Lucia DeClerck, grandmother of Deanna Marshall, former Upward Bound Math & Science Program Coordinator at University of Hawai’i at Hilo, turned 105 and recovered from COVID. This is the second pandemic that Marshall’s grandmother, a former Kamaaina, has survived. Born and raised in Hawai’i, DeClerck overcame her first pandemic, the Spanish Flu, in 1918 at the age of two while living in Wailuku. Currently residing in New Jersey, she tested positive for COVID-19 on her 105th birthday but sailed through the quarantine period.
DeClerck is no stranger to hard times, having survived both World Wars, the Civil Rights Movement, three husbands, heart failure, a lung infection, and now two pandemics. A devout Catholic, she attributed her survival from COVID-19 to lots of prayer, a strong family lineage and many years of a healthy lifestyle from an early age living in Hawai’i; she drank a secret, homemade aloe juice concoction and remained an active senior, walking daily until she was 101 years old.
DeClerck’s mother, Flora Vargas Pereira, immigrated from Belize to Kauai with her parents and siblings in 1911 where her father became the lead surveyor for roadways in Waimea. Pereira later married Antonio Vidal Lopez, a Castalian immigrant from Spain, and gave birth to DeClerck shortly thereafter in 1916 on Maui. Lucia was the first grandchild and member in her family to be granted citizenship by birth.
DeClerck spent her early childhood on Maui before her mother moved to Honolulu then to the mainland. She later married and reared three sons in Los Angeles while she and her former husband operated a local corner store for four decades. DeClerck then returned to Honolulu in 1963, living there for another 31 years and working as a Home Care Aide for the State and personal clients, before moving to New Jersey in 1994 to live closer to her eldest son and his family.
Living on the mainland, Lucia’s granddaughter, Marshall and her sister enjoyed childhood summers in Hawai’i, exploring the islands with DeClerck and their great grandmother. Those cherished memories compelled Marshall to relocate to the Big Island with her husband and two teenage children in 2005, where she worked as a Housing Choice Voucher Case Manager before serving in her position at the University of Hawai’i. At the encouragement of DeClerck, Marshall began to extensively explore her family’s deep island roots. Her research led her to find family members throughout the islands and in Central America. Marshall returned to the mainland in 2015 but continues to diligently research her lineage and facilitate workshops that teach others how toresearch their family history.
In addition to birthing three sons, Lucia is the proud tutu of six grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, and 11 great-great grandchildren. Due to COVID-19, her family has had to postpone celebrating this momentous birthday until after the pandemic is over. Until then, she has received both coronavirus vaccinations and will continue her daily prayers for everyone.