Hi! My name is Daniel LaVoie Platone. My first last name, LaVoie, is French, and my second last name, Platone, is Italian. I grew up in an Italian Venezuelan family. My maternal grandparents left Italy after World War II and immigrated to Venezuela, the fourth-richest country in the world at the time! My mom was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, and came to the U.S. for college, where she met my dad.
I am from Silverdale, WA. When I was 19 years old, I moved to Barcelona, Spain, where I lived for two years and studied at an acting school. I speak Spanish, Italian, and Catalan, the regional language spoken in Catalonia, Spain. I enjoy singing, dancing, acting, and playing the piano. I graduated in 2024 from the University of Washington Tacoma with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics with a minor in History.
Motivated by the unfortunate political occurrences and economic decline in Venezuela over my lifetime, my goal for many years has been to start a political podcast to promote Christian, free-market, and classical liberal values, especially in the Hispanic world. Lately, I have begun to focus more on faith, my spiritual life in the Catholic Church, how my new Catholic foundation relates to those topics, and taking a more cultural approach to that goal, with a foundation in Catholic Social Teaching.
I was drawn to be a missionary because I had the desire to get involved in the Church in a practical way as a new Catholic. I grew up in a non-denominational Christian home, and I accepted Jesus into my life and was baptized at a Baptist Church when I was 16 years old. In July 2024, I walked into Our Lady Star of the Sea for the first time to pray, which inspired me to learn more about the Catholic faith, until nine months later, on April 6 of this year, I was confirmed and received into the Church. I’ve been a Catholic for three whole months, so good luck with me on your missionary team!
I look forward to getting to know all of you and building meaningful relationships and community in our parish family.