‘’Today, July 3rd, 2024 is my Uncle Frank’s 100th birthday. A few days earlier (June 30th) we celebrated with family and friends in his San Francisco home.’’
This is what Ned, his nephew wrote.
Ned sits with his uncle Frank (Dundo Frank) at his 100th birthday party. Dundo wears his baseball cap proclaiming, “Not everyone looks this good at 100.” He called me a month before, specifically requesting a cap recognizing his 100 years of age. He wore it proudly today. We are very close, we visit by phone every week and I know a great many of his life stories.
Frank’s oldest daughter, Teresa, shares the life story of her father, known to everyone by his nickname, “Lale.”:
”I’d like to talk a bit about his life, which will only be the tip of the iceberg of his rich history.
He has always been called “Lale.” (pronounced lah-leh) It was his first word, even before “Mamma,” and it stuck. Mail arriving to him comes addressed to Lale. He is the one and only Lale in Lumbarda, and he is the first man from the village to have reached the age of 100.
Lale was born on July 3rd, 1924, following World War One in the country known then as Yugoslavia. The state of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Travel then was by foot or donkey. There were no indoor kitchens or bathrooms, no electricity or running water. These did not arrive to the village until the late 1950s. The only narrow road on the entire island was a horse carriage road, four and a half miles from Lumbarda to Korčula.
Lale’s great uncle, was the first of his ancestors to immigrate to the United States. It was before the turn of the century, and it took him three months by sailing ship. In the next generation, many more immigrated. This time by steamship. Lale’s Father, Nikola, came over in 1924, when Lale was only a week old, leaving behind his old mother.
His wife, Tereza Musić and four children. Lale was not to meet his father for the first time until he was 30 years old. Nikola supported the family as best he could, which was very difficult during the Depression and had the intent to bring his entire family all to join him as soon as possible. But World War Two got in the way.
He was successful in bringing Lale’s older brother and sister to join him in 1939, but after that there was no communication with the family due to the war. My father was left the man in the house helping his mother care for the home and his grandmother. In 1943, when he was 19, he was called to leave home without any choice and spent two and a half years as a partisan in Tito’s army.
He served as radio telecommunications operator to the division commander because he had finished six years of grade school and then three years of trade school. He was selected for specialized training, and that saved him from the front line. He says during those two and a half years, he never had the luxury of sleeping in a bed or traveling by anything other than his own two feet.
Following his army discharge and return home, Lale was very popular, young man. His brother, Mate, sent him an accordion, which he learned to play by ear and was able to bring music and dance to the village after the war. Music was and still is a big part of his life, and he loves to sing. He played the trombone in the Village Brass Band for 12 years. Ater the war’s end,
Lale’s father applied to bring the remaining members of his family to his home in Oakland. Lale’s mother left Lumbarda in 1950, and Lale along with the love of his life, Eva Glassner, who he married in 1952, and two daughters myself and Lydia, followed in 1958. After the very long process of securing the necessary documents.
We lived in Oakland briefly, but it was in San Francisco that a job was found and the shoe repair in the White House on Union Square. Lale didn’t speak any English but was hired after the first day of demonstrating his skill craftsmanship. It was during these years that Lale and Eva’s family grew by two sons, Chris and Frank.
After two years, he opened his own shop at Haight and Fillmore. Being industrious, creative and self-sufficient, he was able to run his own business without knowledge of the English language. But as he says, he knew how to count money from day one. Three years later, he moved his business to Taraval and 19th Avenue, where he worked until his retirement at age 65.
He retired from winemaking when he was 70. He made wonderful wine for many years, and both houses we lived in had wine cellars. Lale has loved to travel throughout his life. He has visited 27 states Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and Europe. And then he reminded me also Australia. But his favorite place to travel to was his birthplace, Lumbarda, where he could rest his soul. And he says he has one foot in San Francisco and one foot in Lumbarda. He has traveled to Lumbarda 50 times.
Lale has lived a very long, colorful and eventful life. For the many times he has cheated death, Lale believes he has a guardian angel. From swallowing a one inch nail as a child to missing being killed in a flaming train wreck by deciding to wait a day traveling from Split to Belgrade to a close call on Taraval when the wind blew the top of a chimney in front of his face and the many harrowing tales during the war, such as swimming from island to island with messages while having to avoid being seen and shot at by the enemy.
Someone was watching over him. He tells me his grandmother prayed for him a lot. In addition to his guardian angel, Lale values all the people in his life, those who have passed and those who are here, his six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. All of you who he cares about and loves to stay connected to, as you know.”
We received the information from Nada Pritisanac Matulich of San Pedro, California, as Mr. Kriletich donated his necktie for the “Ties of Prominent Croatian Men and Women in the Emigration” project, which she initiated.
Information about the Kriletich family from Geni.com:
| Nikola Kriletich (1896 – 1962)
Croatian: Kriletić |
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| Birthdate: | April 27, 1896 | |
| Birthplace: | Lumbarda, Općina Lumbarda, Dubrovačko-neretvanska županija, Croatia | |
| Death: | April 18, 1962 (65) Alameda, California, United States |
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| Place of Burial: | Alameda, California, United States | |
| Immediate Family: | Son of Mate Kriletić and Zuva Kriletić Husband of Tereza Kriletich Father of Zuva Nobilo; Private; Matthew Kriletić and Frank J Kriletich Brother of Manda Ivka Kriletić; Boze Kriletich and Roko Kriletić/Kriletich Half brother of Manda Maria Kriletić; Božo Kriletić; Jakov Kriletić; Jakovica Maria Nobilo; Tereza Doma Kriletić and 4 others |
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