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Neves
Leonard Neves
IRS Coworker
8/11/99
I first met your mother in early
October 1983, when I transferred to the Honolulu District
office of the Internal Revenue Service as the Large Case Manager.
I don't believe your mother was in my group, but she was a
team member on a lot of the examinations that I was responsible
for. I am sure you already know that she was one of the best
in all aspects of her job.
Annabelle and I had a lot in
common. We were both career Federal employees; her family
and mine are both Catholic; we were both born and raised in
Honolulu; and, we both shared a respect for a quality education
for our children
Annabelle was one of several
people who I became very close to in my years in Honolulu,
and who I kept in contact with. We shared coffee breaks, many
lunches, bowling (practice, tournaments, and a bowling league,
although I'm not sure if your Mom bowled out at Fort Shafter
with us). Your mother was very proud of all four of her children,
and kept us informed of your accomplishments, and how you
were doing. Four or five of us (sometimes more) went out to
lunch about once a week. I liked the plate lunch (hamburger
steak, rice, and macaroni salad), and your mom liked the ox
tail stew. The others in the group included Carl Tanigawa,
Ralph Osoro, and Randy Tanahara, plus others, including spouses
for some events.
I still have three of the (picture)
Christmas cards from the Dunn family (1988, 1990, and 1994).Greg
is the oldest and Mikey (probably "Mike" now) is
the youngest. I'm not sure whether you or LaurieAnn is the
second oldest. I always let the "gang" know when
I was coming to Hawaii for a visit and dropped by the office
to visit everyone. Sometimes we had coffee or lunch together,
and a chance to bring everybody up to date on family etc.
On one such visit (in May 1990)
Annabelle noticed I was having problems with my left foot,
and I told her I couldn't move my toes. Bea was with me. Annabelle
became concerned about circulation problems, told us about
Shiatsu therapy, and made an appointment for us with her doctor
before we went to Kona. I had four more sessions in Kona before
we returned to Oregon. To this day I still have more movement
in my toes than I did before the five Shiatsu sessions.
In later years I became aware
that some people called your mother "Anna". I never
did find out if she preferred to be called Anna, or Annabelle.
My mother-in-law died in Kona in April 1994. We were visiting
with Bea's brother after the funeral when the phone rang.
Harry answered and said "she's right here", and
passed the phone to Bea. It was Annabelle. She saw the obituary,
saw Bea's name as a survivor, noted the date of the funeral,
noted the names of Bea's brothers that lived in Kona, obtained
the phone number, and connected on the first try. We had arrived
about five minutes before your mother called to express her
condolences. That is the kind of person your mother was: kind;
caring; concerned; and, compassionate. Harry was amazed at
how easily Annabelle was able to track down Bea.
I believe you and your family
visited in Oregon during the summer of 1994, or was it 1995?
Your mom and dad came to visit Bea and me while the four of
you kids stayed at the Embassy Suites Hotel to use the swimming
pool. We had a very nice visit, and your dad took a couple
of pictures of your mom and me in front of the house.
My last trip to Hawaii was in
April 1996. I called the office and was told Annabelle was
working out of her home. I called her there, and she told
me she had cancer, and about her trip to UCLA. She was concerned
about me coming to see her because of all the stairs. Carl
and Helen Tanigawa drove Bea and me to your home. We went
up the back stairs, with everyone else walking behind me to
catch me if I fell. (Today, I can't even walk, much less climb
stairs; I have primary progressive Multiple Sclerosis). Your
mother was in good spirits, and had a positive attitude. There
were a couple of her classmates from Sacred Hearts Academy
visiting her, and they were talking about how fast they were
able to notify everyone of your mom's condition by using a
telephone tree. I said, "well, everyone knows that the
three fastest ways to disseminate information are: telephone;
telegraph; and, tell a woman." Needless to say I got
a raspberry on that one, but it got everyone laughing. LaurieAnn
was playing the piano, beautifully, I might add.
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