There was nothing out of the ordinary about Adrian de Jesus Olivarria Mora’s last night of work at McGivney’s Sports Bar and Grill in the Mendenhall Valley.
The kitchen closed at 10 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16, Kitchen Manager Jose Carranza recalled. The kitchen was mostly cleaned up by 11 p.m., but Olivarria Mora, who worked as a dishwasher, stayed until around midnight to clean pans.
Olivarria Mora, who was planning to fly back to his home country of Mexico a couple weeks later, went back to where he was staying, at 526 Seward Street. Just a few hours after that, a fire claimed the lives of Olivarria Mora and his brother “Wilfrido” Luis Roman Olivarria Mora.
“I feel so bad for his family,” Carranza said Tuesday. “I’ve been here in the United States for 10, 12 years, and I miss my parents. He wanted to go back … now he can’t say ‘bye’ or anything to his parents.”
Many other staff members at McGivney’s took the loss hard, including server Adelle LaBrecque. She and a few others have sprung into action, looking to raise money for the brothers’ family to get their remains back to Mexico and to assist with other expenses.
They’ve begun collecting money, which they’re giving to an existing GoFundMe account that is set up for funeral and transportation expenses. The GoFundMe account, which is entitled “Olivarria Mora Brothers Funeral,” has raised nearly $2,000 so far with a goal of $30,000.
Patrons of McGivney’s are asked to make cash donations. McGivney’s staff will put a donor’s name on a sticker and put it on the wall to encourage more donations.
Some of the stickers, which carry a heart and #HelpUsBringTheseBrothersHome on them, were already on the wall Monday morning, before staff had even begun to advertise the fundraiser. The downtown McGivney’s will also start collecting money soon, LaBrecque said.
The staff has also organized a benefit for the brothers’ family, serving Mexican food for lunch and dinner on Monday, Oct. 2 and sending all of the proceeds to the GoFundMe effort. Carranza hasn’t finalized the menu yet but said he’ll be making carne asada tacos and other Mexican dishes.
LaBrecque admits that the language barrier prevented her from knowing Olivarria Mora very well, but she remembers him as hardworking and kind. Front House Manager Tina Abbott described Olivarria Mora as “very friendly.” Olivarria Mora’s mother came to town this past weekend, and LaBrecque recalled being overcome with emotion when she met her.
“It’s just tragic,” LaBrecque said. “We felt really moved and really wanted to help his family. When people pass away, it’s so expensive, and then we learned about flying them back to Mexico where they’re from. The total is just adding and adding and adding, so our biggest goal is to send the boys home. We want to cover everything, but primarily we wanna send the boys home.”
Olivarria Mora had been working in town since May, the employees said, and his 34-year-old brother had been working construction. Carranza said he’d seen Luis Roman come in a few times to eat and other times just to visit.
Adrian de Jesus, who was just 21, had been planning to go back to Mexico in late September, and Carranza said he wasn’t sure if he was planning on being back for good or just for a few months. Carranza did know that Olivarria Mora was looking forward to seeing his girlfriend again.
Carranza tried to make Olivarria Mora feel at home while he was in Juneau, and introduced him to his two children. Olivarria Mora took a liking to the children, and pictured a future where he too was able to raise children.
“He saw my kids and said, ‘I wanna get married and try to make my own family, too,’” Carranza said. “It’s one of those things that makes me really sad, because he was only 21 years old.”
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or alex.mccarthy@juneauempire.com.
