808 LaFarge Ave Historic Survey - Laserfiche WebLink

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Resource Number: 5BL 7985 Temporary Resource Number: 157508415006 From 1940 to 1946, 808 La Farge was rented to Anton and Julia Sabo and their daughter, Julia. During the 1930s, the Sabo family had been living at another address on La Farge, which was 315 La Farge under the old address system. Additional biographical information about the Sabo family could not be located. Savina Zarini died in 1942 and Peter Zarini died in 1947. Upon the death of Peter Zarini, their son Ernest Zarina ended up being the owner of 808 La Farge, and his siblings transferred their interests in the property to him. Ernest, or Ernie, Zarina had a hard yet colorful life. He was born in 1906 and earned the nickname "Tuffy" as a small child, it is thought because he was tough. He went to work in the mines to help support his family in 1922 at the age of 14. He was to work at several mines, including the Brooks, Monarch, Matchless, Imperial, Hi -Way, and Centennial. According to a Louisville Historian article written about Ernie Zarina for the May 1993 issue, "Ernie would tell stories about going months without ever seeing daylight, going to work before the sun rose and coming home long after it had set." In 1927, when Ernie Zarina was about 21, he was shot while an observer during the labor conflict at the Columbine Mine that killed six miners. A bullet believed to have been fired by the state militia on the crowd entered the right side of his jaw and came out the cheekbone on the left side (but missed his brain). About seven years later in 1935, he was severely injured in the area of his ear in a mine accident at the Hi -Way Mine. He became caught between a coal cart and the mine wall after a mule he was driving became frightened of some machinery. The wound required 140 stitches and he lost the hearing in his ear. The story goes that the reason that Ernie changed his last name from Zarini to Zarina was because in grade school, others would confuse him with another boy in his class whose name was also Zarini. Ernie married and divorced Mildred Brennan. For some years until the 1940s, he lived off and on with his parents at 804 La Farge, according to directories. He volunteered for the Army in World War II and served in Panama as a firefighter with a regiment helping to guard the Panama Canal. He met his second wife, Olivia, because of her being the relative of a friend he made in the Army. She was from St. Louis, Missouri. They married in 1946. They had no children. They are believed to have made their home at 808 La Farge from around 1947, when Ernie inherited the property, until their deaths in the 1990s. In addition to working as a coal miner, Ernie also worked part time as a bartender at the Hacienda Restaurant at 808 Main (5BL8040) and at the Twin Light Tavern at 728 Main (5BL8009). He also carried mail for several years. In fact, he was one of the first two mail carriers in Louisville, starting in 1949, according to records at the Louisville Historical Museum. He retired from the Sunstrand aviation company, where he worked as an expediter. The house at 808 La Farge went by two other addresses over the years. Besides the old address of 307 La Farge, it was also referred to in the 1940 directory as 810 La Farge. (The 1940 directory also referred to 800 La Farge as 802, and to 804 La Farge as 806.) Ernie Zarina died in 1993. Olivia died in 1998. Following her death, 808 La Farge was sold outside of the family by Ernie Zarina's relatives. Sources of Information Boulder County "Real Estate Appraisal Card — Urban Master," on file at the Carnegie Branch Library for Local History in Boulder, Colorado. Boulder County Clerk & Recorder's Office and Assessor's Office public records, accessed through http://recorder.bouldercounty.org. Directories of Louisville residents and businesses on file at the Louisville Historical Museum. 3