About and for Liberty Lake seniors Eugene Domanico turns 100

By Nina Culver Splash contributor

Eugene Domanico has a lot to look back on in his life, all 100 years of it. He grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, and then shipped off to Europe during World War II before returning to Iowa and then Spokane.

But he insists that there’s no secret to his longevity. “I try to be honest in life and not pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, in the service and the restaurant business.”

When he was growing up his parents owned the Green Parrot, a restaurant and nightclub in Des Moines. “I was raised in the food business,” he said.

But Domanico dreamt of being a pilot and during World War II he tried to make that dream come true. “I joined the Air Force just before I was drafted,” he said.

But his dream was not meant to be and he was made a bombardier instead. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and then sent to Europe with the 447th Bomb Group, flying in a B-17 with a crew of 10. His job was to perch in the nose of the plane and use the bomb sight to drop the plane’s bombs. Once the bombs were away, the crew usually didn’t know until later if they had hit the target or not. “We usually looked at the pictures the next day,” he said.

Anti-aircraft fire was a regular part of the missions and sometimes their plane was unscathed. Domancio said he and the crew often didn’t know how badly the plane was shot up until they looked as the faces of the ground crew as they taxied to their parking spot. If they looked upset, it was bad news.

“Then we knew we had a lot of holes,” he said. “Some missions we were all shot up.”

Their targets were commercial buildings such as airports, Domanico said. “We bombed commercial sites, factories and railroads,” he said. “We never tried to bomb the German people.”

Domanico completed 18 missions before the war ended. “My last mission in the B-17 was nine hours for something clear over in Czechoslovakia,” he said.

Working together with his crew, many of whom came from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, taught Domanico both the value of teamwork and that differences, including differences in rank, didn’t matter. “When you’ve got 10 of you on a plane, you’ve got to cooperate,” he said. “When you’re on that plane, you’re equal.”

He considered his crewmates to be his brothers and kept in touch with them after the war ended. “I’ve outlived all my crew members,” he said.

After the war he returned to Des Moines to his wife, Ann, and their young son. The couple would eventually have six children. His parents retired and he and his brother took over the family business for nearly two decades. “We had the second biggest restaurant and nightclub in Des Moines,” he said.

Domanico joined the Lions Club, which works with the blind, shortly after he returned from World War II. His restaurant had several employees who were blind who were trained by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. In the late 1960’s, Domanico took a job with the Commission, where he would meet his second wife, Nancy. He worked to find jobs for blind students who had finished their training.

“We had 30 locations in Iowa, different restaurants and bars and grocery stores where the blind worked,” he said.

He also got his real estate broker’s license, which he held for decades. In about 1976, he and Nancy left Iowa for Spokane, where Nancy was from. The couple both worked for the Lilac Services for the Blind, where Nancy would become the director. The organization has an endowment fund named in her honor and Domanico still sits on the board of directors.

Domanico has also been a longtime member of Spokane Central Lions and the Liberty Lake Lions Club.

His wife Nancy died of cancer in 2000. He currently has a longtime partner, Kathy Butler, who he said he considers his wife.

Butler said she met Domanico 20 years ago when he moved into an independent living apartment at the Orchard Crest retirement facility where she worked as a housekeeper. At the time he had moved in even though he was still physically active because he was lonely, Butler said. “He’d talk about his wife Nancy,” she said. “Her picture was all over the apartment.”

She had recently lost her husband and the two would talk every time she cleaned his apartment. They began dating, he moved out and the two lived together for a time. Before too long, however, they realized that they were much better as friends who didn’t live together, Butler said. “At his age, he’s set in his ways,” she said. “At my age, I’m set in my ways.”

But that didn’t stop her from loving his jokes and his kindness and appreciating it when he told her she is beautiful. “He is the most loving, caring, funny man I’ve ever met in my life,” she said. “You couldn’t meet a nicer, more lovable man than him.”

As time went on, he stopped leaving the house because he could no longer walk well and he was lonely even though Butler visited every day. He recently moved into Brighton Court in Spokane Valley so he can get the daily assistance he needs and regular companionship. Butler still visits him regularly.

“I thank God for him every day,” she said. “He’s just a joy.”