5 minute read
Meet the Navolios
www.NorthgateLivingCA.com @NorthgateLivingCA #NorthgateLivingCA
By Alexandra Sullivan
Just past Pine Creek, nestled among the mature trees of the Arbolado park neighborhood, lives the Navolio family. For over 28 years, John and Kara Navolio have called this serene corner of Walnut Creek their home.
Both originally born in the Midwest, but raised in the Bay Area - San Jose and Walnut Creek, respectively, Kara and John started their lives together when they met on Kara’s first day of college in 1981. “Our first date was playing tennis; I’m pretty sure that was the only time I beat him at any sport (he probably let me win that one and only time),” says Kara. In 1984 they became engaged on a camping trip to Yosemite’s Toulumne Meadows and were married in 1985.
The Navolios and their pet of 16 years, Cricket, enjoy many family trips to Bodega Bay.
John is a Northgate High School alumnus, graduating in 1979. His class was “the first class to complete all 4 years at the [then] new high school.” He began his college career at UCLA, but transferred to DVC, and then finished off his accounting degree at Cal State Hayward (which is now Cal State East Bay). He is now a CPA and owns his own firm, Navolio & Tallman, LLP in San Francisco. John started the company in 2007, and has grown it to over 30 employees. Accounting Today Magazine named it one of the “Top 100 Accounting Firms to Work For” for 3 out of the last 5 years.
Kara attended Cal State Hayward for one (very memorable and life changing) year. She then transferred to UC Berkeley, where she earned her B.S. in Business Marketing. For 8 years Kara worked in marketing research, before she left her job to raise the two Navolio kids, Michael and Emily. During the elementary years Kara logged many hours of classroom volunteering, PTA meetings, and Girl Scouts. When the kids moved on to high school, Kara served on the board of Northgate Community Pride Foundation. In the time she was on that board, the Pride Foundation raised over $5 million dollars to improve facilities at Northgate High School, “specifically a renovation to the Little Theatre, a new Dance room, and the new, state-of-the-art Sports Complex.” These days Kara is a freelance writer and editor and just published her first book for children, Everybody Can Dance! You may also recognize her work in this very magazine, where she serves as the Content Coordinator. She now dedicates her volunteer work to the Bedford Gallery as an art docent and to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland as a Baby Cuddler.
One of the reasons John and Kara chose Walnut Creek, and Northgate in particular, was its proximity to downtown Walnut Creek, its great schools, and its tight community. When their kids were younger, John was a baseball and soccer coach. John is now a member of nearby Boundary Oak Men’s Club. He loves golfing and fantasy football. Kara loves scrapbooking, hiking, reading and cooking for family and friends. A familiar sentiment that many who live here know, “the people we have met over the years have become our lifelong friends. Those we met when the kids were little are still our very dear friends.” She is in two book clubs with women she has met over the years doing volunteer work or through her kids’ activities.
Their son, Michael, 29, graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. At Northgate High School he played baseball for all 4 years. Right out of college he got a job with the SF Giants in their Baseball Operations department. He is now Coordinator of Amateur Scouting and resides in San Francisco with his fiancé Chelsey. Emily, 25, is a lifelong dancer. She was on the dance team and in Dance Production at Northgate High School and danced at Dance Connection Performing Arts for 15 years. Emily attended Cal State Long Beach and graduated with a degree in Child Development. She earned her teaching credential and Master’s degree from St. Mary’s College and is now a 3rd grade teacher in Moraga and lives in downtown Walnut Creek.
An incredibly fun family tradition in the Navolio house is their New Year’s Eve party. Each year John’s sister and her 5 kids come over for a great big costume party with games. “In 2018 we celebrated the winter Olympics, last year was a holiday mash up, and this year was the Roaring 20’s. We’ve also done a Murder Mystery party, Ugly Sweater Contest, and 80’s Ski Chalet. We start planning the next year as soon as the last one is over. It ends up being a 16 person sleep over with lots of laughs and great competition. It’s a great chance to spend time with the young adults in the family that we don’t always get to see over Christmas.”
With his job as a CPA, John’s business has a very stressful time period that we all know far too well - tax season. That is why, for many years, as soon as the calendar turned to April 16th, the family would make a relaxing getaway to Bodega Bay. They’ve also enjoyed traveling to Hawaii to celebrate big family milestones. After he graduated from college, Michael went on an 8-week “baseball odyssey” to visit most of the 30 ballparks across the country, see the College World Series, the All-Star game, and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Emily itched her travel bug in college and after graduation by visiting locations like Italy, Greece, Germany, Spain, and the U.K. John and Kara have also traveled to Europe, and have actually met distant cousins of John’s in southern Italy.
Kara says, “In my job as Northgate Living’s Content Coordinator, I love discovering ways we are all connected and sharing stories that bring us all closer together.” So the next time you spot the Navolios hiking in the open space or enjoying delicious food in downtown Walnut Creek, stop and say hello!
