Henry Ratti

1923 - 2018

Henry Ratti, Jr.

November 7,1923 - January 27, 2018

Henry passed away in his sleep early Saturday morning at the age of 94. Henry was a devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He was born in Proctor, Vermont to Italian immigrant parents. The family moved to San Francisco's North Beach district when Henry was two years old. He was proud of his Italian-American heritage, his North Beach roots and his life in San Francisco.
He was the starting first baseman on the Galileo High School Championship teams in 1939, 1940 and 1941. Henry proudly served his country during World War II as a Sergeant, from 1942 until his honorable discharge in 1945 as a member of the 15th Air Force, 463rd Bomb Group, 773rd Bomb Squadron. He saw action in the European, African, and Middle Eastern theaters and was awarded numerous decorations including the Presidential Unit Citation with two oak leaves.
In 1953 Henry married the love of his life Barbara Brunetti. He worked for the San Francisco Unified School District, retiring after 38 years of service. Henry enjoyed coaching youth baseball and was a member of the S.F Old Timers Baseball Assn., and the Friends of Marino Pieretti Club. He also belonged to the Columbia Brotherhood Masonic Lodge # 370, and Phoenix Masonic Lodge # 144.
Henry is survived by his wife of 64 years Barbara, his sons, Lawrence (Nanci), Jeffery (Linda), and daughter Lisa Gray (Alex), his grandchildren Joseph Ratti, Angelina Vitrano (Tony), Alina Colburn (Chris), Bianca Ratti (Dan Ziolkowski), Conner Gray, Spencer Gray and Great- Granddaughter Aurora Rose Vitrano. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Jackie Devincenzi, and his niece Laura Burgos (Leo) and nephew Steven (Juli) and their children and his cousin Robert Ratti (Joan).
The family would like to thank Buff Richardson and Eric Persau for all their help and friendship, Jennifer from Sutter Health Hospice for her compassionate care and Dr. Claudio Bet for being there when other doctors didn't find time to care.
A memorial service will be held at the Peninsula Italian American Social Club, 100 North B Street, San Mateo, Ca, 94401 on Saturday February 3rd at 11am.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Henry's Name to:
Shiners Hospital for Children
Northern California
2425 Stockton Blvd.
Sacramento, Ca 95817
ATTN: Development Office