QUIN JOSEPH ONGARO

Quin Joseph Ongaro Quin Joseph Ongaro, age 97 passed away Sunday, July 25, 2010 at Brighton Gardens, an assisted living and custodial care facility in Santa Rosa. Quin was born in Fairfax, Marin County, January 11, 1913, the sixth and last child of Giuseppe Giovanni Ongaro and Carolina Maria Perozzo Ongaro. His parents were born in San Fior de Sopra, in the Veneto region of Italy, 40 miles north of Venice. They were married in 1904 and came first to Canada for several years, then moving to the San Francisco Bay Area after the 1906 earthquake where work was plentiful. Eventually Quin's father bought a piece of land in Fairfax, Marin County, because it reminded him of San Fior. Quin spent his childhood in the hills of Fairfax, tending the family's stock, getting into mischief with his boyhood friends, most of whom were Italian as Fairfax at that time was a "Little Italy". He went to a one room school next to Saint Rita's Church and later to St. Anselms School in Ross where he earned a scholarship to Sacred Heart High School in San Francisco. Every day he rode the train from Fairfax to Sausalito where he caught the ferry to San Francisco, returning again in the evening. During his last year at Sacred Heart he watched the Golden Gate Bridge going up as he crossed the bay on the ferry. After his graduation from Sacred Heart he worked for his brother Ernest, doing plumbing and then became partners with his brother John, doing grading work. He became an excavating and grading contractor which was his profession for over thirty years. In 1939 he met the love of his life, Marjorie Louise Barnsdale, and on January 14, 1940 they were married. She was nineteen and he had just turned twenty-seven. Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Quin was ordered to deliver his bulldozer to Hamilton Field where he spent the entire war years building revetments filled with rock to protect the airplanes, a job essential to the war effort. The highlights of Quin's and his brother John's contracting careers included the building of all the roads, sewer lines and most of the home sites in Kent Woodlands for William Kent. Mr. Kent owned all the land including Kent Woodlands, Mt Tamalpais, Muir Woods (which he later deeded to the State) and Stinson Beach. Quin built the road between Hwy. 1 and Stinson Beach, and developed the land for Mr. Kent at Stinson Beach which is now Sea Drift. He and John also developed the Belvedere Lagoon. After Quin's retirement in 1966, he and Marjorie traveled the world. They lived their entire married life in Marin and Sonoma Counties. Quin loved to hunt and fish and had many memorable fishing and hunting trips with his son, brothers, and nephews. He also took up golf in his retirement years. Quin will be deeply missed by his three children, Carolyn Marie Finch and husband Leland, Jeanne Louise Simpson, and Kenneth Quin Ongaro and wife Janice. He is also survived by four grandchildren; Jenifer Lynn Ortiz of Santa Rosa, Steven Lee Finch and wife, Bernadette of Lafayette, Lisa Louise Koumarianos of Las Vegas, Nevada and Wendy Marie Manry and husband Glenn of Sheridan Wyoming. He is also survived by eight great grandchildren, his sister-in-law Florence Barnsdale of Oakland and many nieces and nephews. Quin was predeceased by his beloved wife, Marjorie, December 9, 2004, his grandson, William Harold Simpson III in 1996, his brothers and their wives; John and Pearl Ongaro, Frank and Ann Ongaro, Ernest and Anita Ongaro, Ned and Winifred Ongaro and his sister, Lil and husband Anthony Santisteban and later Cecil Nixon, Quin's brother-in-law William Jordan Barnsdale and five nieces and nephews. A private family interment was held Friday, July 30, 2010 at Santa Rosa Memorial Gardens. A Celebration of Quin's Life will be held Saturday, August 21, at The Quail Inn, at Oakmont Golf Club, 7035 Oakmont Drive, Santa Rosa, CA 95409, (707) 537-3670 from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Quin's family would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to his caregivers; Mitch Miller, Jessica Morgan, Jenifer Ortiz, Kevin Haynes and his wonderful staff at Brighton Gardens, and to the caring and helpful staff with Hospice.