Joseph DeNatale

1928 - 2017

Joseph Anthony DeNatale

Joseph Anthony DeNatale passed away peacefully Aug. 31, 2017 in Terra Linda California. He was born in Brooklyn New York on August 22, 1928. He was 89.

His parents, Anthony DeNatale and Yolanda Tringali, had immigrated to New York from Sicily. With his older brother Frank, his grandparents, Giuseppe and Domenica Tringali, and his aunts and uncle, they moved to San Francisco. 

In the 1930's the family all lived together in an apartment on Greenwich Street in North Beach. Later in life, Joe, who also went by the name "Sonny", would tell stories of the trials and beauty of growing up in the city during the Depression. They kept a vegetable garden in the backyard, a chicken coop and a rabbit hutch. His grandparents were a great influence on his life. His mother Yolanda, a seamstress, made their clothes and always dressed Joe and his brother well. "There's no crime in looking your best." she would say. This attention to aesthetic and self would not be lost on them. 

In an effort to help his family, Joe's first job was as a paperboy for the SF Chronicle. He saved enough to buy his uncle's bike and expand his route. He surfaced as someone reliable and honest, running errands and gems for the local jewelers.

Joe had fond memories of the neighborhood friends that would meet regularly at the corner of Jones St. and Greenwich and in later years at the Italian American Club, referring to themselves as the "Jones St. Gang". 

Joe graduated from Galileo High School and went on to work in the SF meat industry, as a butcher. He served in the Army at the SF Presidio Base during the Korean War as head cook.

Joe tended bar at a nightclub called the Black Hawk. The venue was the premier west coast destination for many jazz greats. Seeing them perform had a great effect on him. One night his friend, the boxer Jesse Flores, introduced Joe to his sister Mary. She would go on to become the love of Joe's life.

In 1956 Joe and Mary moved with their 3 children to Terra Linda into a newly built Eichler home. The house was a source of pride and through the years turned Joe into a jack of all trades.

In the early 1960's Joe became co-owner of the original Ondine. a world class French restaurant in Sausalito. He developed wonderful relationships with a wide variety of celebrities, sport figures, politicians and writers. He was charismatic, easy to talk to and handsome.
After spotting Joe, columnist Herb Caen once asked his readers if that was the actor Jeff Chandler, or Tyrone Power moonlighting at the famous establishment.

One day Joe purchased a shipwrecked motorboat and inside his garage, tirelessly restored it into a thing of beauty. Fishing trips, summers teaching friends and family to ski (he was the best), swimming and picnicking on the lake, throughout his life Joe loved water. He became an avid abalone diver in Jenner CA.  He also loved to hunt ducks and geese (was rarely seen without one of his beloved yellow Labradors.) and as an exceptional cook, he seemed to instinctually know how to take a wild bounty and bring it to the table exquisitely prepared.

Joe and Mary loved music. They liked playing along to Latin Jazz records in the evening, Joe on bongos Mary on congas, and they encouraged their children to join in. Often turning the living room into a raucous mix of laughter and rhythm. 

They loved Cal Tjader and developed a lasting friendship with him. When he would play the El Matador, he would invite Joe to sit in. Joe would beam about it the next morning. 

He was never one to brag or boast. He left that to the ones who loved him. Neither was he one to talk ill of others.  

He loved baseball and the Oakland A's. The rise and fall of the game, the faith and doubt that comes with every pitch and that you just never know what can happen. 

In his last years Joe kept his vegetable garden, read the paper and he walked. He swam when the weather was warm and then he watched the game.

He felt loved by his children. His daughters Lori and Linda, cooked his favorite meals and cared for him in his final days.

He will be sorely missed by the family he loved; his daughter Lori and her husband Edmund Watson, daughter Linda Rapp, son Ricardo (Jesse) DeNatale, his grand-children, Jesse and Joe Watson, Katrina Rapp, Natasha and Jason Figueroa, Scout DeNatale and Kurtis Reed and Lucinda DeNatale, and his great grandchildren Crimson and Tatum Figueroa and Jesse and Knoxville Reed. 

He also leaves behind his loving family members, Norma Tringali, Steve Scarpa, Donna Gates,  Jay DeNatale, Stacy and Jim Baldazari, Jeff and Brenda DeNatale and dear friend Bob Chiaco.
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Let the fog horns blow and the brooms take rest. 
You did your best you did your best 
Was not one day that did go by 
That something good you did not try