Eva Lompa sits in her kitchen, where she will have a view of the bypass along Fifth Street, Saturday. Lompa sees the bypass as signs of a growing city but feels the State is not dealing fairly with them in negotiating a price for their land which the family has owned since 1936. Photo by Brian Corley
In the small two-bedroom home her husband built for her when they were young dairy farmers, Eva Lompa died peacefully in her sleep Monday. She was 88.
During the last years of her life and despite pressures from developers and the state, Eva Lompa made good on the promise that as long as she was alive, her family land would remain a ranch.
"We're still here," she said sitting in her kitchen two years ago of the longtime working ranch on 430 acres in the heart of Carson City. "I'm not going to give up my little house to be taken by a big developer."
Visitation will be Thursday at Walton's Chapel of the Valley and a funeral Mass will be held Friday at St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church on Lompa Lane.
Times were hard when the California native first moved to Carson City on her wedding night Jan. 15, 1939. After marrying in Reno, having lunch at the Colombo Hotel, Eva and her husband, Simone or "Sam," got up the next morning to milk cows on the 820-acre farm.
The town was small and not many cars passed by their sprawling farmland on East Fifth Street. On their farm, the couple worked together through the Depression, World War II and raised three children.
Her kitchen still looked out over the sheep and cattle the family continues to raise. Simone Lompa first secured the land after the property owner defaulted on a loan of his before he married.
Eva spent many years churning butter to sell. They sold milk, cream and butter to locals who would drive to their farm during the depression and to a creamery in Minden. Her children, Martha Keating, Sam Lompa and Dorothy Arraiz, helped with the chickens, sheep and horses.
"When they were growing up we did the best we could," Eva said. She and her husband "saved every penny" and managed to save $2,500 to build their small family home.
"It's not money making, but it's a good way to live," she said.
The family ranch is one of the last in Carson. The holding has since been reduced and parts sold off or donated as the city has grown around it. Sam Lompa makes a living raising cattle and resides in a home with his wife Duana on the ranch.
The original 150-year-old barn that first greeted the new bride is still standing on the working farm.
"She was just a really, really hard worker," Keating said. "Her values and strengths and her physical strength and mental and emotional strength was something that will never be forgotten."
Eva Lompa was known as "Nonnie" by her many friends and family. She was born into a Swiss-Italian family in 1915 in Beckworth, Calif., to Antonio and Catherina Bindella Maddalena. Her husband, Sam was from Italy near the Swiss border. He died in 1969.
During her life, Eva Lompa donated land for the Murphy-Bernardini Juvenile Center, made land available for building Carson High School, and was instrumental in helping develop the city's first golf course at Mills Park. She recently made a donation to Carson-Tahoe Hospital.
Eva Lompa is survived by her daughters Arraiz and Keating, son Sam, sons-in-law Juan Arraiz and Thomas Keating, daughter-in-law Duana Lompa, grandsons Mark, Dominic, Sam, Jr., Gregg; granddaughters Jennifer, Christina and Katie; great-grandsons Steven and Nicholas; sister Stella Vanetti of Loyalton, Calif.; and brother Guido Maddalena of Sierraville, Calif.; and numerous nieces and nephews.
The family has most recently been involved in negotiations with the state Department of Transportation as a portion of the land is designated to be used for the future Carson Freeway. One piece of property that had been developed into a storage rental business was sold as part of the plan.
Eva was involved in the family business right to the end, her daughter said. She was generous, honest and kind to everyone she met. Her "wit and sparkling eyes always welcomed everyone," her family said.
She had a lot of wisdom and she shared it with everybody and anybody, Keating said.
And she worked hard until the day she died.
"She's resting now," Keating said. "She was just worn out. She led a wonderful life and we're lucky we had her as long as we did.
"Her legacy will live on."
Visitation and Funeral Services
Visitation: 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Walton's Chapel of the Valley, 1281 N. Roop St.
Funeral: Mass at 10 a.m. Friday, St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church, 3000 N. Lompa Lane
Contributions: In lieu of flowers, Eva's request was to make contributions to St. Mary's Hospice, 3264 Goni Rd., Ste. 151, Carson City, NV 89706, or to a favorite charity so that her memory lives on and would continue to assist individuals in need.