Pete and Barbara met on a blind date in Sacramento, California, where they grew up. Pete was 17 and Barbara was 15. They fell in love immediately and had been dating for a year when, because of parental objections, they eloped and were married in Carson City, Nevada, on September 6, 1951.

Through the years, they overcame many (often self-inflicted) obstacles. Barbara dropped out of high school to get married, and a year and two months later, they began their family with the birth of their first daughter, Susan.

They have five surviving daughters who provided them with 13 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren. Their third-born daughter, Patricia, passed away at 6 weeks of age. Their daughters are Susan Santos (Florence, Oregon); Jean John (Randy) (Sandy, Utah); Deborah Loney (Michael) (Bluffdale, Utah); Mary Adamson (St. George, Utah); Carol Creek (Gary) (Lake Havasu, Arizona); and a grandson they adopted and raised as a son, Joshua Santos (Phenix, Arizona).

Barbara started working outside of the home in 1965. Pete worked various jobs over 15 years, then started working for Montgomery Ward and was promoted to department manager. After five years, he was promoted to a larger department in Montgomery Ward’s Portland, Ore. super-store. Later, Pete was contacted by a former boss who offered him a position with a company in Pocatello. It would mean a greater income for the family, so Pete agreed and moved the family in 1971. That job didn’t work out; he was eventually hired by Roche Moving and Storage where he rose to general manager, covering both the Pocatello and Idaho Falls operations.

Barbara was employed by Piper, Jaffray and Hopwood, in 1972. She started taking an evening class at Idaho State University in September 1975. After a year, she quit work and enrolled at ISU full-time. Barbara graduated with honors in 1980, majoring in anthropology.

She was encouraged to continue her studies by attending graduate school. She was accepted by Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. She obtained her master’s and Ph.D. degrees in anthropology. She decided not to teach, so she took a clerical job with the Spanish and Portuguese department at IU. She eventually became the Spanish and Portuguese department’s webmaster, computer support person and managing editor of their literary journal, the Indiana Journal of Hispanic Literatures. She remained in that position for 11 years and retired in 2000.

Pete worked at Phi Delta Kappa, an educational organization in Bloomington, until his retirement. When both Pete and Barbara retired, they decided to come back to Pocatello. They became very active in volunteer work, particularly with the Holy Spirit Catholic Community. In addition, Barbara volunteered at the Pocatello Art Center with two terms as president and two terms as vice president. Pete served on various committees with the Boy Scouts, and he served on the parish pastoral council at Holy Spirit Catholic Community.

Pete and Barbara will not have a celebratory party due to COVID-19.