Our shared history
In 1907, at the age of 19, Valeriano Jacuzzi emigrated from northern Italy to Montana and Idaho with his younger brother, Francesco, to work with picks and shovels in railroad construction. Later, five of his brothers joined him in California.
In 1913, he returned to Italy to help his remaining family. With World War I imminent, Valeriano was drafted into Italy's elite Bersaglieri Corp. During maneuvers in 1916, he was seriously injured, and his fractured skull required life-saving surgery, including the placement of a metal plate. Valeriano returned to Casarsa to live with his family while recovering from his injuries. There, he met Giuseppina, who traveled from the Alps village of Soffranco to work for the Jacuzzi family.
In 1917, Austria and Germany invaded and occupied Casarsa. Amidst the uncertainty and hardship faced by the whole family, Valeriano and Giuseppina fell in love, married, and had their first child, Virgil.
In December 1920, they left Italy with Valeriano's parents and the remaining Jacuzzi family to join their relatives in Berkeley, California, where Dante, Jaconda, and Teresa were born.
Soon after their arrival in early January 1921, Valeriano started work at the Jacuzzi Brothers factory. That same year, a tragic crash of Jacuzzi's first enclosed monoplane took several lives, including that of Valeriano's brother, Giocondo. This was the start of a period of hardship for the entire Jacuzzi family, as they abandoned their involvement with airplanes. With little work to sustain the family, most of the brothers sought employment elsewhere. Valeriano and his brother, Gelindo, left Jacuzzi Brothers to buy adjoining farms in what is now the City of Antioch. Gelindo and his family moved to their farm in 1923. Although Valeriano and Giuseppina bought their 161-acre farm in October 1924, it took several months to make it livable. They began residing there in early 1925.
Valeriano and Giuseppina faced scarcity and much hard work in the early days at the ranch. Their home was built in 1927. A hand pump supplied water before they were able to repair the old windmill. Mary was born in the original ranch home, Flora and Remo were born in the present ranch home, and Rachel was born in the Antioch Hospital.
In the early years, the farm crops were barley and wheat. Eventually, Valeriano, with help from the older children, planted grapes in a portion of the ranch's open fields. The grapes were later replaced with almonds when the grapevines began to die from an infestation of Phylloxera.
The initial years of life on the ranch involved much hard work and little money. However, food was plentiful because of the chickens, rabbits, pigs, cows, and other farm animals raised. Giuseppina maintained a large garden with all kinds of vegetables. So abundant was her garden that vegetables were always shared with other Jacuzzi family and friends. She also sold eggs and her homemade cheese.
In 1937, Valeriano returned to work at Jacuzzi Brothers, Inc., located in Berkeley, where he commuted during the workweek. This steady income from the factory was a great blessing for the family. Between 1938 and 1957, all eight of Valeriano and Giuseppina's children graduated from Antioch High School. After serving in World War II, Virgil, Dante, Bob Hawkins, and Don DeShields, followed later by Remo and Joe Nicoletti, worked many years for Jacuzzi Brothers.
While Valeriano and Giuseppina's children moved many miles away to earn a living, they always loved to gather together.
Valeriano and Giuseppina's descendants total over 240 cherished individuals.
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