Family Histories: Arriola

Phoenix, AZ
October 13, 1995
Reverend Bryan W. Sherry, J.C.L.

Dear Fr. Sherry:

I am very pleased to respond to the request of Art Celaya to relate the very important role the Church of Assumption has had over six generations of the Arriola Family. My Grandfather, Aquiles Arriola, came to Florence in 1898 and opened a general merchandise store, "The Cosmopolitan Store". My grandfather was married to Petra Montaño and they gave birth to nine (9) children: Aquiles, Jr., Herminia, Fernando, Victor, Oscar, Hector, Laura, Medardo and Gustavo. My grandmother died from Influenza when Gus was 6 months old and Herminia took over running the family. In 1918 my grandfather was blinded from Glaucoma and my father, Fernando, left school to work and assist him in the store. The rest of the family, except Fernando, moved to California. Fernando married Louise Brady and had five children: Angie, Fernando, Jr., Mary Louise (Bita), Robert and Sylvia. Fernando worked for Kaufman Mandell at Mandell's Department Store from 1926 until he died, in 1972. Louise passed away on November 6, 1982. Angie resides in Florence and had three children, Jacque Dawson Zalenka, Trisha Dawson and Ron Burson. Trisha has a daughter, Deanna Louise Dawson, and Ron and his wife, Sheila, just gave birth to Lauren Ashley Burson on June 22, 1995. Fernando, Jr., lives in Phoenix and has two sons, Ingmund Lars and Fernando, 111. Bita lives in Phoenix and never married. Robert (Bob) lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida with his wife Carla (Ludwig) and they have three children, Robbie, Sylvia and Matthew. Robbie and his wife Sheryl have two sons, Austin and Taylor. Sylvia died of a brain aneurysm on July 3, 1961 at the age of 21. Our house was located on Main Street, the present location of Arriola Square. All the children were born at home. It was a wonderful place to experience childhood. My father and his friends used to serenade all the Juan and Juanita's in town on San Juans day for years. Assumption Church has always played an active and vital part of our lives. All passages of life have been woven through the activities that took place at the Church or the Parish Hall. Baptisms, Confirmations (mine was at age, 3), first communion (age, 6) 1 can still hear the songs of the May Devotions to Mary. The girls dressed in their white dresses and veils and offering their flowers dampened by tightly held little hands, the smell of the incense and the special light as the evening shadows creeped up the windows. I have vivid memories of Father Jacques admonishing us not to dwell on the materialistic but to look for the peace that God would grant us in the simpler things. It took 50 years to realize he was right. Father Leoni brought a lot of enthusiasm and the Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe was celebrated with my father's musical group, "Los Grios" at 5:00 a.m., in the cold dark December morning, with a huge bonfire and roman candles, shouts of Viva!, Mass and a big breakfast afterwards. Father Lynch dragged us into the 20th century. I worked very closely with him in the office and along with a great group of men like Otis Arndt, Bud Gomes and Andy Jimenez, guided the CYO group. It was a period of great fun and it gives me immense pleasure to see those same teenagers assuming the roles of leadership in the community today. Weddings, funerals, holidays, missions, holy days, all marking the passage of time and the ever present influence of the Church and the leader in residence, the priest. Each brings his personality and stamp of influence on the town. I don't think Florence will every have the razzle-dazzle of the modern parishes. What is does have is an absolutely solid, unshakable core of faithful parishioners who will continue to express their devotion in their everyday life, to lend assistance when it is needed, and to provide sustained support for another 125 years.

Sincerely, Bita Arriola

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