Luis and Fanny celebrate 55 years

LW ANNIVERSARIES

On March 9, Luis and Fanny Schillaci celebrated 55 years of happy marriage.

Luis was born on Feb. 18, 1939. He would later become a watch technician, specializing in Rolex and jewlery.

Around the year 1966, Luis’ friend, Kacho Marin, introduced him to his sister, Fanny Marin, born June 4, 1947. After a failed first date the two reunited one year later, never to be separated again.

Luis played in Garden City Jazz Band while Fanny studied English and worked as a saleswoman at Mayorga, a prestigious leather goods store. Luis dreamed of New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, while Fanny filled out applications at the United States Embassy to settle there.

The two married on March 8, 1969. On May 22, 1970, the home filled with joy upon receiving their first beloved son, Daniel, and 16 months later, on Sept. 15, 1971, once again the home shone with the arrival of their second beloved son, Andres. With them, Luis and Fanny learned to be parents, to live amidst toys and tantrums, and the joy of having children.

But their dream was the Great North and it did not fade away. In 1968, Luis abandonded jazz. Fanny continued to support the dream and take care of the family. Luis, a lover of machinery and intuitive since he was a child, helped his father repair an old Chevrolet truck from 1929, with the steering wheel on the right side and the gearshift on the left.

At 30 years old and newly married, he took a racecar driving course with ACA. He was ready to race without his parents and the rest of his family knowing. Fanny also got her driver’s license and one day they went to test their Fiat Coupe Pinnfarina. It flipped on a dirt road, ruining the dream of racing for Luis and Fanny. On May 15, their first and long awaited race arrived: La Vuelta De 25 De Mayo. With a pretty good average for a new driver, the Fiat Company offered to sponsor new drivers for a new project, which was the 24 Hours of Apat Race. It was the year 1972, where there was much unrest in the country. On March 21, the president of Fiat, Oberdan Salustro, was kidnapped by the ERP and murdered. The Fiat company withdrew from the project. The country was in chaos, and did not issue visas for Argentinians.

Years later, the country recovered, and Luis obtained a visa and took a test at the Rolex Service Center in Beverly Hills, California. Once lawyers activate immigration procedures years later, a visa wasobtained to travel to New York, but Luis and Fanny did not accept to travel there due to the weather conditions.

In 1982, they decide on California. Emigrating with the family and on Feb. 28, 1982, they settled in Torrance. Fanny found a job in the accounting department of a uniform company. She treasures those memories of her boss, Dorothy Harris. Luis worked at the Rolex center.

The first years were tough but full of learning. In 1985, the couple bought their first home on 231st Street in Torrance. It was achieved with great sacrifice, as work and raising children demanded a lot, but they were Luis and Fanny’s pillars and could not waver.

The couple later opened a jewelry store and watch making business, European Services in Wilmington. Those were prosperous years. But after five robberies in 10 years, Luis and Fanny decided to close their doors.

Fanny and Luis decided to sell the property and with that equity, they bought a piece of paradise for themselves in Leisure World.

After 26 years, Luis returned to his passion, the trumpet. During one of his trips to the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans, Luis performed some tunes on the street in front of the French Café Du Monde.

In 2004, with the support of a Leisure World resident, Don Hodges, clarinetist Jay Clauson, and Luis as the leader of the band, they created the LW Dixieland Jazz Club, performing 12 annual concerts in Clubhouse 4 with the support of 200 members. It was a success in Seal Beach. Luis was the band’s leader for nine years. Additionally, every Monday for 11 years, he played at Curly’s Café in Long Beach. The band also traveled to Bueno Aires, Argentina, giving three concerts at the University of the Law, the San Martin Theater, and a Jazz Club on May 22, 2012.

Alternating voluntarily with Fanny, Luis delivered food from Rossmoor Senior Center as a volunteer.

Meanwhile, Fanny continued her volunteer work for four years at Torrance Hospital and three years at The Salvation Army. Since 2012, Fanny has continued her volunteer work in the NICU at the Long Beach Children’s Hospital. She was also passionate about Flamenco.

In 2015, due to health reasons, Luis stopped playing the trumpet.

Luis and Fanny have a passion for children, especially their adorable granchildren, who are unfortunately far away in Hawaii: Navarra Lee, 17, and Lincon Storm, 15, who are the children of Brandy and Andres, and Luka Kai, son of Daniel and Yasuko.

Luis and Fanny are blessed immigrants that were welcomed in this country. It is where their children grew up and now their grandchildren live. They live in paradise with exceptional neighbors. Their kids and friends make up the family Luis and Fanny created in 22 years in Leisure World.

Fanny and Luis on their wed ding day.