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Luana Villalobos

 I stand in awe of Lu, and what she has accomplished. She is easily one of the top achievers from our group. I am a very staunch believer in education as a tool for becoming all that you can be; in this regard, Lu has to be my candidate for the poster person of that belief.

I started watching the Ted Randall show in 58; I was a freshman at St. Vincent’s High School (it later became Sacred Heart Cathedral prep). Lots of the kids from Sacred Heart and St. Vincent’s were already going on the show, Steve Guerrero, Bob, and many other Hispanics from the catholic schools. I remember Evelyn Cuebas, Iris Lopez, Julie Padilla and so many others.

I started going to the show when one of the guys from Sacred Heart took me. We had guest passes. I was hooked. After that first time, I went along with the other girls and stood outside just wanting to get in. I don’t remember how long it was until I got the green regular’s pass. I am sure that Max the guard, I think that was his name, finally got tired of seeing me outside in the "hopefuls of getting in" line. I was there when Ted Randall left and we had a few new people trying out for the master of ceremonies position, one of them was Rod McKuen.

Then of course, Dick Stewart came, tried out, got selected, and everything changed. The show got better, and it became so much more fun. I was on the show for about three years. My best buddies were the twins, Donna and Diana DeMattei, Al LaRocca, Noreen Morosi, Shari Langlois, and the two Wayne’s, Mitchell and Clark. I won the weekly dance contest with Wayne Clark; we danced to a tune called "You Were Mine" by the Fireflys. We both got new stereos as a prize. I remember having a big crush on a Regular named Gary Evensen. He was very quiet and sweet. Does anyone remember Nick and Gus Kouninos???? (Yes Luana - Heide and I have tried to find the Kouninas brothers for the reunion, but have not been successful - Manny) All the names are coming back.

I graduated from St Vincent’s and went away to St Joseph College of Nursing. I went on the show one more time and was told by my dean not to do that again. The dean said that it "wasn’t very professional." College flew by and then Vietnam happened.

I have been a nurse since ‘65. I remember pulling up to Red Roof … a restaurant in the City. I was with a friend, and was going to meet my mom, when none other than Wayne Clark pulled up in an ambulance; he was the driver.

I went into the Navy from ‘66-‘68, and saw the Vietnam War from the medical casualties side of the fence. As an officer I was in charge of training corpsmen to take care of the injured on the field. I also became an orthopedic, and amputee specialist. After I got out of the Navy, I worked in Oakland at Highland General Hospital for a couple of years in the ER. I took care of many Black Panthers including Huey Newton and Eldrige Cleaver. I was on duty the night Martin Luther King was shot and all havoc broke loose in Oakland. I went back to college and took more science courses at UC Berkeley.

I met my husband while skiing at Tahoe. He was a United Airlines pilot. We lived at Tahoe for a year and then moved to Seattle where I had a daughter, Melissa. I went back to grad school at UCLA in ‘74 and became a nurse practitioner. I worked in college health so I could have summers off and raise children. I had my son Tim in ’76 and my other daughter Jaala in "79. I taught in college and wrote many papers on infectious diseases and a couple of books. I edit a national magazine now.

I got divorced in’90 after 22 years of marriage and became a single mom. I met Jim, who is the uncle of my son’s best friend. His sister is also a friend of mine. Diana De Mattei and Mitch have met him. He is a kick in the head. We will finally get married on March 12, 2005, on the beach in Maui. We have been dating for 14 years.

I became an administrator, and started a five-clinic community health care system. I worked there for three years and also had a private practice with another physician.

I was into community politics and was a Planning Commissioner for the City of Federal Way, when I was appointed to the Board of Trustees of Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. That was a very political position. The Governor appointed me to it.

Harborview is the only level one trauma center in five states. They train paramedics, and all medical and nursing students there. The staff physicians and nurses are from the University of Washington.

I worked my way up the ladder there and became the Chairman/President of the Board and was responsible for the administration of the hospital for two terms. I went to the county executive and got a Bond issue placed on the ballot for earthquake stabilization. The project funding, approved by the voters, was $256 million. It was more work than I ever thought possible. Campaigning for political issues is exhausting.

Then we had the biggest earthquake in 50 years up here. I guess our engineers had wonderful foresight. The hospital sustained some major damage but suffered no injuries. We were lucky. The three new buildings will be complete in 2008.

I left the board last summer, after ten years, and am now working in college health again. I see students, faculty and staff, and teach a few seminars during the summer. I worked at this job for the last four years while I was also running the Board of Trustees; that was about an eighty-hour week.

These days I am tearing up my upstairs, painting, and putting in a new rug, to house about 8 guests that are coming to the house for my daughter Melissa’s wedding, on April 17. 2004. This is a good start because Jim and I will be combining our two households next year. Melissa has a daughter from a previous relationship. She is 7 ½ and the apple of my eye. I love being a grandma. As this goes online, her daughter is now happily married, and her mother survived the wedding. LOL - Manny

Right after the wedding, I will leave for Washington DC for my son’s graduation from George Washington University School of Medicine. School has been a long haul for him. He will come back to the Northwest for his residency in Family Medicine at Oregon Health Sciences in Portland. - As this goes online, her son is now called by the title "Doctor." - Manny

My youngest daughter went to college at the University of New Mexico and is presently serving her country in the Peace Corps in Micronesia, on the island of Yap, where she is building a library. She got her degrees in Political Science and Secondary Education. For the first year in the Peace Corps, she served in China. Then SARS happened and the volunteers were pulled out of China. She came home and then started all over again. She went to the Federated States of Micronesia. That is in an area where part of World War II was fought. It is beautiful there, but very much a part of the third world.

A few years ago, I renewed my friendships with some of the old gang at the last reunion. At that time I spoke to another regular who had just lost his dad to Alzheimer’s. I was taking care of my mom who also had Alzheimer’s disease. She died a couple of years later.

As you can see I am still very busy. I am looking forward to seeing the gang at the Dance Party Reunion in July.

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by M. Interiano
  Copyright © 2004. All rights reserved.
  Revised: March 4,200409/10/06 09:26:33 -0700.