Community says goodbye to a true matriarch: 100 years an Auburn girl
Published 1:07 pm Wednesday, August 19, 2015
For the Reporter
If Auburn were to ask for a symbolic matriarch, Clelia “Clel” Ungherini Stevens would certainly have been a popular choice.
Her family was among the city’s immigrant pioneers and earliest residents. And except for briefly working and living in Olympia and Tacoma, she lived in Auburn her entire life.
Clelia, who turned 100 years old on Dec. 18, passed away peacefully on Aug. 1.
Like so many others seeking a better life near the turn of the 20th century, her family sailed from Italy to America before passing through an East Coast port.
Her mother, Emilia Montecchiani, and her father, Fabio Ungherini, and their families soon found their way to the mining towns of Minnesota, where other family members were already at work.
Emilia and Fabio got married then headed to Auburn, where her father and her Ungherini uncles found work on the booming railroad system.
Clelia’s mother – only 17 when Clelia was born – was a renowned cook and beauty.
Clelia, who graduated from Auburn High School in 1932, was probably the oldest living graduate of the original AHS on East Main Street, where a state-of-the art school now stands.
Clelia worked as a nanny early on before she found employment in Olympia as an administrative secretary at the Unemployment Compensation offices and elsewhere in the capitol. That’s what she met her husband of 74 years, Fred Pierce Stevens.
“Steve”– as family and friends knew him – was stationed at Fort Lewis. He and Clelia were married in October of 1941 before he left for the European theatre of World War II. After his return, they raised four daughters in Auburn.
Over the years Clelia was involved with her parish, Holy Family Catholic Church, organizing events, teaching catechism and the altar society. She was an active member of several bridge clubs, some for community charity fundraising. Later in life she enjoyed being a senior member of the women’s organization of PEO, where she kept the ladies informed and entertained them with stories of Auburn in her own inimitable way.
Clelia was blessed with a loving and giving nature, great wit, intelligence and beauty. She kept a cozy, warm, and welcoming home, sought out by many.
She was well known for her fabulous cooking, Italian or otherwise.
Clelia was the oldest of four siblings. She was preceded in death by her husband (2007), a sister, Anita Crosby (2011), and her brother, Virgil Ungherini (2014). Her second sister, Norma Mongelli, divides her time between New Jersey and Florida.
She is survived by her four daughters and their families: Victoria Hammond (Robert); Maria Miele (Michael); Emilie McCurley (Rob); and Cecily Pewitt (Bill); seven grandchildren: Lisa; Julia; Matthew; Samuel; Steven; Gemma; and Daniel; and five great-grandchildren; Loucas; Samantha; Mena; Ryan; and Pierce.
An inurnment and memorial ceremony is at 11 a.m. Sept. 12 at Mountain View Cemetery Columbarium in Auburn. A remembrance luncheon to celebrate her life follows at 1 p.m. at the Rainier Room in the Truitt Building, 102 W. Main St., Auburn.
In lieu of flowers, please make any donations in her name to the charity of your choice.
