Marie R. Ricotti, 94, of San Carlos, died March 25th, 2011, due to complications of cardiovascular disease.
She was a long-time teacher in the San Mateo Public Schools and had been active in the Italian-Catholic Federation, the Eucharistic minister and lector ministries at St. Charles Parish, and a volunteer with the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
Ms. Ricotti was born in Hollister, CA on 24 August 1916 to Italian immigrant parents, Giacomo and Teresa Ricotti. She was the third of five children, of whom she was the last surviving sibling. She graduated from Sacred Heart School and attended San Benito Junior College before attending San Jose State College. Ms. Ricotti graduated from San Jose State in 1936.
During her almost forty-year teaching career, she taught in a one-room school house in Hollister and then when she moved to the San Francisco peninsula, taught in the San Carlos public schools and finally at Borel Middle School in San Mateo before her retirement in 1975.
While at Borel, she began the French language program in addition to teaching social studies and civics. After World War II, Ms. Ricotti took a brief sabbatical from teaching in California and joined the American Independent Schools that were created by the federal government for families of U.S. servicemen stationed in Europe. On two separate occasions when she worked for the American Independent Schools, she lived in Germany and then in France, where she learned how to speak and write French.
Traveling became one of her passions in life: she made numerous trips to Europe and Britain and also visited Israel. Before her retirement, she led a number of student trips, especially to Germany, Italy and France.
A mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated on Wed. March 30th, 2011, at 11:00 A.M., at Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park, Ca. Entombment will follow at 2:00 P.M., at Calvary Cemetery Mausoleum in Hollister, CA.
Ms. Ricotti is survived by her sister-in-law, Carolina Ricotti Marcus, three nieces: Carole Lust, Anne Quartararo and Lucille Ferranti and three nephews: Stephen Beltrami, Richard Ricotti and William Ricotti. She also had nine great-nieces and great- nephews.
Donations in her memory can be made to either the John W. Ricotti 4-H Memorial Scholarship, P.O. Box 1956, Hollister, CA 95024-1956 or to the St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco, 169 Stillman Street, San Francisco, CA 94107.
