‘Survivor’ and World War II veteran Jim Favero dies at 103
Giacomo "Jim" Favero
This Standard-Examiner file photo shows Giacomo "Jim" Favero at his 100th birthday party, in October 2016.
OGDEN — Giacomo “Jim” Favero’s son and daughter say it’s impossible to encapsulate their father’s life with words alone.
But when talking about the Ogden World War II veteran, the brother and sister pair often use one noun in particular: “survivor.”
Favero died July 3 and, fitting of the descriptor used by his kids, was 103-years-old.
“103 and 9 months,” said Favero’s son Randy Favero. “He was always quick to point that out.”
According to the National World War II Museum and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, only 389,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II are alive today. Utah has just more than 3,000 such veterans.
According to his obituary, Favero was born Oct. 8, 1916, in Roy, the second-oldest of 13 boys and one girl born to Giovanni and Hazel Daley Favero. Favero spent his childhood on the family farm in Taylor, in unincorporated Weber County.
Favero received his draft notice in November 1942, at age 26. In May 1943, after some time stateside, he shipped off to Oran, Africa, part of famed Gen. Mark Wayne Clark’s 5th Army Combat group. Favero was among the first wave of soldiers who fought in the Allied-led assault landings at Salerno, Italy. After 28 months in Italy and a few other stops, Favero was discharged in October 1945 as a Staff Sergeant.
After the war, Favero returned to the Ogden area and became a Weber County community staple. He owned and operated four shoe stores in Ogden, Roy and Blackfoot, Idaho. He sold the businesses in 1969 and spent the next two decades as a regional sales representative for the International Shoe Co. in the western United States. Favero and his wife, Marguerite, had two children, Randy Favero and daughter Jeanie Gougler. When he died, Favero had nine grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.
Gougler and Randy Favero said they always knew their dad saw combat during WWII, but for most of their life, he didn’t say a word about it. That changed when Favero saw the 1998 film “Saving Private Ryan.”
“He saw that movie and he just opened up,” Randy Favero said. “He started telling us stories about things he saw at the Salerno beachhead — he saw about 50 GIs basically get blown to pieces, he pushed dead bodies out of the way to get to shore. He saw soldiers basically ground into the sand after being run over by heavy equipment. We heard these stories and were just kind of floored.”
Gougler said hearing her father’s tales of war enlightened her, opening up what was to her an entirely new perspective on his life.
“It was, like, ‘Wow. My dad is a hero,” she said.
Randy Favero says his grandfather, Giovanni Favero, would speak of the apprehension involved in sending one of his children into one of history’s bloodiest conflicts.
“My grandpa would tell my dad, ‘Out of all my kids, I’m glad it was you. You are a survivor and I knew you’d come back,'” Randy Favero said.
Gougler said when her father was just 6-years-old, he was kicked in the face by a horse, badly injuring his tongue and ear. She said doctors didn’t expected him to live through the ordeal, but he did. Later in life, Favero survived a quadruple bypass surgery. Randy Favero said the doctor who performed the surgery said the operation likely wouldn’t extend Favero’s life by much more than a decade. That was 1987. Favero also had diverticulitis and had a large portion of his intestine removed.
“He just didn’t shy away from adversity,” Gougler said. “He took things as they came and just plowed through. That’s part of his longevity.”
Favero’s funeral was Friday, July 10. He’ll be buried at Lindquist’s Washington Heights Memorial Park, 4500 Washington Blvd., in Ogden.