Philani Norene “Lani” (Feiteira) Fagen (2021)

FAGEN, FEITEIRA, HANCOCK, PAZ

Posted By: Pat Hochstetler
Date: 11/8/2023 at 18:04:40

Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Page 5A

Philani Norene Feiteira was born in Paia, Maui, Hawaii, on April 18, 1924, the only child of Antone “Tony” Marie Feiteira and Amelia “Millie” Victorino Paz.

Saying she learned to “swim before walking”, Philani was raised on the island until her junior year in high school when she moved to San Diego, Calif., to live with an aunt in an attempt to gain residency for college. She graduated from Pt. Loma High School, class of 1942, then worked at the Oakland Maritime Commission to establish California residency on her own. She then attended University of California-Berkeley where she graduated in 1947 with an English/journalism/speech degree. Philani returned to the islands and taught high school English and Journalism on the island of Lanai.

A striking 6’ foot Portuguese beauty, Philani met 6’2” Lowell Fagen at a Honolulu Methodist Church when he was stationed at the Honolulu Pacific Fleet Marine Force Headquarters in the Public Information Office. After his discharge, the couple had a long-distance relationship while he went back to farming in Iowa. After 18 months, Lowell proposed and sent a ring through the mail, and the couple met in San Francisco in 1950 to get married at the Berkeley Congregational Church’s Loper Chapel near the UC Berkeley campus.

The couple moved to a trailer on Lowell’s grandmother’s farm outside Perry, Iowa, where she became known as “Lani”. It was during this time Lowell was called back into the Marine Corps and trained at Camp Pendleton, Calif., before serving in Korea.

After his second discharge, the couple purchased a 160-acre farm outside Earlham, Iowa, where they lived for 11 years, raising four children, sheep, goats, corn, and soybeans.

In 1966 Lani and Lowell moved to an 18-acre property on the edge of Earlham, where Lani was a substitute teacher and was elected to the Earlham School Board, also holding the position of president. Lani was hired by Madison County Social Services as a social worker, assisting with children, elderly, and other vulnerable populations.

Lani and Lowell moved to Prescott, Ariz., in 1987, where they lived for 31 years. Lani was involved in PEO, American Sewing Guild, Mountain Spinners & Weavers and Thumb Butte Quilters. Known as the “Dog Lady,” Lani also loved taking care of people’s canines, adopting three over the years.

Lani and Lowell moved to Parkland Memory Care in Chandler in 2018.

Lani was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years, Lowell Victor Fagen, 92, in 2019. She is survived by children, Loren Anthony Fagen of Sande, Norway; Laurie Napua Fagen Hancock of Chandler, Ariz.; Lex Monroe Fagen (Ling) of Spain; and Lee Marshall Fagen (Sally Grant) of Berkeley, Calif.; five grandchildren: Erin Fagen of Atascadero, Calif.; Ryan Fagen of San Luis Obispo, Calif.; Devon James Hancock of Tempe, Ariz.; Samuel Grant Fagen of Berkeley, Calif.; and Axel Fagen of Norway.

A celebration of life will be held in April 2022 in Prescott; the family hopes to stream the service.