Father Austin Conterno

1915 - 2015

Father Austin Conterno, SDB

July 29, 1915 - July 11, 2015

Fr. Austin Conterno, SDB, passed away suddenly on Saturday, July 11, 2015, at the age of 99. He was a professed Salesian of Don Bosco for 77 years and a priest for 67 years.
Fr. Conterno was born in 1915 in Sinio D'Alba in the province of Cuneo, Italy. "The Count," as he was fondly called, always reminded his community at Saints Peter and Paul that the Alba region in Northern Italy near Turin is known for its exquisite Barolo wines.
Fr. Conterno entered the Salesian seminary in Ivrea, Italy that prepared young men for missionary vocations to India, China, Japan, and the United States. In those years it was the custom to go to the missions before novitiate (a period of intense introduction to Salesian religious life) and profession. At the age of 22 Father Conterno professed in Newton, New Jersey, where he also attended college and theological preparation for the priesthood. After ordination to the priesthood Father Conterno taught in Salesian schools and, eventually, after a time as assistant pastor at St. Patrick's Church in Los Angeles (South Central LA) and assistant pastor at Corpus Christi in San Francisco, became associate Pastor at Saints Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco.
In the early 60's Fr. Conterno was principal at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California. During his three years as principal he built the still controversial hyperbolically constructed gym that rises from four anchors and sweeps over the gym floor defying gravity.
From his various assignments exclusively in California, Fr. Conterno has served many years as a treasurer of Salesian communities in Watsonville, Bellflower, Richmond, Berkeley, and San Francisco. His placid nature belied the stress-filled days of penny pinching, making ends meet, and balancing the books.
Since 1981, except for a brief time as director of St. Francis School in Watsonville, Fr. Conterno had been an associate pastor of Saints Peter and Paul. In 2000, at the age of 85, Father Conterno "retired."
In his days of retirement, a decline in hearing limited his time in the confessional; but he kept connected in a priestly way by his daily presence at the 9:00 a.m. weekday Mass and the Italian Mass on Sunday, at parish funerals, and at the monthly school Eucharist. He missed precious few Bay Area sporting events of Warriors, Giants, A's or 49ers. Remarkably, every first Tuesday of the month, he attended the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club stag dinner where as chaplain he led them in prayer and fellowship.
Italian to the core, he was an honorary member of the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club and the Italian cultural group, Piemontese nel Mundo.
On Sunday, July 19, at Saints Peter and Paul Church a visitation will be held at 7:00 p.m., followed by a vigil for the deceased at 7:30 p.m. The funeral Mass will be 10:00 a.m. on Monday, July 20, with burial following at the Salesian Cemetery in Richmond California. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the Saints Peter and Paul Tower of Strength Capital Campaign. Funeral arrangements under the direction of Valente Marini Perata & Co. Funeral Directors