Carlo Alberto Simonetti

Carlo Alberto Simonetti was born on April 10th, 1935 in San Quirico di Moriano, Province of Lucca, Italy, to parents Pellegrino and Silvia Simonetti. Carlo, along with his 5 brothers and 3 sisters, was raised on a farm with grape vines and olive trees hugging the contours of green rolling hills that can only be described as classic Tuscany. Carlo's Nonno (grandfather) Paulino taught him how to milk a cow, trim the grapes for wine, use the grape vines artistically to design a cavallo (horse), and seed as well as harvest the grapes, corn, and grains. When Carlo was 7 years old, his Nonna (grandmother) Erina gave him permission to work in the Mutore Bicycle Shop where the owner, Renato and his friend Poli, inspired in Carlo a love for cycling, which was to become his singular and lifelong passion. At age 15, Carlo owned a bicycle shop and made his first racing bike. At age 16, Carlo received his first racing license. His racing team was Gruppo Sporlivo Alfeagas and he won first place in the Porcari Italian Race. The day before Carlo turned 21, his lifelong plan to become a racer changed course. As a tenant farmer, Pellegrino received 53% of the profit from the farm with the remaining 47% going to the landlord. Silvia had to augment their income by working in a Toscanello cigar factory near the wall of Lucca. Encouraged by his sister, Natalina, who immigrated to America and started a successful restaurant (the Gold Spike), Pellegrino came to America and asked Carlo to fly there before his 21st birthday to comply with immigration laws. Carlo immediately got a job to send money to his aunt Rena Del Chiaro, his mother's sister, who funded his flight to America. Not speaking English, Carlo was hired as a high-rise window washer, a job he enjoyed because it was outdoors and challenging. He worked for California Building Maintenance, Service System, Commercial Building Maintenance, and Louis and Taylor and, in his late fifties, he started a Janitorial service for local businesses. Throughout his life, Carlo, who celebrated 51 years of marriage to June De Santi Simonetti (predeceased), was devoted to the growth and development of their two children (John and Carla) and four grandchildren (Zachary, Kara, Chiara, and Giancarlo). Although Carlo continued to occasionally race and won the Italian American Game in his mid-thirties, his lifelong focus was on giving his passion for cycling to the wider community. In his mid-twenties up until his mid-sixties, 10 - 20 cyclists in the Bay Area came over to Carlo's house almost every Saturday and Sunday to train for 100-mile (century) bike rides. For three years in a row Carlo received the award for outstanding athletic achievement on the bike, Most Century Miles, from the Peninsula Velo Society. Most important, Carlo was instrumental in the development and success of Breathe California's Bike 4 Breath Program. For 20 years, he organized charity bike rides designed to promote clean air and lung health. With an athletic heart (sometimes averaging 39 beats per minute), Carlo continued to participate in century bicycle rides into his seventies. At age 75, Carlo started a new adventure: he married his next-door neighbor in California, Sandra Lee Ladd, and moved to Boston where she was attending Boston University School of Medicine. During their 14-year marriage, they did a 10-mile bike ride almost every day and traveled to Italy, Mexico, and Hawaii along with bi-annual flights to California for family vacations (Lake Shasta and Tahoe). Carlo passed peacefully on the Winter Solstice, December 21, 2025, from complications related to bradycardia and atrial fibrillation at the age of 90. He is survived by his wife (Sandra), his brother (Livio), his daughter (Carla) and his four grandchildren. Rather than memorial services, it was Carlo's wish that contributions be made to the American Lung Association in his name and, also, that earth be conserved by scattering his ashes at sea. Private service, New England Burials at Sea.