Sophie Ann Eaquinta

Mom was an amazing person. Her life revolved around her strong sense of family and a family life, and the values she learned growing up in a small mining town in Utah during the Depression. The values she acquired during those first years were the basis for a very successful life to follow. Mom was born on May 8th 1923 to Mary and Charles Fratto in Helper Utah, where she grew up along with her sisters Julia and Rose. Children of hard working immigrant parents from Italy, Mom and her sisters learned quickly the values of family, hard work and perseverance. Helper was a small town with one short Main Street, a small school, a railroad station, and a population of immigrant miners who had to learn to work together to survive the harsh conditions of life in a small town during the depression. Sophie's family moved to Los Angeles in the late thirties where she completed Junior High and High School. After graduating from Lincoln High in 1941 she pursued various interests, from working in a bank (she was always proud to tell about her experience as a bank secretary), singing (she was known as "Singing Sophie Ann" with the 10 Easy Riders), working at a jewelry store, and at a nightclub. After World War Two ended she married my father, Sam. Dad was also from Helper Utah, but mom didn't get to know him until he came to Los Angeles during the war. From there she went on to pursue fashion modeling and a career in real estate. After I was born we moved to Burbank, where I was raised. Dad worked at Disney Studios and mom continued working in real estate and also spent much of her time involved in various arts and crafts, which she loved. She was also a seamstress par excellence, and made most of my fashionable clothes and my wedding gown when I married Bob. Mom loved people and always loved visiting her family and relatives, never arrived empty handed, and did not like being late. She loved dinner parties and holiday celebrations and loved hosting them in her home. She had holiday decorations for every occasion. In 1973 my father passed away suddenly. While this was indeed a tragedy for her, she picked up and returned to real estate and carried on. A few years later she married Gene Lombardi, Bob's Uncle. They had a happy life until his untimely death a little over a year later. Time rolls on....Mom met Rudolpho Freeman, a film editor, in 1977, and they were together until her death. And what a time they had! While still continuing with her various interests, she and Rudy were avid swing dancers. They were always, as Rudy says, "tripping the light fantastic," and had quite the reputation. They roamed the southland going to dances and competitions, winning trophies and even appearing in a few newspapers. They continued this all the way up to the time that Mom became ill three years ago at 87. Mom was preceded in death by her parents, her first two husbands, and her sister Rose. In addition to me, she leaves behind my husband Bob, her grandson Steven, Rudy and his daughter Debbie and his grandchildren, her sister Julia, and numerous nieces and nephews.