By La Verne Abe Harris & LaVerne Abe
This is a story about two namesake “sisters” who met by a twist of fate. Because they share the same first names and maiden names and both lived in the Phoenix, Arizona area, the life insurance company mistook both women as the same person. But that is not where the story begins. To simplify things the two will be referred to in this story as La Verne #1 and LaVerne #2.
A couple decades ago La Verne #1’s brother said an IRS guy was helping people find unclaimed tax returns. Some IRS money had not been claimed by a “LaVerne Abe” in Tempe. LaVerne #2 did in fact live in Tempe during the 1990’s. La Verne #1 also lived in Tempe, but had never lived at the address listed, so she knew it wasn’t her tax return. She did, however, find it curious that someone else in Tempe shared her name.
La Verne #1 had worked in the field of graphic design as an art director. She got her PhD and became a university professor at Arizona State University and Purdue University. LaVerne #2 later found out La Verne #1 was a university professor. That’s about as much as she knew about her.
Around the same time LaVerne #2 was working as a WebDam Administrator in the graphic design department at Banner Health. A co-worker Corine came to her and showed her a wedding photo she found on facebook and asked if the bride in the photo was her since the bride had long dark brown hair and had the same name. She glanced at it, but said it wasn’t her. LaVerne #2 was surprised the other La Verne had the same name and that stayed embedded in her head.
While a professor at Purdue University, La Verne #1 was diagnosed with leukemia and she and her husband Carl moved back to Arizona. While she attended an Art Day for Cancer Survivors at Banner Hospital, she met another cancer survivor, Frank Ybarra, who was demonstrating painting techniques for the cancer survivor group. This was a serendipity moment, since this was the same Frank Ybarra who used to work with LaVerne #2 in the graphic design department at Banner Health. The story continues, but first a little background about the two namesake sisters.
How did they get their names?
When La Verne #1’s father George Abe was a senior at Pullman High School in Washington, he was awarded the “La Vern Olsen” trophy for the all-around athlete with good citizenship. It was one of the highest honors. This was especially important to him because he was Japanese-American and this was 1940 right during World War II when the United States was at war with Japan. Years later he named his daughter after the trophy. So La Verne #1 was a trophy daughter. LOL. George added an “e” at the end of the name to make it more feminine in his mind.
La Verne #1’s grandfather Kinge Abe immigrated from Japan to start a life as an American. Her grandmother Ishi Abe followed since she was promised in marriage. La Verne’s grandfather introduced himself as Kinge “Abe, as in Lincoln,” so that he would appear more Americanized. He worked as the foreman for a railroad.
Abe is a fairly common name in Japan. The Japanese pronounciation is two syllables: “Ah-Bay.” After La Verne #1 graduated from college, the George Abe family voted to change the pronunciation back to the Japanese pronunciation.
LaVerne #2’s mother, Betty, liked a jazz singer who had the name “LaVerne” and that is how she was named. In the late 1800’s the Bureau of Indian Affairs started the Navajo Nation census roll call, whereby, they wanted to account for all Navajos on the reservation. The information included the degree of Indian blood, marital status, place of residence, etc. LaVerne #2 was born 4/4 (full-blooded) as noted on her Certification of Indian Blood (CIB).
In those days, Navajos did not have English names, rather names in the Navajo language that referenced the individual in some character way. Her paternal grandfather, John A., was called “the man with the hair bun” in Navajo because he had hair down to his waist and always put it into the traditional Navajo bun style. He was a rather interesting man. He was a horse breaker and a true nomad traveling around the reservation to find the best grazing land for his sheep and horses. Anyway, he needed a name for the census roll, so they called him John and decided to slap on the “A” afterwards and hence “John A.” When his children were born they needed a better surname so someone came up with “Abe” – the first two letters of the alphabet and the next vowel. Thereafter, all his lineage were the “Abe” family.
How did the La Vernes meet?
Somehow in this universe they were again connected through a letter from an insurance agency addressed to “LaVerne Abe” that somehow ended up in the mailbox of La Verne #1. In 2016 LaVerne #2’s father Billy James Abe left her life insurance funds that were to be delivered to her after his passing. The insurance agency must not have had the correct address, so it can only be presumed they did a google search and found La Verne #1and assumed the two were the same person. La Verne #1 knew the money could not be intended for her because her father’s name was George and he passed away in 1997. At the time both La Vernes were living in the Phoenix area.
La Verne #1 remembered the IRS incident from years ago with a woman having the same name. She went online trying to find someone else with her name. On facebook she found a man with the last name “Abe” who lived on the Navajo reservation. She found that odd because Abe is a Japanese name. She contacted him to see if he knew anyone named LaVerne Abe. He said that was his sister and she lived in Phoenix.
In her brother’s list of friends she found his sister and pulled up her facebook account. His sister had posted her missing dog on her facebook page and included a phone number. La Verne #1 called LaVerne #2 to tell her that she had her father’s life insurance check. And that’s when they found out they had both worked in graphic design and both knew Frank Ybarra.
Six Degrees of Separation
The serendipity moments do not end here. La Verne #1 is half Japanese and half German. LaVerne #2 has two cousins with Japanese husbands they met in Los Angeles. She has half Japanese and half Navajo nephews and nieces.
Both LaVernes are the oldest sibling in their families. Both of their maternal lineages of the family are artistic. Both La Vernes are graphic designers, both paint furniture and both lived in Tempe, Arizona.
La Verne #1’s mother Hildegard, an immigrant from Germany, was a professional seamstress. In high school La Verne #1 would sketch out fashion designs of semi-formal dresses. They would select the fabric and her mother would make up the patterns and sew the dresses for her. In addition to being a seamstress, Hildegard was also an oil painter and a musician.
LaVerne #2’s mother Betty is also a seamstress. In addition to that she is a rug weaver and silversmith. La Verne #2's maternal great grandmother Julia Joe made the world’s largest Navajo Rug. There is a YouTube video the rug that is currently displayed in the old train station in Winslow, AZ. It took her five years to make with her two sisters. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4YI0hUoKBk)
Both La Vernes have veteran fathers, who were stationed in Germany. La Verne #1’s father George left college and joined the Army to show that he was a good American citizen. The United States was very biased against Japanese-Americans during World War II. George was in the 442nd Japanese-American Army Battalion He was a judo instructor for the military and met his wife when he was stationed in Heidelburg, Germany.
LaVerne #2’s father Billy was also an Army veteran and was stationed in Germany for two years. Life was tough on the reservation so he wanted to leave and join the Army. He never regretted serving his country and was a proud veteran.
Both La Vernes have a connection to the Arizona American Indian communities. La Verne #1worked with the Indigenous communities throughout her career. She taught hand-blocked fabric printing on the reservation through a grant. She helped to market their art to the Heard Museum and to interior designers. She also taught computer graphics on the reservation to help high school students get college credit. And of course, LaVerne #2 is Navajo.
In Summary
La Verne #1 lives in Arizona and LaVerne #2 now lives in Sweden. They consider themselves Serendipity Sisters. The fact of the matter is that they have not met in person yet. La Verne Abe Harris says that she might just have to take a trip to Sweden so they can meet in person. So you see, the story has not ended.
