Island Icons:
Julia Viera “Stand By Because There Are Going to Be a Lot of Changes”
By Zoraida Payne, Coronado Historical Association Volunteer “Stand by, because there are going to be a lot of changes,” is the advice Julia Yanquell Viera would give to her 16 year old self. At 94, she currently lives in an Alameda residence purchased by her parents in 1944. She sits up straight with a plumeria pin on her sweater, given to her by her daughter as a reminder of the years that Hawaii was one of the 36 Navy destinations that they called home. Viera shared her wealth of memories in our recent and fascinating conversation. Mrs. Viera at her Alameda Boulevard residence in June 2021. Photo by Gary Payne
During the winter of 1928 in Boston, at the age of 2, Viera boarded the
that I loved. We used to ride all the way
transcontinental train with her mother
around the island…When we got to Ocean
toward their new residence in Southern
Boulevard, if it was high tide, we had to
California. Her father, Charles Yanquell,
walk along the street, but if it was low tide,
a pioneer Navy flight surgeon, embarked
we rode along the sand to the hotel, crossed
in the USS Lexington aircraft carrier in
at the hotel, and went along the island.”
Boston and met his family in Coronado.
Her continued passion for horses in other
Even on day one, her parents were struck
Navy locations led her to win cups and
by the charming city of almost 5,400
ribbons.
inhabitants at the time, and the Yanquells decided this place was home. Although Viera was in and out of
Viera also fondly remembers Central Drug Store. She shared a story about the store’s scale: “When I was in third grade…
Coronado schools due to her father’s
after dinner, my father would say: We
changing Navy duties, she fondly treasures
will walk up to the drugstore and you can
her recollections of the family’s time in
have an ice cream; I’ll buy a paper and we
Coronado. Among them she said, “The
will weigh you on the scale.” When the
thing that I wanted to do more than
closing of the drugstore took place, Viera
anything was to ride horses, and we had
called the Coronado Historical Association
stables in Coronado...They made me wait
requesting, “Don’t lose that scale.”
until I was 9 years old. I had a picture of
Her crucial call ensured that the 1919
me on the star horse, who was a polo pony P56 | Coronado Magazine
Flight Surgeon Charles Yanquell with his 2-year-old daughter, Julia Yanquell, in North Island beach. 1928. Photo courtesy Julia Viera