 1935. For his family history see:  http://www.paulluvera.com/weblog/2011/03/peter.html The picture is of my maternal grandparents Peter and Marija. They had seven children all of whom, except my mother Mary, were born in ona small island Brac off the coast near Split, Croatia. I've written about the families  journey from the old country to America before as…

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On Friday February 27th 1981 I had the good sense to marry Lita Theresa Barnett. From that day to this we have been together virtually twenty four hours a day because we are not only partners in life, we are also partners in law. That means for the past 32 years we have worked and lived together. We really should be honoring a 64 year marriage since we have never left each others side since our marriage. Winston Churchill once wrote…

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The memorial for my sister Phyllis was held on Saturday January 19th at 6:30 pm at the Anacortes  Public Library. Lita and I drove from Gig Harbor to Anacortes to attend 5:00 pm Mass at St Mary's parish for Phyllis.  I had also arranged for a previous Mass to be said as well. I don't know what reaction Phyllis would have had if she knew my plans for having Mass said for her, but it was something I needed to do for…

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On Friday I was scheduled to have lunch with Mount Vernon attorney friends at the Chucknut Manor in Bow. It's a long drive so I wanted to start out early to be on time. However, I managed to run against a curb while at the ATM in Gig Harbor before I got on the freeway. I had a flat tire. I drove across he street to the Chevron service station at 7102 Stinson Avenue (Maritime Mart) in Gig Harbor where I buy all my gasoline,…

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My sister Phyllis died at her daughter Mary Davis's house in Bellingham on January 7, 2013.  She was a retired school teacher, but was a great deal more than that suggests. I have previously written about Phyllis and my sister Anita and how extraordinary they both were. https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2008/07/phyllis-ennes-2008-anacortes-patron-of-the-arts.html  She was born in Anacortes January 29, 1928 where she graduated from high school with honors. She attended the University of Washington,Western Washington University and Montana State University where she obtained a…

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I'm writing this about my late mother in law, Elizabeth (Betty) Catherine Devitt, who was born December 5, 1910 in Butte,Montana and died December 20, 1995 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. Betty's parents were Merritt John Devitt and Elizabeth McCarthy Devitt. She was baptized at…

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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…

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My maternal grandmother Marija Babarovich was born on September 21, 1863 on an island in the Adriatic Sea and died in Anacortes, Washington on August 5th, 1953. She was born in what was Austria Hungary, became Yugoslavia and is now Croatia. 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. I've previously talked about that in writing about my…

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