David J. Drakulich Foundation is honored and humbled to share this talented and wonderful community member's obituary.  His family invites you to contribute to DJD Foundation's Veterans Art Project in Tony's memory. Nettie Crowder Oliverio, Tony's wife of 43 years explained that Anthony Joseph Oliverio was a talented performer. and visual artist. His final days were passed comfortably at VA Sierra Nevada Health Care.

"His personality made our staff shine!” “He was my compadre” “My Paisan is having a nice glass of red wine right now in a better place.” Thoughts from friends. Dementia set the stage and Covid-19 was the chariot to take Tony to that better place. Anthony Joseph Oliverio exited July 7. 2020. For all who knew him he was bigger than life, greeting all with a dazzling smile and a hearty hug. At 94, he’d seen combat with the Navy in WWII at D-Day, sung with the Ames Brothers as he subbed for Ed Ames in performance and for 3000 of his fellow soldiers & sailors in a USO show, co-founded the national industrial chemical company Share Corp and served as its Senior VP until his retirement in 1988, served as President and was a life-member of Nevada’s Italian Benevolent Society founded in Virginia City in 1872, and travelled around the world with his wife (when it was still fun to travel) making lasting friendships in many countries.

Tony is survived by his wife of 43 years, Nettie; his brother Vincent Oliverio and sister-in-law Angela, his sister Rose Burlingame; his nieces Rita Oliverio, Barbara Silo, Vicky Vecchiarella, Carolyn Adams and Becky Plunkett; his nephews Carmen Vecchiarella, Vincent Vecchiarella, Vincent Oliverio, James Crowder Austin Crowder, John Burlingame, Richard Oliverio, Daniel Oliverio and John Oliverio; his brothers-in-law Jay Crowder, John Crowder and Hobert Plunkett, his sister-in-law Iris Shelton and his great-nieces and nephews.

In the Age of Covid, rather than coming together we ask that you hug your loved ones, raise a glass and share a joke Tony would have enjoyed and, if so moved, contribute to the David J. Drakulich Foundation’s program providing art therapy for veterans coping with PTSD. www.arthealswarwounds.com

Combat Paper Nevada Workshops are held monthly and are free to local veterans and their close friends and family members.  Register at Combat Paper Nevada

DJD Foundation is proud to present Duty: War's Impact on Women to Northern Nevada at Elko!  Registration is required.  Refreshments + lunch on Saturday are provided for registranats. Please participate in this important community conversation and join the community art project, The Legend of 1000 Combat Paper Cranes!

Duty: War’s Impact on Women (DWIW) is a community discussion program focused on physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual impacts of military service and war on women, men, families & communities. DWIW is based on literary resources: Shoshana Johnson's I’m Still Standing-From Captive US Soldier to Free Citizen-My Journey Home, and Elizabeth Shepley Sargent's Shadow Shapes, the Journal of a Wounded Woman.DJD Foundation will included an integration of art for each community discussion. DWIW is open to all; content suitable for mature audiences.

In addition to the Sparks discussion Program, DJD Foundation is excited to present Duty: War's Impact on Women in Fallon Nevada! November 2 1-5 PM and Nov. 3 12-2 PM. American Legion Post #16 hosts this event at 90 Ada Street in Fallon.  This event is open to all, appropriate for mature audiences. You are encouraged to attend both days. DJD Foundation is offering a commemorative gift for all who complete both days. Register for Fallon's Duty: War's Impact on Women here.

DJD Foundation is a proud awardee of National Endowment for the Humanities "Dialogues on Experience of War" grant program #nehgrants.  We have used this opportunity to develop a  community discussion program for Nevada communities that will address a range of topics including military service, experiences with war and physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual impacts on women, individuals, families and communities. Duty: War's Impact on Women is designed to encourage diverse voices and opinions from everyone, veterans, their family members, close friends and community members regarding issues veterans face as they return to civilian life, and conversely, issues military families, friends and communities face as they embrace reintegrating veterans. 

The Legend of 1000 Combat Paper Cranes is derived from the Japanese legend of 1000 origami cranes: whosoever folds 1000 cranes experiences answer to prayer. Participate in the construction of 1000 origami combat paper cranes; combat paper is hand made paper, made from military uniforms.This meaningful activity will result public art that honors and commemorates experience with war and military service. Paired with Duty: War's Impact on Women, The Legend of 1000 Combat Paper Cranes offers a constructive and symbolic activity to complement the outcomes of the Dialogue on the Experience with War discussion program.

Trained discussion facilitators will lead question-based conversations to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions, using selected literature and humanities resources to initiate and guide discussions surrounding the theme of duty, homecoming, and reintegration. The selected literature includes Shadow Shapes, Journal of a Wounded Woman, by Elizabeth Shepley-Sergeant and I Am Still Standing-From Captive US Soldier to Free Citizen, My Journey Home, by Shoshana Johnson and Socrates Café, by Christopher Phillips.

Meet the Facilitators for the Fallon Event:

Julie King currently lives in Fallon, Nevada. She served in the army, 1974-78. Julie taught college English and Core Humanities  for nearly 3 decades. She participated in the Nevada Humanities Speakers on the Road Program for 2 years. In 2014, she joined the Northern NV Veterans Writing Group, a collaboration between Reno Vet Center and David J. Drakulich Foundation. She is passionate about Duty: War’s Impact on Women because through dialogue, ideas come to light and create action. Her concern is the disconnect between the civilian world and the people who serve. She believes that a better understanding of what it means to serve your country in the military and in times of war will help to foster better reintegration of soldiers into the world they have risked their lives to protect. She looks forward to highlighting women’s service and war’s impact on communities.
 
Dr. Noel Lipana, Doctor of Social Work, currently lives in Folsom, California with his wife, currently serving, and two young children. Dr. Lipana served 20 years between Active Duty and the National Guard and deployed to Afghanistan, 2007-2008. He received the Homewood Mental Health Treatment Award for Best Presentation, focused on improving and innovating clinical mental health practice at the Canadian Institute for Veteran Health Research. Dr. Lipana has testified before the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs on barriers to transition. He hopes to develop public discourse about the current civilian-military divide, the costs of war, and to help bring awareness to the moral costs of combat through the Duty: War’s Impact on Women discussion program.

Support local veterans and participate in a community art project!

DJD Foundation is proud to present Duty War's Impact on Women and The Legend of 1000 Combat Paper Cranes, hosted by the American Legion Post #30 in Sparks, 730 4th Street, Sparks, NV. This event is open to all, appropriate for mature audiences. You are encouraged to attend all three days.  DJD Foundation is offering a commemorative gift for all who complete the three days.

Easily register here:
October 14, 6-9 pm
October 15, 6-9 pm
October 16, 6-9 pm

DJD Foundation is a proud awardee of National Endowment for the Humanities "Dialogues on Experience of War" grant program #nehgrants.  We have used this opportunity to develop a  community discussion program for Nevada communities that will addressing a range of topics including military service, experiences with war and physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual impacts on women, individuals, families and communities. Duty: War's Impact on Women is designed to encourage diverse voices and opinions from veterans, their family members, close friends and community members regarding issues veterans face as they return to civilian life, and conversely, issues military families, friends and communities face as they embrace reintegrating veterans. 

The Legend of 1000 Combat Paper Cranes is derived from the Japanese legend of 1000 origami cranes: whosoever folds 1000 cranes experiences answer to prayer. Participate in the construction of 1000 origami combat paper cranes; combat paper is hand made paper, made from military uniforms.This meaningful activity will result public art that honors and commemorates experience with war and military service. Paired with Duty: War's Impact on Women, The Legend of 1000 Combat Paper Cranes offers a constructive and symbolic activity to complement the outcomes of the Dialogue on the Experience with War discussion program.

Trained discussion facilitators will lead question-based conversations to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions, using selected literature and humanities resources to initiate and guide discussions surrounding the theme of duty, homecoming, and reintegration. The selected literature includes Shadow Shapes, Journal of a Wounded Woman, by Elizabeth Shepley-Sergeant and I Am Still Standing-From Captive US Soldier to Free Citizen, My Journey Home, by Shoshana Johnson and Socrates Café, by Christopher Phillips.

Meet the Facilitators for the Sparks Event:

Anthony “Gene” Hughes is a professional artist living in Reno, Nevada.  Gene served in the US Army and is passionate about working with veterans, helping them to express themselves through visual art. He currently teaches visual art to veterans for the Veterans Art Project, a collaboration between DJD Foundation and VA Sierra Nevada Health Care Systems. Gene wishes to continue to build art programming that shares the voices of veterans with the civilian community.

Amber Valencia served 8 years in the US Army, and was deployed twice to Afghanistan with Operation Enduring Freedom. “Being a female veteran impacted my life in all different ways, some good and some not so good, so I feel that it is important to share those experiences and how I moved forward to empower myself and others." Amber hopes to help the civilian community build stronger relationships with veterans; her vision is a strong, supportive, community shared by veterans and civilians. She believes that veterans belong in the communities they serve and protect. Amber Valencia lives in Dayton, Nevada. She is a wife and mother of three.  

 

DJD Foundation is proud to introduce our Duty: War's Impact on Women Discussion Group Facilitators, Barry Peterson, Noel Lipana, Luana Ritch, Eric Hobson and Julie King participated with Tina Drakulich in writing the proposal to National Endowment for the Humanities, Education Division's Dialogues on Experiences with War, which was approved this spring. This team is also responsible for putting together the quality preparatory program and curriculum that is used to train the cadre of discussion leaders. On August 16th, 2019, the training will commence.  In our next blog post, we will introduce our crew of discussion program leaders and announce the scheduled events. We are thankful for their efforts!