Francesco Brondolo
b. April 3 1900 Vesime, Italy
d. October 24 1985 San Francisco, California
Enlarged from lower photograph.
A welding shop in San Francisco, California. Uncle Frank in on the right.
Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers. It became an official federal holiday in 1894, just several years before my Great Uncle Frank was born in the small little village of Vesime Italy. Uncle Frank came to America at the age of 13 to live in the the growing metropolis of San Francisco and entered the labor force as an apprentice welder at the age of 16. The pictures shown above are in the Boothby family collection and are a priceless window into his early career.
These next excerpts are from Uncle Frank's memorial service held on Sunday, November 3, 1985 in San Francisco. These memories are from my Dad, Dale Boothby, and Kent Boothby, his brother, as well as Terry Brondolo Boothby, their mother (my Grandmother "Nino"). Nino was Uncle Frank's youngest sister.
"The remarks I am about to make are a compilation of remembrances from my brother and me, and from our families. We have been asked to speak of Uncle Frank as we remember him so you might know him as we did."..........
"Uncle Frank was born Francesco Brondolo in Vesime, Italy on April 3, 1900. He was one of four brothers and two sisters who came to America a few at a time...'on the installment plan' as my mother says. Uncle Frank's turn to immigrate came when he was 13. He started working at odd jobs when he arrived here and went to work full-time at 16, learning the welding trade. He became a master welder and worked at that exacting trade until his later years when his eyesight would not allow him to continue. He seemed to have a natural instinct for metals and their varying properties and, indeed, taught his craft to many workers in San Francisco who eventually opened up their own shops. He was proud of his ability to troubleshoot problems in various welding shops, staying until he got a shop straightened out and working up to his standards. He was a hard worker, one who took immense pride in his abilities. He liked a neat and orderly shop and expected those who worked with him to do the same."
Uncle Frank's WWI Registration Card from 1917-18. He was living on Bannam Place (with another brother) and was working as a serviceman for L. H. Rose-Chalmers at 1230 Van Ness Ave. In the late 1900's Van Ness was considered "Automobile Row".
After some sleuthing I found this advertisement for the Rose-Chalmers Co. where Uncle Frank worked around 1917-18. He would have been around 18 years of age.
San Francisco Call Vol. 104 No. 113 13 Nov. 1918.
A San Francisco Directory for 1918..Uncle Frank worked as an apprentice, and lived at 1015b Golden Gate Avenue when this directory came out.
A photograph of a very handsome Uncle Frank, probably taken around the early 1920's. It was taken in the Boussum Studios on Geary Street. Boussum was a leading photographer in northern California in the 1920's.
Uncle Frank's WW II Registration Card (1940's). He was working at the Link Belt Co. at 400 Paul Ave. in San Francisco. He was most likely working as a welder. This address is currently the site of a large power-shell data center bringing next-generation technologies to the San Francisco Bay Area/Silicon Valley. (fifteenfortyseven Critical Systems Realty)
Uncle Frank's work ethic continued in his home....
"His home and his wife were the center of Uncle Frank's life. He took meticulous care of his home, always fixing things or making an improvement. He built a large concrete block wall around their back yard. He took pride in his garden, flowers and trees. In the basement of their home he had a well-equipped shop where he made many things. He could always see an easier way to do something. One result was a piping system in the backyard by which the whole yard could be watered with one flick of the wrist. Finding his mother's pasta machine too much to trouble to crank by hand, he electrified it complete with belts and pulleys so that it turns out pasta faster and with less effort. My brother and his wife used it recently and ended up with pasta all over the house!"
Dad (Dale Boothby) in front of a fireplace screen that Uncle Frank welded (possibly the San Carlos house?)
Uncle Frank welded the fireplace screen for the Mainhart Drive house in Grass Valley. He also welded the fireplace screen for his home with Aunt Dena on 20th Avenue in San Francisco. They were works of art and a labor of love.
(photo of Margaret Hansen Boothby with me, 1962.)
From the photo album of Frank and Dena Brondolo.
"When his bathtub and shower were being installed (in the 20th Ave. house) Uncle Frank was not content with the standard installation and made the plumbers put the shower head at the opposite end of the tub from the controls so that Aunt Dena would not get her hair wet when she turned on the shower."
The bathroom at 481 20th Avenue. The shower head is still at the opposite end of the tub today.
"He invented many items and enjoyed making them for family members to enjoy, too. He put together a barbeque grill that would raise and lower with a crank; He made everyone his own version of a step trash can; he crafted a fireplace set for our home in Grass Valley." As a young girl visiting Nino in Sonoma or Aunt Dena in San Francisco I loved using those trash cans and watching how the mechanism worked as you stepped on the little metal foot pedal at the bottom of the can. Sometimes I wish we had kept at least one!
The last bit of his memorial summed up his life beautifully....
"Pablo Cassals has said that 'Art is a product of labor' and by that definition Uncle Frank's life was a work of art. He labored at his craft, he gave of his time at home and with his family, he lived a good, long life and today we must say goodbye."
Uncle Frank worked in his later years at the St. Francis Hotel at Union Square in San Francisco where he did maintenance work and washed their coins. His career as a welder was over, due to deteriorating eye sight. And, there is still much more to say about his life, but I will save that for more posts. On this Labor Day 2021 I am remembering his skills, career and contributions to his new home in the city of San Francisco, and to his family. He is still very fondly remembered by many family members even after we said our goodbyes so many years ago.
Relationship Reference: Me->Dale Boothby-> (Nino) Tersilla Brondolo Boothby->sister to Frank Brondolo.
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