{"id":144,"date":"2014-01-27T18:12:31","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T18:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.alfiers.com\/?page_id=144"},"modified":"2023-12-25T23:31:14","modified_gmt":"2023-12-25T23:31:14","slug":"efrosini-florence-maria-alfieris","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.alfiers.com\/?page_id=144","title":{"rendered":"Efrosini (Florence) Maria Alfieris 1913-2004"},"content":{"rendered":"

Born in 1913 in Oakland, California, Florence was the third daughter of John and Maria Alfieris. \u00a0This 1916 picture was taken in Oakland. \u00a0Florence sits\u00a0her father\u2019s lap while her mother stands behind him. \u00a0Her sister, Lula, is on the left.\u00a0 Her sister, Alice is on the right.<\/p>\n

\"1914YP&Girls\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This 1926 photograph of Florence was taken in Oakland, California in a photographer’s studio. \u00a0In the early 1900s many immigrant families dressed their children in ethnic costumes for have professional photographs taken.<\/p>\n

\"FlorenceCostume\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Florence possessed \u00a0a gregarious, outgoing personality. \u00a0She was active in the Greek community and shared many friends with her sisters and brothers. \u00a0When she was 17 Florence’s\u00a0parents arranged her marriage to Peter Derdivanis of Fresno, California. \u00a0The marriage took place on a hot Fresno day in 1931.\u00a0 Florence was exceedingly unhappy that day, even in tears, because she did not want to marry the man her parents chose for her. \u00a0Pictured here from left to right:\u00a0friend Athena Spiropoulos, (unknown), (unknown), sister Angie Alfieris, Florence Alfieris, sister Alice Alfieris, \u00a0friend Vivian Spiropoulose, and sister Lula Zamenes.<\/p>\n

\"1930WedEdited\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This marriage produced two boys, John and Harry Derdivanis.\u00a0 When they were very young, Florence returned to Oakland with her sons to live with her parents. \u00a0She claimed her husband had severely mistreated, and she refused to remain married to him. \u00a0\u00a0 She learned to be a beautician and worked at her sister\u2019s beauty shops for many years. \u00a0All the years the boys were growing up, they visited their father frequently in Fresno and retained a relationship with him.<\/p>\n

In 1945 Florence married Delius (Del)\u00a0 Newton, a Marine she met after WWII ended.\u00a0 He formed a deep bond with the entire Alfieris family.\u00a0 A year later Florence and Del had their son, David Newton.\u00a0 They bought a home in Oakland and lived there until Del died in 1976.<\/p>\n

Del and the other men in the Alfiers family enjoyed fishing and shooting.\u00a0 They taught many boys in the family about these sports.\u00a0 John and Harry used to go duck hunting with their uncles.\u00a0 David learned all about guns as well as fishing.\u00a0 In 1966 he was cleaning a gun when a bullet lodged in the chamber fired and killed him while he was alone in the house.\u00a0 He was almost 20 years old.\u00a0 Florence and Del returned home to find him lying on his bedroom floor.\u00a0 This death devastated the entire family filling his parents with unconsolable grief for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n

Florence had a youthful outlook and was always active.\u00a0 This picture was taken in 1985 when she was 72 years old.<\/p>\n

\"1987Florence\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the mid-1980s, Florence’s son, Harry, had to have a blood transfusion after an accident.\u00a0 Within a year, his health started to fail, and he soon found out he had contracted AIDS through the transfusion.\u00a0 For the next three years, he battled the disease bravely, participating in support groups and following a careful health regimen to get a handle on the disease.\u00a0 He reached his 60th<\/sup> birthday in 1993 and died two months later. \u00a0He was survived by his wife, Vicky, who was also infected with the virus, and his daughter, Beth.\u00a0 Vicky survived the virus as newly discovered medications kept her relatively healthy in succeeding years.\u00a0 She overcame the major ravages of AIDS, thanks to these medications. \u00a0Harry’s daughter, Beth, married in 1990; Harry and Florence are pictured here dancing at Beth’s wedding:<\/p>\n

\"1990BethWed2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"1990FloHarry\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Florence was never the same after losing her husband and two sons. \u00a0But she soldiered on, moved to another home on Broadway Terrace in Oakland and relied on the support and counsel of her remaining son, John.\u00a0 She remained at that home until she developed Alzheimer\u2019s disease and had to go to a care center where she died at the age of 91 in 2004.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Born in 1913 in Oakland, California, Florence was the third daughter of John and Maria Alfieris. \u00a0This 1916 picture was taken in Oakland. \u00a0Florence sits\u00a0her father\u2019s lap while her mother stands behind him. \u00a0Her sister, Lula, is on the left.\u00a0 Her sister, Alice is on the right. This 1926 photograph of Florence was taken in … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["entry","page","publish","author-kstathis","post-144"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alfiers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alfiers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alfiers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alfiers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alfiers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.alfiers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":282,"href":"https:\/\/www.alfiers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144\/revisions\/282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alfiers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}