August 17, 2006

A Heart of Gold

Vernon A. Anzalone
(1928–2006)

Almaden mourns native son Vern Anzalone

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

Almaden lost one of its original ranchers on Aug. 3 when Vernon “Vern” Anzalone died in a freak accident.

Rosario Anzalone poses with his two sons, Phil and Vern, in front of the home he built on his land on Almaden Road. Photo courtesy of the Anzalone family

He was at work on Aug. 3 at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos when a flatbed truck he was driving rolled off the roadway and down a steep incline and Anzalone was ejected. It is believed that he was struck and killed by the moving vehicle.

“One of the most dependable boys I ever knew” and “Vernon is a good worker” were written on Anzalone’s sixth grade report card from Almaden Union School for the 1941 to 1942 school year. These character traits continued throughout his life and drew hundreds of mourners to his funeral mass on Aug. 11 at St. Anthony’s Church in New Almaden.

Humble beginnings
Anzalone’s parents, Rosario and Rose, emigrated from Ventimiglia, Sicily, arriving at Ellis Island and living on the east coast before trekking to California.

“My grandfather came to America because of the crushing poverty and limited opportunities when he was 19 years old,” said Vern’s eldest son, Richard Anzalone. “They lived in New York City, then he worked the coal mines in Pennsylvania and was a hard rock miner in Illinois. In 1917 they came to San Jose. He was a World War I veteran and wanted the American flag on his coffin when he died.”

A 16-year-old Vern Anzalone looking cool at Santa Cruz Beach in 1944. Photo courtesy of the Anzalone family

Vernon was Rosario and Rose’s second child [an older brother died in infancy in 1926]. Vernon was born in the barn where the family was living while their family home was being built on Almaden Road. The house is believed to have cost $2,500 and was completed in 1931. Rosario grew prunes, apricots, wine grapes and row crops. The four children helped and learned to love the land.

Vernon grew up ranching and driving tractors. He drove a dump truck at the New Almaden Quicksilver Mines. When his country called, he enlisted and he was a decorated combat veteran of the Korean War in the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division from 1950 to 1952.

Family life
Vern returned home and married Joanne Ott in 1952, whom he had met at Twin Creeks Resort in New Almaden. They were married 48 years when she died in 2000. Vern was a rancher at heart and continued to cultivate the land in young adulthood, but the times were changing as ranch land slowly disappeared in Santa Clara. The young man looked for other employment opportunities to support his family, including eldest son, Richard and twins Kathy and Ken.

Some may remember the Anzalone Farms produce stand at Redmond and McAbee roads. A photograph from the San Jose Mercury News in 1975 depicted Anzalone inspecting crates of corn to stock the market with young grandson Brian watching from a flatbed truck.

Anzalone also had long tenures with Sunsweet at the Oak Grove Co-op on Downer Avenue and San Jose’s Valley View Packing Company. He became director of the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau and was a longtime member of the California Prune and Apricot Association. He was a 40-year member of the Teamster’s Union and a founding member of the local Sons of Sicily Club.

Fatherhood suited Vern Anzalone. Anzalone holds twins Kathy and Ken and eldest son Rick center. Circa 1950s. Photo courtesy of the Anzalone family

Anzalone’s strong work ethic continued throughout his life. In retirement, he had a thriving business repairing and restoring old tractors and farm equipment as well as working with the soil for many clients.

Full circle
New Almaden’s “old” Saint Anthony’s Church was the site of Anzalone’s first communion and where family and friends attended a funeral mass before his interment at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery on Aug. 11.

“Vern was always there to help someone,” said Mark Marden at the reception that followed at the Almaden home where Anzalone resided the past several years. Marden is the son-in-law of New Almaden natives David and Margery [Pfeiffer]. Calcaterra also paid his respects to his longtime friend. “Vern was very respectful and he knew every piece of equipment.”

Heart of gold
The reception was a who’s who of New Almaden ranchers: Rajkovich, Pfeiffer, Calcaterras, Mazzones, who came to honor their longtime friend and neighbor. A perfectly rowed vegetable garden that Anzalone had planted was the backdrop. His dog Bailey greeted family and friends. Italian music played in the background. And daughter Kathy worried if there would be enough food for everyone [there was].

“If you needed anything from him he was always there to help any time,” said Anzalone’s daughter Kathy Ames.

“He never said no. That car and Winnebago are someone else’s and he let them store them on the property.”

“He was the last of the Mohicans,” said Garret Rajkovich. “He was one of a kind.”

“We were very close,” said younger brother Phil Anzalone. “We saw each other everyday and got along real well.”

Anzalone’s siblings shared that in their childhood, the two brothers would spar and even though he was younger he would win. He remembered Vern driving trucks at 15-years-old (even though he didn’t have a driver’s license) to work at the Quicksilver Mines. Vern loved food and was an accomplished chef, known for his delicious spaghetti sauce, raviolis, olives, vinegar. He even built a barbecue to cook sausages and meats.

The Anzalones are a tight-knit family. Left: granddaughter Dani Ames, grandson Brian Ames holding great-grandson Matthew Ames, daughter Kathy Ames holding great granddaughter Hannah Ames, son Ken Anzalone holding great grandson Nicholas Ames, son Rick Anzalone, brother Phil Anzalone and wife Dolores. Photo by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

“He was a farmer when farming was an honorable profession,” said eldest son Rick Anzalone. “He was born on a ranch and worked the soil until the day he died. He had a rough exterior but a velvet interior. A handshake and his word were his bond. And he went out doing what he wanted to do.”

And just like his father before him, Rick Anzalone has a love of the earth. He is a vineyard developer and his father would till the ground for many of his son’s clients.

“When I was 7 years old I was thrown on a tractor,” said son Ken Anzalone, who is a heavy equipment operator. “I learned responsibility. I grew up on the ranch and I consider myself lucky. My father taught me to drive tractors and he taught me welding and carpentry. He never slowed down—gardening, working on antique tractors, equipment and tools. He also loved to cook and play bocce ball.”

Bob Mazzone grew up with Vern Anzalone when Almaden was nothing but farmland.

“There wasn’t any TV then,” said Mazzone. “Our parents would visit and have coffee. Vern and I would play together. He was a few years older and stronger but he would let me win. He had a good sense of humor and was always there to help. I remember we were drying apricots and there was a huge rainstorm one night. My wife was out in her nightgown in the rain trying to cover them. All of sudden we see headlights and it’s Vern. He had come to help. He always tried to help everyone and he was doing what he enjoyed when he died. He was a little gruff on the outside but he had a heart of gold.”