Walter Guerra

Walter Guerra April 19, 1938 - May 5, 2006 Walter Guerra was born in Urbania, Italy, in the province of Pesaro, on April 19, 1938. He and his family moved to Rome in 1954. While visiting his sister Maria in Tuscany he met his future wife, Georgette Paladini in 1962, who was vacationing from America for the first time. Walter and Georgette were married the following year in June and in October 1963 he relocated to San Francisco. Walter began working for Simi Fine Foods while going to school at night to learn English. When Simi was purchased by another importer he worked for the new owners as a buyer. Very soon he realized that the Bay Area, which had the largest Italian-American population west of the Mississippi, as well an abundance of Italian restaurants, did not have a single full-line distributor of Italian specialty products. It was in 1978, with the help of his family, as well as many friends, Italian and American alike, that Walter began Italfoods. He rented a small 1,000 foot warehouse from a dear friend in South San Francisco and began importing and distributing Italian food products. In the beginning a normal day included long hours, making sales calls, pulling orders and making deliveries in a rented van and a Fiat 124. Walter's vision soon turned out to be correct. The demand for Italian specialty foods in the Bay Area from foodservice to retail customers quickly materialized. His passion and love of Italy did the rest. Italfoods is now in its fourth location. The company has grown from two employees in 1978, to 75, including 17 sales representatives who service the Bay Area, all the while continuing Walter's philosophy of providing care for the customers and their needs. Its line of 3,400 specialty food products is distributed to customers throughout CA, NV, UT, WA, OR, ID, MT, CO, AZ and HI. Walter's Italfoods family is proud to celebrate its 28th anniversary this year. A man of vision, Walter "brought Italy to America" through his love and passion of everything Italian. His family and family of employees are committed to carry on his legacy. Over the years Walter has been a firm believer of passing on some of the fruits of his labors and good fortune in ways that would benefit the community and individuals as well. He always remained dedicated to supporting various charitable causes-big and small. He was the very first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for his work with the San Francisco Food Bank, which he held very dear. Walter was also proud to be awarded the Boys Town of Italy Man of the Year Award for 2003. He was particularly active in the Italian-American Community through his association and membership with the International Olive Oil Association, the Museo Italo-Americano, the Marche Club, the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club, the Lucchesi Nel Mondo Club, the Peninsula Italian American Social Club of San Mateo. Walter loved his newly adopted country, America, and was a firm believer in the values upon which it was founded. His spiritual faith in God and Christ was unwavering. He had a great love of the outdoors and experienced it through his many fishing and hunting trips with his dogs, family and friends. He enjoyed his walks, hikes and travels, as well as just simply working in his garden at home. Walter died suddenly in his native Italy on May 5, 2006, at the age of 68. He is survived by his wife Georgette, of 43 years; daughter, Allie; son, Matthew, sister, Maria Paladini; and family of Lucca Italy, his mother-in-law Norma Paladini; and numerous cousins and relatives in his native town of Urbania, Italy, as well as in Rome, Milan and France. He was predeceased in death by his father and mother, Ugo and Gina Guerra; and his father-in-law Angelo Paladini. A Vigil Service will be held Friday, May 12, 7:30pm and the Funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday, May 13th, at 2:00pm, all at St. Catherine Church, Burlingame. His body will be laid to rest at Alta Mesa Memorial Park, Palo Alto. Donations can be made to the San Francisco Food Bank; Sacro Costato Missionary Sisters, 1300 Bayswater Ave., Burlingame CA 94010; the Boy Scouts of America; or to the charity of choice.