Laserfiche WebLink
and the south 15 feet of Lot 2.) Lester and Doris Else moved to Louisville that year to take over <br />the Bungalow Drug Store from the family of Ralph Grunkemeyer, who had recently died. <br />(Bunglalow Drug was at the time located in the 700 block of Main Street where the City Hall <br />parking lot is located now.) The Louisvlle Times reported that the Elses' son, Dwayne (1925- <br />2009), was a pharmacist who was going to manage it. <br />Louisville directories for the period of ownership by Lester and Doris Else do show them and <br />their son Dwayne as living at 1101 Main. In 1959, they sold both 1101 Main and their store. <br />Virginia and Eugene Caranci Family Ownership, 1959-present <br />In 1959, Virginia DeRose Caranci (1931-2023) and Eugene Caranci (1929-2018) bought 1101 <br />Main from Lester and Doris Else. Virginia Caranci had prior connections to the home, as her <br />aunts were Annie Jordinelli Jacoe and Katie Jordinelli Jacoe, and her uncles by marriage were <br />the Jacoe brothers, Eliseo and Frank. Virginia grew up in the home of her Jordinelli <br />grandparents at 1100 La Farge, which was the house behind 1101 Main. When Virginia's father <br />died in 1940, Virginia and her mother and brother moved to the Jordinelli home in Louisville. <br />(She stated in her 2011 oral history interview that her brother, Dick, lived with the Jacoes at <br />1101 Main for at least part of the time.) Virginia's mother, Minnie DeRose (1904-1997), lived at <br />1100 La Farge, behind her daughter's home at 1101 Main, from about 1940 until her death, <br />carrying on the tradition of members of this family living close to one another. Eugene and <br />Virginia raised their three daughters, Reggie, Jeanne, and Shelley, at 1101 Main. <br />In 1974, Virginia Caranci was the heir to the estate of her aunt Katherine Jordinelli Jacoe (1890- <br />1973), owner and resident of 1109 Main next door (Frank Jacoe had died the previous year). <br />Virginia Caranci executed a quit claim deed to herself and Eugene Caranci. In 1979, the two sold <br />1109 Main, but they retained the north 10 feet of Lot 2 instead of having it be part of the 1109 <br />Main parcel. Therefore, the legal description of 1101 Main today is Lots 1 & 2 of Block 2, and <br />the legal description of 1109 Main is Lots 3 & 4 of Block 2. <br />Both Eugene and Virginia were extensively involved in the Louisville community. Among other <br />accomplishments, Eugene Caranci was an educator for Denver Public Schools, Executive <br />Director of the Louisville Chamber of Commerce, and one of the four founders of Louisville's <br />Society of Italian Americans. Virginia was the person most responsible for the establishment of <br />the Louisville Historical Museum in 1986. She served on the Historical Commission for 30 years, <br />from when the Commission was first created in 1979 until 2009, serving as Chair for many of <br />those years. Eugene and Virginia Caranci were both instrumental in the shaping of Louisville, <br />including working towards the establishment of Monarch High School, Avista Hospital, Coal <br />Creek Golf Course, and other Louisville institutions, in addition to working on many Louisville <br />10 <br />