The Heart of the North End Feature Article

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The Antone's Nurturing our Community, By Lisa Otto & Photos by Windell Portraits

At the heart of the North End is community. It is with this spirit that the Antone family (Alika, Jenilee, Kalei, Kainoa, Micah and little Alika) has embarked on a mission to bring joy, friendship, teamwork, and a love for baseball to the North End.

Jenilee Antone (nee’ Lindgren) has deep roots in Tacoma as part of a large and vibrant family in the North End. Alongside Jen are four brothers (Michael, Adam, Tony, and Chris), who all live locally, except for Chris, who now resides in Chicago. Everyone eagerly awaits Chris and his family’s return to Tacoma. Jenilee’s mom is one of nine children, and each of them has children, leading to an extended family on her mom’s side (the Beardemphl family) that includes twenty-nine first cousins,

Jenilee’s childhood home on N. 21st Street holds sentimental value as it was also the childhood home of her mom and her eight siblings. The house is currently owned by one of Jen’s brothers and is located just blocks away from where Jen lives now. Many other family members live within a five mile radius of each other. These family ties are solid.

As a child, Jen attended church and school at St. Pat’s. She has fond memories of Advent meetings and holiday gatherings at her grandparents’ home, where she spent time with her large, extended family. These experiences instilled in her the importance of family, the power of prayer, and affirmation. Alika started attending church with her family as they got older and became a Catholic as an adult before they married. The boys have been through the Atrium programs at St. Patrick’s and love serving coffee and donuts when they get their turn.

During her childhood, Jen spent thirteen years dancing for Jan Column and Erin Ceragoli at Tacoma City Ballet, where she had the opportunity to play Clara in The Nutcracker. She took a few dance classes in college, but her focus changed to her studies as a communications major.

Alika, a native of Honolulu, relocated to Tacoma with his mother and sister at the age of ten. Alika first met Jen through her brothers, Tony and Adam. They all played baseball and basketball together while attending Stadium H.S. During the hours between school and practice/games, the Lindgren house became the hang-out spot for the boys. That soon turned into celebrating holidays and camping with the whole family when Alika’s mom and sister moved back to Hawaii.

Several years later, while Jen attended UW and Alika pursued his master’s in physical therapy at UPS, they spent a summer driving back and forth working at Abercrombie &Fitch together, eventually leading to them starting a romantic relationship after so many years of friendship. In 2006, they married here in Tacoma at St. Patrick’s Parish, and by 2011 they welcomed their first of 4 boys Kalei Michael (12), followed by Kainoa Christian (11), Micah David (9), and “little” Alika Anthony (soon to be 8 in mid-August so almost!)” They always wanted a big family with kids close in age to share friends and grow old together like they had!

In 2021, as their kids grew older and more active, Jen decided to leave her sales job at her uncle’s Print NW business, to join Alika’s business, A2 Physical Therapy. She is their Chief Development Officer which allows her the freedom to be home with the kids after school and during the summers.

Alika and Jen’s business has two locations—one on 6th Ave in Tacoma and one in Gig Harbor. A2 offers youth sports fitness classes, teen lifting classes, and yoga, as well as helping with nutrition. A2 is also passionate about helping those with multiple sclerosis in the community through physical therapy. Each year at the end of March, Jen puts together a 5K fundraiser at Titlow for friends, family, and clients of A2 to raise money for people struggling with multiple sclerosis.

Alika is a lifelong baseball player and adopted the role of coach as his boys got into the sport. However, there comes a time in Little League, when the kids get older, that you can’t keep a team together because they enter a draft and are placed on different teams. Alika decided to start a club baseball team, the Tacoma Tigers, so the kids and their families could still play together. What started as three teams is now five teams as parents reached out to him saying that their kids wanted to play more baseball, but without the travel demands of little league, and without the vibe of “kids being kids” getting lost. Alika’s core message is that at a younger age, the focus should be on long term development, positivity, and just plain fun. They also focus on keeping the bonds the families have established intact.

As one mom involved in the program relayed to me, “This is messaged over and over, and they live these values on the field at practice, during games, and in the events and messaging with the families and staff.”

The Antone boys frequently get together for impromptu games of Whiffle ball near the UPS campus. In addition to baseball, they enjoy playing soccer and shooting baskets on the Lowell turf during their free time. Alika, Micah, and Kalei are soccer players for Sparta year-round, and little Alika is joining the team for the first time this year! Besides sports, Kalei and Kainoa have discovered a passion for music, with Kalei choosing to focus on the trumpet and Kainoa on the piano.

The Antones recently added another boy to the family. Prince is their goldendoodle puppy, and he is adorable and playful. He kept them on their toes during our interview.Alika’s mom lives in Tacoma and his sister recently moved to Arizona with her husband and three boys. The Antones are looking forward to visiting them next spring at spring training.

To reboot the Antone family vacations in Kauai every year with Jen’s mom and her husband William, finding true relaxation at the resort they stay at in Lihue. The boys get to run freely from the pool to the beach with no schedule and everyone gets to truly relax and be present. Jen‘s dad recently moved to the woods in Hoodsport, and to get time with him and have a haven for the boys to get away from the city, they invested in a small cabin up the road from him. It was important to Jen and Alika to make family memories in the woods or on the lake fishing outside the city.

The Antones have built and continue to build community in the North End through their friendship, teamwork, and love for baseball. 

Click on a photo to enlarge.