Giacomo (Jack) Petris
Birth: 20 Feb 1899, Zoppola, Italy
Father: Giovanni Battista Petris
Mother: Rosa Taiariol
Death: 8 Nov 1970, San Francisco
Burial: 1970, Colma, San Mateo County, California, USA
Father: Giovanni Battista Petris
Mother: Rosa Taiariol
Death: 8 Nov 1970, San Francisco
Burial: 1970, Colma, San Mateo County, California, USA
Spouse: Maria Clorinda Lenardon
Birth: 23 Jun 1900, San Martino al Tagliamento, Pordenone, Italy
Father: Pietro Lenardon (1862-)
Mother: Vincenza Scodellario (1862-)
Marriage: 2 Jul 1922, Zoppola
Death: 16 Apr 1979, Seattle, King, Washington, USA
Children: Ovidio Angelo (Blackie) (1924-1999)
Robert John (1925-2006)
Birth: 23 Jun 1900, San Martino al Tagliamento, Pordenone, Italy
Father: Pietro Lenardon (1862-)
Mother: Vincenza Scodellario (1862-)
Marriage: 2 Jul 1922, Zoppola
Death: 16 Apr 1979, Seattle, King, Washington, USA
Children: Ovidio Angelo (Blackie) (1924-1999)
Robert John (1925-2006)
Spouse: Ernesta Radigonda
Birth: 14 Mar 1910, Napa, California
Death: 25 Nov 1974, San Francisco
Father: Pasquale Redigonda (1876-1942)
Mother: Maria Filippi (1878-1938)
Marriage: 4 Sep 1934, Martinez, CA
Giacomo “Stagnaro” Petris, who went by Jack in America, was born on February 22, 1899, to Giobatta Petris, a tenant-farmer, and Rosa Taiariòl, a homemaker. He was named after his grandfather and great-great-grandfather. (The grandfather had been the one to move his family from Sauris to Zoppola in 1822.) How Giacomo came by his middle Stagnaro (tin-plater) is unknown and he did not use it later in life. Giacomo was the fifth child, but two of his siblings had died before he was born, another died when he was ten, and a fourth disappeared after the War. By the age of 18, that left him as the eldest child.
Giacomo’s early life would have been the same as nearly anyone of his class and station in Zoppola—grueling and tedious, but hopefully with a loving home life. He would have worked the fields with his father and brothers, gone to Church every Sunday and holy days, and attended school until 4th grade. There would have been three lifechanging events early in Giacomo’s early life. When he was eleven, his older brother Emilio Osvaldo died at the age of 15 of some illness. Then three years later, his eldest brother Geremia went off to California to seek his fortune and send money home to the family, never to be seen by the family again. When Giacomo went to American in 1922, he listed his friend Giacomo Querin as his point of contact in California, not Geremia. The third event would have been the Great War.
In 1914, when Giacomo was 15, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist, setting off a series of events that culminated in the First World War. Italy did not enter the War immediately, biding its time as it decided which side to join. Giacomo’s brother Geremia did not hesitate, though. He came back from America and went straight to France to join the Foreign Legion and fight in the trenches in France. A year later, Italy joined the Allies in the hopes of reclaiming Trieste and other lands on the Adriatic from the Austrian Empire. Much to the shame of his parents, Geremia did not come home and fight for Italy. Instead, he stayed in France and, after the Armistice, went back to California, married, had two children, and disappeared.
Giacomo was a little too young to join the Army in 1915. Besides, he was the eldest son at home and was needed to help run the farm. Zoppola felt the strain of limited economics and rationed supplies during the War. Though in the western part of Friuli, Zoppola was still less than 50 miles from the fighting on the Isonzo River, but the town remained quiet much of the time. From 1915 to 1917, there had been eleven battles on the Isonzo River on the eastern boundary of Friuli. These were mostly frontal, uphill assaults by the Italians that gained very little ground. Many Zoppolani served on the Isonzo front. As the Italian Army was preparing for their 12th Battle of Isonzo, the Austrians, supported by fresh German troops newly transferred from the now-quiet Russian Front, launched a preemptive strike on October 24, 1917. The Battle of Caporetto, as it came to be known, is considered to be the greatest disaster in Italian military history. The whole front collapsed, and the Tedeschi (as the Friulani called the Germans) pushed all the way to the Piave River on the west edge of Friuli. Only lack of supplies and a strong defense on November 4th at Mount Grappa, stopped the Germans. In all, 40,000 soldiers were killed or wounded and 265,000 were captured. Jack was eighteen years old when Zoppola was overrun and put under occupation.
Zoppola became a fairly grim place under the Tedeschi. Years later, Palmira Quattrin remembered that soldiers were billeted in the homes of the citizenry. In her memoires, she wrote that “they slept on the floors in the hallway, were dirty, and had lice.” The whole family of twelve had to live in one bedroom as the officers took the other rooms. The Petrises likely also served as unwilling hosts.
Food was hard to come by, and the younger children had to guard what was being cooked for dinner while the adults were working in the fields. As Palmira wrote in her diary,
I remember the world war… They [the soldiers] took whatever they could. One day my mother was frying lentils and beans for us all to eat. She cried so much — our poor mother. She went out to look for some work because the Germans were stealing everything for their soldiers. Mother didn’t come home for hours, and we children all cried. Then I heard her coming back, faint and collapsing. A day with no food — she said, “I put a pot of beans on the fire boiling for you.” We looked in the pot — nothing. The Germans had taken everything. Poor mother, alive but starving, crying and still with hunger. I was twisted inside, running home from the house where I worked for the landowners’ children. She used to pray that the Germans would never come again. I hoped the war was over — but it went on. Mother went out again, begging the baron for work. “For hunger,” she said, “the children cry.” I wanted to help her. She found food for the children, and she was happy seeing us eat.
By the end of summer 1918, the Tedeshi were moving out. The soldiers took everything they could lay their hands on, including old dresses that were intended to be handed down to the younger daughters. On November 11, 1918, an armistice was signed between the Germans and the Allies. The War to End All Wars was over.
In 1919, Giacomo would have come of age and been drafted into the Italian Army. We are still looking for his records.
After he got out, he proposed marriage to Maria Lenardon.
Birth: 14 Mar 1910, Napa, California
Death: 25 Nov 1974, San Francisco
Father: Pasquale Redigonda (1876-1942)
Mother: Maria Filippi (1878-1938)
Marriage: 4 Sep 1934, Martinez, CA
Giacomo “Stagnaro” Petris, who went by Jack in America, was born on February 22, 1899, to Giobatta Petris, a tenant-farmer, and Rosa Taiariòl, a homemaker. He was named after his grandfather and great-great-grandfather. (The grandfather had been the one to move his family from Sauris to Zoppola in 1822.) How Giacomo came by his middle Stagnaro (tin-plater) is unknown and he did not use it later in life. Giacomo was the fifth child, but two of his siblings had died before he was born, another died when he was ten, and a fourth disappeared after the War. By the age of 18, that left him as the eldest child.
Giacomo’s early life would have been the same as nearly anyone of his class and station in Zoppola—grueling and tedious, but hopefully with a loving home life. He would have worked the fields with his father and brothers, gone to Church every Sunday and holy days, and attended school until 4th grade. There would have been three lifechanging events early in Giacomo’s early life. When he was eleven, his older brother Emilio Osvaldo died at the age of 15 of some illness. Then three years later, his eldest brother Geremia went off to California to seek his fortune and send money home to the family, never to be seen by the family again. When Giacomo went to American in 1922, he listed his friend Giacomo Querin as his point of contact in California, not Geremia. The third event would have been the Great War.
In 1914, when Giacomo was 15, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist, setting off a series of events that culminated in the First World War. Italy did not enter the War immediately, biding its time as it decided which side to join. Giacomo’s brother Geremia did not hesitate, though. He came back from America and went straight to France to join the Foreign Legion and fight in the trenches in France. A year later, Italy joined the Allies in the hopes of reclaiming Trieste and other lands on the Adriatic from the Austrian Empire. Much to the shame of his parents, Geremia did not come home and fight for Italy. Instead, he stayed in France and, after the Armistice, went back to California, married, had two children, and disappeared.
Giacomo was a little too young to join the Army in 1915. Besides, he was the eldest son at home and was needed to help run the farm. Zoppola felt the strain of limited economics and rationed supplies during the War. Though in the western part of Friuli, Zoppola was still less than 50 miles from the fighting on the Isonzo River, but the town remained quiet much of the time. From 1915 to 1917, there had been eleven battles on the Isonzo River on the eastern boundary of Friuli. These were mostly frontal, uphill assaults by the Italians that gained very little ground. Many Zoppolani served on the Isonzo front. As the Italian Army was preparing for their 12th Battle of Isonzo, the Austrians, supported by fresh German troops newly transferred from the now-quiet Russian Front, launched a preemptive strike on October 24, 1917. The Battle of Caporetto, as it came to be known, is considered to be the greatest disaster in Italian military history. The whole front collapsed, and the Tedeschi (as the Friulani called the Germans) pushed all the way to the Piave River on the west edge of Friuli. Only lack of supplies and a strong defense on November 4th at Mount Grappa, stopped the Germans. In all, 40,000 soldiers were killed or wounded and 265,000 were captured. Jack was eighteen years old when Zoppola was overrun and put under occupation.
Zoppola became a fairly grim place under the Tedeschi. Years later, Palmira Quattrin remembered that soldiers were billeted in the homes of the citizenry. In her memoires, she wrote that “they slept on the floors in the hallway, were dirty, and had lice.” The whole family of twelve had to live in one bedroom as the officers took the other rooms. The Petrises likely also served as unwilling hosts.
Food was hard to come by, and the younger children had to guard what was being cooked for dinner while the adults were working in the fields. As Palmira wrote in her diary,
I remember the world war… They [the soldiers] took whatever they could. One day my mother was frying lentils and beans for us all to eat. She cried so much — our poor mother. She went out to look for some work because the Germans were stealing everything for their soldiers. Mother didn’t come home for hours, and we children all cried. Then I heard her coming back, faint and collapsing. A day with no food — she said, “I put a pot of beans on the fire boiling for you.” We looked in the pot — nothing. The Germans had taken everything. Poor mother, alive but starving, crying and still with hunger. I was twisted inside, running home from the house where I worked for the landowners’ children. She used to pray that the Germans would never come again. I hoped the war was over — but it went on. Mother went out again, begging the baron for work. “For hunger,” she said, “the children cry.” I wanted to help her. She found food for the children, and she was happy seeing us eat.
By the end of summer 1918, the Tedeshi were moving out. The soldiers took everything they could lay their hands on, including old dresses that were intended to be handed down to the younger daughters. On November 11, 1918, an armistice was signed between the Germans and the Allies. The War to End All Wars was over.
In 1919, Giacomo would have come of age and been drafted into the Italian Army. We are still looking for his records.
After he got out, he proposed marriage to Maria Lenardon.
Maria Clorinda Lenardon was the only daughter of Pietro Lenardon and Vincenza Scodellario. She was born on June 23, 1900, in San Martino al Tagliamento, about seven miles northeast of Zoppola. We do not know how they met. Very little is known about Maria or her family. The ship’s passenger list for her immigration to America lists her as 5’ 6”, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a natural complexion.
Giacomo and Maria were married on July 22, 1922, in Zoppola. He was 23, and she was 22. Less than a month later, Giacomo boarded the steamship Arabic in Genoa and set sail for America. He was listed as 5’ 10” and 185 lbs, with a fair complexion, dark hair, and black eyes. He arrived in Boston Harbor on August 22, 1922, with $200 in his pocket, intending to stay permanently and become an American citizen. He caught a train to Big Creek, California, where he joined Giacomo Querin while deciding where to go and what to do next. How long he stayed in Big Creek is unknown, but, by the following summer, he was living and working in Kingsburg, probably with his paternal uncle Antonio Petris.
Giacomo and Maria were married on July 22, 1922, in Zoppola. He was 23, and she was 22. Less than a month later, Giacomo boarded the steamship Arabic in Genoa and set sail for America. He was listed as 5’ 10” and 185 lbs, with a fair complexion, dark hair, and black eyes. He arrived in Boston Harbor on August 22, 1922, with $200 in his pocket, intending to stay permanently and become an American citizen. He caught a train to Big Creek, California, where he joined Giacomo Querin while deciding where to go and what to do next. How long he stayed in Big Creek is unknown, but, by the following summer, he was living and working in Kingsburg, probably with his paternal uncle Antonio Petris.
In Genoa almost a year later, Maria boarded the Conte Rosso (the RedCount), a White Star Line steamship, in the company of her brother-in-law Giorgio. Despite being considered an “express ship” that could make 21 knots, the trip usually took between 7 and 10 days, depending on the weather and how many ports of call were scheduled. Maria and Giorgio entered New York harbor on July 19, 1923. She had $25 and intended to stay indefinitely and seek citizenship. She used the money to buy a train ticket for the 5-day journey to Kingsburg.
Reunited in in Kingsburg, the Petrises settled in to start their new family. Their first son whom they named Ovidio (“Blackie”) Angelo was born on May 28, 1924, in Tulare, a town just south of Kingsburg. A second son named Robert John was born on June 25, 1925, in Madera, a little north of Fresno. Jack worked as a laborer and carpenter wherever there was work available.
The picture below of the Quattrin and Petris brothers was taken in late 1925 or early 1926 in San Francisco. Blackie is to his mother’s right and Robert is on her left. The men dressed up in their three-piece suits and Maria in her fashionable ensemble were clearly trying to impress the family back home with how well they were doing. But all was not as it seemed. Andrea was just about to give up on his dream of a farm and orchard in Lemoore with his cousin Antonio Colussi and go back home to Zoppola. Poldi had settled into a good job in Nichols working for General Chemical, but was about to embark on an ill-fated marriage to a 15-year-old American-born girl of Italian descent. Giorgio seems to have been doing the best at the time, having also settled into a job at General Chemical in Nichols after working as a miner and laborer in the silver mines of Nevada. He was about to meet the woman to whom he would be married for the rest of his life. Jack was becoming more frustrated with work and drinking more than he should have. And nobody saw the Great Depression coming.
Reunited in in Kingsburg, the Petrises settled in to start their new family. Their first son whom they named Ovidio (“Blackie”) Angelo was born on May 28, 1924, in Tulare, a town just south of Kingsburg. A second son named Robert John was born on June 25, 1925, in Madera, a little north of Fresno. Jack worked as a laborer and carpenter wherever there was work available.
The picture below of the Quattrin and Petris brothers was taken in late 1925 or early 1926 in San Francisco. Blackie is to his mother’s right and Robert is on her left. The men dressed up in their three-piece suits and Maria in her fashionable ensemble were clearly trying to impress the family back home with how well they were doing. But all was not as it seemed. Andrea was just about to give up on his dream of a farm and orchard in Lemoore with his cousin Antonio Colussi and go back home to Zoppola. Poldi had settled into a good job in Nichols working for General Chemical, but was about to embark on an ill-fated marriage to a 15-year-old American-born girl of Italian descent. Giorgio seems to have been doing the best at the time, having also settled into a job at General Chemical in Nichols after working as a miner and laborer in the silver mines of Nevada. He was about to meet the woman to whom he would be married for the rest of his life. Jack was becoming more frustrated with work and drinking more than he should have. And nobody saw the Great Depression coming.
By 1930, Jack and his family were living in San Francisco’s North Beach at 560 Green Street. In the 1930 US Census, his occupation was listed as laborer and he was listed as employed, though a specific company was not mentioned. Unlike his brother, Jack had not put in his first papers for citizenship, nor was he enlisted in English and Citizenship classes. He and Maria were still unable to speak English, though Ovidio could and was in school. Jack could read and write (presumably in Italian) and Maria could do neither in any language.
Zio Jack was not a particularly good person, especially when he drank. He creeped out the Quattrin and Coutts kids—the children of his nephew John Battista Quattrin and niece Maxine Petris Coutts. (When his granddaughters Dianna and Sydney final met him in the 1950s, they reacted the same way.) It did not help that, later in life, he always had dark circles under his eyes and resembled Boris Karloff. His flat, lifeless, unblinking stare was unsettling. He tended to become violent when he drank, which was often, and was known to beat his wives and sons.
By the summer of 1932, Maria could not take it anymore and reached out to Jack’s sister Emilia. She, Jack and the boys were living on Potrero Hill at 712a Vermont, just a block away from Andrea and Emilia Quattrin. Emilia took Maria and the boys into her home and sheltered them from her brother—no one messed with Emilia. She helped Maria file for divorce and convinced Jack to let them go. Emilia then helped them relocate to Seattle where there was another large community of ex-Zoppolani. There Maria entered a common law marriage with a steelworker named Genesio Ros, a distant cousin of Andrea, and they had a daughter named Catherine in 1939. They officially married on May, 29, 1944. For many years, she had a job at a store packaging candy. She died on April 16, 1979, of cardiac arrest brought on by a gastric obstruction. On her death certificate, Ovidio listed her occupation as “retired boxer.” That was the Petris wise-ass sense of humor.
Zio Jack was not a particularly good person, especially when he drank. He creeped out the Quattrin and Coutts kids—the children of his nephew John Battista Quattrin and niece Maxine Petris Coutts. (When his granddaughters Dianna and Sydney final met him in the 1950s, they reacted the same way.) It did not help that, later in life, he always had dark circles under his eyes and resembled Boris Karloff. His flat, lifeless, unblinking stare was unsettling. He tended to become violent when he drank, which was often, and was known to beat his wives and sons.
By the summer of 1932, Maria could not take it anymore and reached out to Jack’s sister Emilia. She, Jack and the boys were living on Potrero Hill at 712a Vermont, just a block away from Andrea and Emilia Quattrin. Emilia took Maria and the boys into her home and sheltered them from her brother—no one messed with Emilia. She helped Maria file for divorce and convinced Jack to let them go. Emilia then helped them relocate to Seattle where there was another large community of ex-Zoppolani. There Maria entered a common law marriage with a steelworker named Genesio Ros, a distant cousin of Andrea, and they had a daughter named Catherine in 1939. They officially married on May, 29, 1944. For many years, she had a job at a store packaging candy. She died on April 16, 1979, of cardiac arrest brought on by a gastric obstruction. On her death certificate, Ovidio listed her occupation as “retired boxer.” That was the Petris wise-ass sense of humor.
Blackie would grow up to become a lifelong employee of Don LaVoie Distributing Company, a member of the Couer d’Alene, Idaho, Lions’ Club, and the GED Coordinator for North Idaho College. After serving in the US Navy during WWII, Bob went to work for Bethelem Steele, became a local Union rep—and, ultimately, the President of the USWA Local 1208 (Union of Steelworkers) —and was elected Director of District 38 (13 states), remaining in that position until 1995.
By the time the divorce was finalized in August of 1933, Jack was living in Nichols with his brother temporarily. He does not seem to have missed his family much. On his naturalization application in 1937, he listed his sons as “residence unknown.” Jack also quickly found a new wife in Ernestine Radigonda.
By the time the divorce was finalized in August of 1933, Jack was living in Nichols with his brother temporarily. He does not seem to have missed his family much. On his naturalization application in 1937, he listed his sons as “residence unknown.” Jack also quickly found a new wife in Ernestine Radigonda.
Ernesta Radigonda, who later generations called Zia Ernestine, was born on March 14, 1910, in Napa, California. She was the third of the six children of Pasquale Redigonda, a laborer from San Vito al Tagliamento (yes, the same hometown as Jack’s first wife) and Maria Filippi, a housewife from Cordenons. They lived at 831 York Street, a three-bedroom, one bath house just west of Potrero Avenue and about six blocks from Emilia and Andrea. It is possible that Emilia introduced Ernestine to Jack, but the Zoppolani community in San Francisco was very closely knit. Ernestine was a clerk at the Scott and Gilbert Co., a wholesale drug dealer. In the 1940 US Census, she was the “floor lady,” which meant she was in charge of all the sales and stock girls. By the 1950 US Census, she was listed as “In Charge as Forelady.”
Jack and Ernestine married on September 4, 1934, in Martinez, California. He was 35, and she was 23. They moved into her parents’ house on York Street and would live there for the next ten years. Andrea also helped Jack get a new job as a janitor at the American Can Company on Third Street. One of Andrea’s two jobs was as a night watchman there. The job came with membership to the ILWU, the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union.
Emerging from the historic 1934 Waterfront Strike, the ILWU was a powerful force, securing better conditions and hiring halls. As one of the strongest unions in the country, the ILWU provided a sense of security in the midst of the Depression. With some of the pressure off, Jack seemed to settle down, though he continued to drink. To be fair, Ernestine kept pace with him pretty easily.
In 1937, Jack finally petitioned for citizenship and started taking classes to pass his U.S. citizenship exam. The Naturalization Act of 1906 had established an English language requirement for citizenship, which was in effect, and the Immigration Act of 1917 required immigrants over 16 to demonstrate basic reading comprehension in any language. Jack could read and write Italian and Furlan, and his English had gotten better from consistent exposure at work, so he was covered there. By the time he was ready to take the exam two years later, the exam was an oral quiz with no standardized list of questions. Examiners had significant discretion to tailor the exam to the applicant's background and educational level. The exact questions varied widely. The process relied on individual court judges and examiners to determine if an applicant was “attached to the principles of the Constitution.” Gone were the “trick” questions like “How high is the Bunker Hill Monument?” and others that focused on obscure facts specifically to exclude applicants.
Jack passed his exam on June 5, 1939, and became an American citizen—just in time for the Second World War.
World War II is generally considered to have started when Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany on September 1, 1939. England and France declared war the next day. Some historians consider this date to just be the end of the Armistice and resumption of hostilities of The Great War. These same historians do not consider the Second World War to have ended until October 3, 1990, and the reunification of Germany.
As with The Great War, Italy did not declare war immediately but waited until June 10, 1940, twelve days before France surrendered. This time, Italy joined Germany in the Axis Powers. There were no instant repercussions for Italians in America, as the United States remained neutral officially until December 7,1941. There were no wholesale internments of Italians in California as there were for the Japanese, but as many as 1,000 Italians were relocated away from military bases. Italians who had not received citizenship yet were put on the Alien Enemies list. “Enemy aliens” were required to register at post offices, be fingerprinted, photographed, and carry identification cards. This included Jack’s sister Emilia and many other Zoppolani in the Potrero District of The City. Emilia received an exemption in 1943 because her husband was already a US citizen, and she had filed for citizenship before the start of the War. But Jack’s ex-wife Maria in Seattle did not receive an exemption. She was Alien Enemy #A2298377.
San Francisco's economy exploded during WWII, and the Bay Area become known as the “Arsenal of Democracy,” because it served as a vital hub for military production, shipbuilding, and logistics for the Pacific theater. As a member of the ILWU, Jack benefited from this boom indirectly. The ILWU played a key role in the War Effort by organizing diverse workers, fighting racism, and navigating mechanization, ensuring stable labor for booming ports and shipyards. While advocating for members, the ILWU contributed to the City's “Second Gold Rush” and massive demographic shifts, despite eventual shifts in port work due to automation. The ILWU prepared for the future by negotiating agreements allowing “containerization” to reduce hard labor, profit sharing, and managing job reductions through early retirement, a move that reshaped the ports long-term.
Jack and Ernestine married on September 4, 1934, in Martinez, California. He was 35, and she was 23. They moved into her parents’ house on York Street and would live there for the next ten years. Andrea also helped Jack get a new job as a janitor at the American Can Company on Third Street. One of Andrea’s two jobs was as a night watchman there. The job came with membership to the ILWU, the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union.
Emerging from the historic 1934 Waterfront Strike, the ILWU was a powerful force, securing better conditions and hiring halls. As one of the strongest unions in the country, the ILWU provided a sense of security in the midst of the Depression. With some of the pressure off, Jack seemed to settle down, though he continued to drink. To be fair, Ernestine kept pace with him pretty easily.
In 1937, Jack finally petitioned for citizenship and started taking classes to pass his U.S. citizenship exam. The Naturalization Act of 1906 had established an English language requirement for citizenship, which was in effect, and the Immigration Act of 1917 required immigrants over 16 to demonstrate basic reading comprehension in any language. Jack could read and write Italian and Furlan, and his English had gotten better from consistent exposure at work, so he was covered there. By the time he was ready to take the exam two years later, the exam was an oral quiz with no standardized list of questions. Examiners had significant discretion to tailor the exam to the applicant's background and educational level. The exact questions varied widely. The process relied on individual court judges and examiners to determine if an applicant was “attached to the principles of the Constitution.” Gone were the “trick” questions like “How high is the Bunker Hill Monument?” and others that focused on obscure facts specifically to exclude applicants.
Jack passed his exam on June 5, 1939, and became an American citizen—just in time for the Second World War.
World War II is generally considered to have started when Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany on September 1, 1939. England and France declared war the next day. Some historians consider this date to just be the end of the Armistice and resumption of hostilities of The Great War. These same historians do not consider the Second World War to have ended until October 3, 1990, and the reunification of Germany.
As with The Great War, Italy did not declare war immediately but waited until June 10, 1940, twelve days before France surrendered. This time, Italy joined Germany in the Axis Powers. There were no instant repercussions for Italians in America, as the United States remained neutral officially until December 7,1941. There were no wholesale internments of Italians in California as there were for the Japanese, but as many as 1,000 Italians were relocated away from military bases. Italians who had not received citizenship yet were put on the Alien Enemies list. “Enemy aliens” were required to register at post offices, be fingerprinted, photographed, and carry identification cards. This included Jack’s sister Emilia and many other Zoppolani in the Potrero District of The City. Emilia received an exemption in 1943 because her husband was already a US citizen, and she had filed for citizenship before the start of the War. But Jack’s ex-wife Maria in Seattle did not receive an exemption. She was Alien Enemy #A2298377.
San Francisco's economy exploded during WWII, and the Bay Area become known as the “Arsenal of Democracy,” because it served as a vital hub for military production, shipbuilding, and logistics for the Pacific theater. As a member of the ILWU, Jack benefited from this boom indirectly. The ILWU played a key role in the War Effort by organizing diverse workers, fighting racism, and navigating mechanization, ensuring stable labor for booming ports and shipyards. While advocating for members, the ILWU contributed to the City's “Second Gold Rush” and massive demographic shifts, despite eventual shifts in port work due to automation. The ILWU prepared for the future by negotiating agreements allowing “containerization” to reduce hard labor, profit sharing, and managing job reductions through early retirement, a move that reshaped the ports long-term.
Jack and Ernestine’s financial situation improved directly during this period as well. Ernestine’s mother had passed away in 1938 and her father died in 1942. The house on York Street had to be sold to settle the estate among Ernestine and her siblings. Upon receiving her settlement in 1943, Ernestine and Jack bought the house at 131 Goettingen, in the Portola District. It was a 1500 sq. ft., two-bedroom, one-bath home that had been built in 1936. Kevin remembered the living room had two big, gold couches, a dark brown coffee table with matching hexagonal end tables, and French Provincial gold-leaf-and-crystal lamps with a matching swag-lamp. (He knows because they ended up in his parents’ family room, and his son Rudraigh still uses the tables today.) Battista’s son Dave remembered that the curtains were usually drawn in the living room, the house always seemed dark inside, and it smelled like “cigarette smoke and old people.” Cindy Coutts Berkavitz remembered when her mother would take her and her siblings to visit, the adults stayed upstairs talking Italian, and the kids were sent to the basement to run around and play.
In the spring of 1948, Jack learned that his mother, who was 77, was not doing well. He applied for a passport, which was approved on May 7th. He returned to Zoppola for the first (and only) time, taking a Trans World Airlines flight (again, for his first and probably only plane flight) through New York to Geneva, Switzerland. From there, he would have taken the train to Pordenone and probably been picked up by his sister Mora and/or her husband Felice for the 56-mile ride to Zoppola. He travelled alone, and it is unknown how long he stayed, but he returned to San Francisco on August 30th. His mother died four months later.
In the spring of 1948, Jack learned that his mother, who was 77, was not doing well. He applied for a passport, which was approved on May 7th. He returned to Zoppola for the first (and only) time, taking a Trans World Airlines flight (again, for his first and probably only plane flight) through New York to Geneva, Switzerland. From there, he would have taken the train to Pordenone and probably been picked up by his sister Mora and/or her husband Felice for the 56-mile ride to Zoppola. He travelled alone, and it is unknown how long he stayed, but he returned to San Francisco on August 30th. His mother died four months later.
That same summer, on July 20, 1948, Jack became a grandfather for the first time when his son Robert’s first wife Gertrude gave birth to Dianna Lee Petris. Dianna was joined the following year by Sydney Marie. Robert and his second wife Brenda would have a son, Phillip Robert, in 1967, and that same year Blackie and his second wife would have their only child, Maria Angela. Jack was never involved in any of his four grandchildren’s lives.
Jack and Ernestine did not have any children of their own but seemed satisfied with that. There was plenty of family in the Bay area. Six of Jack’s ten nieces and nephews were in California as were all eight of Ernestine’s nieces and nephews. They were closest to Battista Quattrin and Maxine Coutts, who lived in San Francisco and often came over to visit and to help with errands. Battista always did their taxes, as he did for his parents and other aunts and uncles in town. Jack and Ernestine attended family celebrations: the weddings of Battista in 1954 and Maxine in 1958, and the funerals of Ernestine’s sisters Aemelia in 1956 and Alma in 1960, as well as Jack’s brother-in-law Andrea in 1958.
Through the 1950s and 1960s, Jack continued to work at American Can while Ernestine moved to Reid Brothers Architects as an office manager. By the mid-1960s, they both retired and went on Social Security. Unfortunately, no survivors remember anything about their hobbies or interests, although Dave thought Jack liked to bowl. They were members of St. Teresa’s Parish, but no one knows if or how active they were.
On June 17, 1970, Jack’s brother George passed away. Jack and Ernestine came to the funeral, which was somewhat unexpected and caused some murmuring. Jack looked terrible and would be joining his brother soon. To the Quattrin and Coutts children, it was one of many funerals during the late 1960s and early 1970s as their grandparents’ generation seemed to all be leaving around that time. It seemed to the kids like they grew up at funerals.
Zio Jack died on November 8, 1970. He was 71 years old. After a rosary at Gantner, Maison, and Domergue Chapels on Valencia Street and a Requiem Mass at The Church of St. Elizabeth, Jack was laid to rest in the Italian Cemetery in Colma.
Jack and Ernestine did not have any children of their own but seemed satisfied with that. There was plenty of family in the Bay area. Six of Jack’s ten nieces and nephews were in California as were all eight of Ernestine’s nieces and nephews. They were closest to Battista Quattrin and Maxine Coutts, who lived in San Francisco and often came over to visit and to help with errands. Battista always did their taxes, as he did for his parents and other aunts and uncles in town. Jack and Ernestine attended family celebrations: the weddings of Battista in 1954 and Maxine in 1958, and the funerals of Ernestine’s sisters Aemelia in 1956 and Alma in 1960, as well as Jack’s brother-in-law Andrea in 1958.
Through the 1950s and 1960s, Jack continued to work at American Can while Ernestine moved to Reid Brothers Architects as an office manager. By the mid-1960s, they both retired and went on Social Security. Unfortunately, no survivors remember anything about their hobbies or interests, although Dave thought Jack liked to bowl. They were members of St. Teresa’s Parish, but no one knows if or how active they were.
On June 17, 1970, Jack’s brother George passed away. Jack and Ernestine came to the funeral, which was somewhat unexpected and caused some murmuring. Jack looked terrible and would be joining his brother soon. To the Quattrin and Coutts children, it was one of many funerals during the late 1960s and early 1970s as their grandparents’ generation seemed to all be leaving around that time. It seemed to the kids like they grew up at funerals.
Zio Jack died on November 8, 1970. He was 71 years old. After a rosary at Gantner, Maison, and Domergue Chapels on Valencia Street and a Requiem Mass at The Church of St. Elizabeth, Jack was laid to rest in the Italian Cemetery in Colma.
Ernestine lasted for four more years with the support of Battista and Maxinie. She entered the Hospital on October 23, 1974, with chest pains. She died on November 25, 1974. The cause of death was listed as cardiac arrythmia and cirrhosis of the liver. She was 64 years old. After a rosary at Gantner, Maison, and Domergue Chapels and another Requiem Mass at The Church of St. Elizabeth, Ernestine was laid to rest with Jack in the Italian Cemetery.
In her will, Ernestine bypassed all her and Jack’s nieces and nephews to leave her estate (the house on Goettingen and a moderate sum of cash) to Battista’s children and named Battista as the executor. (She had wanted to leave it to Battista, but he felt awkward about anything coming to him instead of his cousins—i.e., Jack’s sons.) Not wanting to deal with the fuss of being a landlord in the City, Battista enlisted the help of Kevin’s godmother Jean Capra to ready and sell the house. The money and proceeds of the sale went into Treasury Bonds until the children came of age.
It is a little sad how few memories of who Jack and Ernestine were as people survived them. Even worse, many of the memories—especially of Jack—are bad. The fog of alcoholism obscures much of their lives. Sad.
In her will, Ernestine bypassed all her and Jack’s nieces and nephews to leave her estate (the house on Goettingen and a moderate sum of cash) to Battista’s children and named Battista as the executor. (She had wanted to leave it to Battista, but he felt awkward about anything coming to him instead of his cousins—i.e., Jack’s sons.) Not wanting to deal with the fuss of being a landlord in the City, Battista enlisted the help of Kevin’s godmother Jean Capra to ready and sell the house. The money and proceeds of the sale went into Treasury Bonds until the children came of age.
It is a little sad how few memories of who Jack and Ernestine were as people survived them. Even worse, many of the memories—especially of Jack—are bad. The fog of alcoholism obscures much of their lives. Sad.
