The heart-tugging notes on the piano rang out with raw emotion
as Pamela Wentworth Manikowski played them one last time for her
father. She had journeyed all the way from Italy as soon as she
could get time away from her commitments there as an opera
singer.
The heart-tugging notes on the piano rang out with raw emotion as Pamela Wentworth Manikowski played them one last time for her father. She had journeyed all the way from Italy as soon as she could get time away from her commitments there as an opera singer.
“I played Fantaisie-Impromptu by Chopin because it would have been too emotional for me to try to sing,” she said.
She returned to her hometown of Gilroy to pay tribute to her father, Everett Wentworth,
who passed away at age 93 on Sept. 30.
Everett would have been pleased to see so many of his friends and family gathered together on All Souls’ Day to remember his life and the contributions he made to the community that meant so much to him during his 84 years as a resident.
The Masonic tribute that began Monday’s memorial came from Bob Winter, former Santa Clara County Sheriff, who talked about how honorable and trustworthy a gentleman Everett was.
After graduating from Gilroy High in 1934, Everett owned and operated his own heavy equipment company. Everett and his wife Margaret – known as Marge – made an unbeatable team for 69 years and raised three accomplished children. He also volunteered as a Shriner, a Mason, and donated time to causes in the community such as helping underprivileged children get medical care. Marge worked by day handling the associated student body accounts at Gilroy High School and still found time for plenty of volunteer work. An excellent seamstress, she spent many hours at the local hospital mending garments for patients.
“At Christmastime we made specially-shaped blankets for newborns,” 89-year-old Marge said, her face lighting up. “The babies went home in giant Christmas stockings.”
Everett was not one to brag. You could know him for years and never realize that he had once served on Gilroy’s City Council – for 21 years! He followed in the steps of civic service his father, John, had passed down after serving for 12 years as a councilman. Son, Rick, carried on the tradition by serving on the Manteca City Council and currently serves as superintendent of schools for San Joaquin Valley.
The Wentworths’ other son, John, joined the army on Everett’s birthday in 1961. After 10 years and three voluntary tours of duty in Vietnam, “Pops,” as he was known, gave his life while rescuing younger, less experienced troops who were trapped under enemy fire.
“I think it is fair to say that for Everett the holy land was in his home in Gilroy,” Pastor Alison Berry said at the memorial. “He wasn’t a traditional churchgoer, but he certainly knew the meaning of love. His favorite stories were always about family – oh yes, and golf. In his later years, he insisted that he would return to church when and if we installed a putting green on the church property.”
He held many Gilroy Golf Club championships, and when his grandson, Kevin, went on to take up the golfing mantle, Everett and Marge enjoyed traveling around the country to see him compete.
Everett spent many an hour playing games with his grandchildren and great grandchildren. Marge and Everett were also second grandparents to their great niece Heather Brodersen. Heather, a senior at Gilroy High School, carried on Everett and Marge’s tradition of service to the community. It was Heather who, along with other local girls, collected teddy bears to give to children who are crime victims. The stuffed animals are meant to ease the children’s fears while testifying in court.
One time Everett heard I was fundraising for a trip to take young people on a service project to work with Native Americans on a Hopi Reservation in Arizona. I’m not sure it needed it, but he and Marge asked me to bring the kids over to paint their porch in exchange for a generous contribution to the trip.
In times so often characterized by self-interest and greed, it is important that we remember those men and women of Everett’s generation who shaped our history and who were willing to sacrifice for a greater cause – those who were tied to their communities and bound by a sense of civic pride and responsibility. They remain an ongoing source of strength for all of us who have been touched by their lives of kindness and selfless service to others.
While he was not a man of so many words, Everett leaves an incalculably rich legacy. The impact of his contributions stretches outward from Gilroy across the Central Valley with ripples to Italy and beyond for many generations to come.
