Aloma Naivar

Aloma Marie Naivar, after a 25 year battle with cancer, died on Mother’s Day, May 10, 2020. She was born prematurely on April 27, 1942. She always said being a three-pound premie got her plenty of attention that way. She came home from Taylor, Texas hospital where she was born to the family farm in Coupland, Texas in a shoebox and slept in a dresser drawer until better sleeping arrangements could be made. Aloma is an uncommon name. Her mother’s name was Anne and she didn’t want her daughter to have a common name like hers. While watching the 1941 romantic adventure film “Aloma of the South Seas” she decided on the name Aloma.

Aloma grew up small in stature but was a giant with kind, gentle and cheerful traits. She tended to have a type A+ personality in many loving ways. She was a very positive and fun-loving person, loved to cook, raise a garden, raise animals, butcher them for food and use every apricot on her many trees in one way or another. She was first in her family to attend college, attending Sacred Heart Dominican College in Houston, Texas, graduating with a BS in Nursing and became a Registered Nurse. A few months after graduation she was married to her husband at the US Naval Submarine Base Chapel, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on November 11, 1964, the same day as her parents and grandparents' wedding anniversaries. One of her sons would later be married on that anniversary also. Aloma worked at Kapiolani Gynecology and Maternity Hospital in Honolulu until her husband was discharged from the Navy in 1965. Aloma and her husband moved to Los Alamos in 1965 where her first two sons were born. With Aloma’s encouragement, the family moved to Austin, Texas where a son and daughter were born and her husband earned a degree. They permanently returned to Los Alamos, NM in 1973. Aloma worked in the Operating Room at Los Alamos Medical Center until 1984 when she went to work at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 1995 she learned that she had a rare cancer and a 2% chance of surviving for 6 months. Her group collected money to fund a cruise for her and her husband. Instead, she went to visit Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and UCLA Medical Center for advice on her cancer. She survived for another 25 wonderful memory-making years. Aloma was a devout Catholic who lived her faith. She was also a model of how to be outgoing and welcoming of all people. She will be greatly missed.

She was preceded in death by her parents Alfred H and Anne Eiben, her daughter Julianne, siblings James, Alfred B, Calista, and Gilbert.

Aloma is survived by her loving husband of 55 years, Franklin, sons Chris, Mark, Steve, and granddaughter Laura.

A Funeral Liturgy was celebrated on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 10 AM from the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church.  A recording of those services is located in the 'mementos' section on this webpage.  Burial of her precious cremated remains will take place at a later date at Guaje Pines Cemetery, Los Alamos, NM.

You are invited to share your stories, pictures, and condolences with Aloma's family.