Harry C. Nunes

95,of Chandler passed away on February 14, 2011. A Memorial Service will be held in his honor, Friday February 17th 11AM at Green Acres Mortuary in Scottsdale. Arrangements under the direction of Green Acres Mortuary & Cemetery, Scottsdale, AZ. "Harry Nunes was born on July 31, 1915 to John and Belle Nunes. He attended St. Louis College in Honolulu, Hawaii. He had four bothers: Walter, the eldest; then Harry, Earl and Abner. After the divorce of his parents, while not quite a teen, he and his brothers were raised by their mother, who had taught them the values of hard work, respect, taking care of one another, and to be able to provide for their families later in life. These values were his guidelines throughout his long and eventful life.

After graduation, he got a civil service job with the Navy in Pearl Harbor. This was in the early 30’s. He worked as a welder and pipefitter. By 1941, he had become a supervisor in charge of the fuel supply depot at Pearl Harbor. This included all of the diesel storage tanks for every ship in the 14th Naval Fleet along with all of the aviation fuel for the Pacific Squadron aircraft at Hickam Air Force Base, Fort Shafter, and Wheeler Air Force Base.

At 8:05 AM, on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, the first bombs were dropped on Pearl Harbor. His first child, Shirley, was only six at that time. He left her to finish her breakfast while he drove to Pearl Harbor to try and mobilize a crew to drain the above ground fuel tanks to the underground pump houses. He knew that those tanks would be prime targets for the Japanese bombers. While on an elevator 100 feet underground, a bomb exploded near the elevator shaft. He and another man were trapped in the elevator. After several hours, the other man died. Harry was rescued two days later. This is why, for the remainder of his life, he would not ride an elevator. If he had to be on the top floor of a three-story building, he would choose the stairs.

In 1947, his first son, Garnett, was born and soon became a daddy’s boy. Harry would take him to work with him three, sometimes four, days a week. Harry was well liked and highly respected by the men that worked for him. He never allowed foul language from anyone around his son.

Harry liked nice things and always wanted that for his family. Just before Garnett was born, he bought what was to be his prize possession, a 22 foot, 1936 Chriscraft speed boat. He would spend hours cleaning, polishing, and varnishing that boat. It was a show piece. He became a member of the Hawaii Powerboat Association and won several silver cups and trophies. The boat was named “The Shirley Mae” after his daughter, who was to become “Miss Hawaii” 1955.

Harry worked hard for what he had and was not about to stand by and let things be taken from him without a fight. In 1959, at around 6:15 AM, he was driving to work. As he passed the dock where he moored his boat, he noticed that it had broken loose along with several other boats. He pulled his car over and, as he looked over the bridge, he noticed the first signs of a tidal wave, the receding water. He knew he didn’t have much time before that wall of water would hit and his boat would be destroyed. He pulled lines and jumped from boat to boat until he got to his own. He got it started just as the wave started rolling in. He out ran that wave and passed under a bridge. Seconds before the wave tore that bridge into splinters; he was able to get it two miles inland up the Ala Wai Canal and beached it in the mud. He roped it to several coconut trees. He got a ride back to his car and went on to work at Pearl Harbor. He clocked in only five minutes late. In the 36 years he worked at Pearl Harbor, he only missed three days of work. When an 800 pound steal bar fell on his foot and crushed his arch. He returned to work in three days on crutches. Few men are as responsible and dedicated as him.

He believed that there was only one way to do a job, and that was the right way. Yet, he always looked for a better way. During the 36 years spent with the Navy, he accumulated enough merit awards, commendation certificates and government patents to wallpaper his entire bedroom. He was very creative and some of his patented inventions are still in use by the Navy today.

In the 60’s with his children grown, he remarried and had a second son, which he named Terry. By this time, Harry was 52 years old. In the 70’s, he retired from the government with all of the G.S. ratings possible. He spent most of his time working around the house and caring for his beautiful bonsai trees in the yard that he grew, shaped and, trimmed himself. Some required a ladder for trimming. The yard was so unique, tour busses would stop and let tourist out to take pictures of the yard. He would get so mad when they walked on the grass. He was so funny.

He moved here to Arizona in the 80’s and spent the remainder of his life here, where he was close to his family. His last years were fairly uneventful. His son, Terry, lived close by and would see him daily. They would go to breakfast or dinner together and he looked forward to those times. Terry was with him when he passed on to join his parents and his three brothers. He missed them so much and was looking forward to the moment he could be with them again. Terry’s devotion to his father was a true reflection of the love and devotion that he had shown to his children. Harry’s love for his children was unconditional. He will be greatly missed by all that knew him and if you truly knew him, you’d know that he would not want us to be sad and mourn his death, but rather celebrate his wonderful and long life and his new beginning."