TAMPA, Florida. >> He survived the attack on Pearl Harbor and earned two Purple Hearts during World War II.
But one of Paul Ecenia’s favorite war stories had nothing to do with war.
“He won the Armed Forces World Jitterbug Championship held in Pearl Harbor,” said his daughter Tandova Ecenia, 69. “He was so proud. He talked about it all the time.
The competition took place on October 11, 1941, less than two months before the Japanese bombarded the American naval base.
Tandova Ecenia saw a photo of her father holding the trophy. But, until recently, she hadn’t seen the physical trophy.
“Dad never mentioned it,” she said. “It was lost.”
Until he is found.
In mid-November, 80 years and a month after the victory, the 8-inch brass trophy was presented to him.
“It was in a house that I was renovating,” said Jim Duval, owner of JD Construction. “I found it behind some old cupboards that we were removing. Obviously it was long lost. I thought I should find the owner.
Having his father’s trophy “adds to his legend,” Ecenia said. “He was quite a character. He had so many stories.
The story of this trophy, she said, represents a more innocent period of her father’s military experience, when sunburn and big waves, rather than Nazis and Axis powers, were his biggest threats.
“He was a guy from New Jersey to Hawaii,” she said. “He was partying”
In 1941, articles in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin described Paul Ecenia as a “quick-footed entertainer” stationed at Fort Armstrong in Honolulu. He hosted military shows, performed in local community theater productions, and had a .538 batting average for his Army baseball team.
“He was so good at everything,” his daughter said. “He was a very good dancer. Throughout his service, he taught jitterbug and participated in dance competitions.
The Armed Forces World Jitterbug Championship was held on a ship in Pearl Harbor, Ecenia said, but she doubts it’s a global competition. “I don’t think people came from all over the world to compete. It was probably for those stationed there.
Her father’s partner was Lillian Martin, “a dancer at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel,” she said.
It was supposed to be one of his last weeks in Hawaii.
“He was about to go home,” Ecenia said. “He was over. He had served since 1938. In December 1941 he had already sent his trunks to New Jersey.
According to his daughter:
On the morning of December 7, 1941, Ecenia was playing volleyball outside Schofield Barracks, about a 20-minute drive from Pearl Harbor, when a bomb blew up “part of the barracks where they would have been” .
Paul Ecenia recognized a Japanese insignia on the planes flying overhead, so he “ran to Hickam Field”, a military base less than 2 miles from Pearl Harbor.
But by the time he arrived, the planes there “were on fire”.
The Japanese had bombed them to prevent air support.
“Bombs were flying, shrapnel was exploding all around him. They flattened themselves against a building to escape some of the flying debris.
Rather than returning home as planned, Ecenia served in the war until 1945.
He met and married his wife, Ria, in Texas the same year. They moved to Tampa in 1954, founded the Allied Fence Co., and opened The Bowery, a Madeira Beach entertainment venue that featured shows all over the floor.
Tandova Ecenia would go on to become a professional dancer and later a props maker who worked on productions ranging from local dance recitals to Hollywood movies like “Edward Scissorhands.”
Her father died in 2010.
His obituary listed him as the Armed Forces World Jitterbug Champion.
Duval found the trophy in early 2021 in a home in West Tampa, but Tandova Ecenia said her parents never lived in that part of town.
“I don’t know how he got there,” she said.
The owners were equally perplexed and allowed Duval to keep the trophy.
“The inscription is hard to see,” Ecenia said. “So he was sitting in his office, and then one day he was looking at it and the light just hit him, and he could make out my dad’s name.”
The erased entry says:
Champion
Navy Jitterbug
10-11-41
Won by Paul Ecenia
of Strong. amstrong
Lillian Martin
Via Google, Duval found and called Tandova Ecenia’s brother, Gregory Ecenia of Sun City Center. He put Duval in touch with his sister.
“He delivered it to me,” Tandova Ecenia said. “We talked for a long time. I told him everything about my father. It’s just amazing. My dad would be so excited to know his trophy is back.