Services were conducted last week for Lina M. Locatelli of Boulder Creek, who died Nov. 4 at home at the age of 94.
Mrs. Locatelli was born Nov. 26, 1914, in Oakland to Catarina and Joseph Piccone. She grew up with three sisters and a brother. Her parents had immigrated from Italy, opened a bar with bocce ball courts and then founded Colombo Bakery in Oakland with two other Italians.
She moved to Boulder Creek when she married Frank Locatelli, one of the brothers of Locatelli Bros. Lumber Co. He was the love of her life, relatives said, and she never remarried after he died in 1974. Not only did she cook and feed many loggers in the 1940s and early ’50s, but she also became the first woman postmaster for Boulder Creek.
Family members said she had the ideal personality to work with loggers and serve as postmistress, with boundless energy and a fiery spirit, strength, character and a love of service.
The Locatellis hosted many large family dinners and celebrations. Mrs. Locatelli helped raise her sister Marie’s three boys, Albert, Paul and Harry, and considered them “her kids,” too. She was a second grandmother to her great-nieces and great-nephews.
The couple had a passion for traveling and often took Mrs. Locatelli’s parents with them. After her husband died, she regularly signed up for trips around the world.
Her hobbies included cooking, crocheting and knitting. She loved to make things to give away to her family and friends, including her “little friend,” Brooke.
Mrs. Locatelli spent the last years of her life in her home with the help of caretakers Angela, Herlinda, great-niece Amy and daughter-in-law Lydia.
A Nov. 10 service at Benito & Azzaro Pacific Gardens Chapel was followed by burial in Holy Cross Cemetery on Seventh Avenue in Santa Cruz.
Contributions in Mrs. Locatelli’s name may be sent to Hospice of Santa Cruz, 940 Disc Drive, Scotts Valley 95066.
