Robert Mondavi, “the founder of the modern U.S. fine wine industry and a global symbol of American wine and food,” passed away peacefully at his home in Yountville on the morning of May 16.
Mondavi was born in 1913 Virginia, Minn., to Italian immigrants and grew up in Lodi, California. He graduated from Stanford University with a degree in economics and business. He started in the wine business with his father in a bulk wine producing company, Sunnyhill Winery, in St. Helena, and from there moved on to purchase Charles Krug Winery. In the 1950s, inspired by the great wine culture of Europe, he began to act on his instinct that wine was more than a beverage, and instigated public tours and tastings at the winery, then a novel idea.
In 1966, at age 53, he established the Robert Mondavi Winery, the first major winery built in Napa since before Prohibition. In 1979, with Baron Philippe de Rothschild, he formed Opus One Winery in Oakville. In recent years, he expanded his interests to form and support cultural institutions such as Copia, the American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, and the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at the University of California, Davis, where he also established the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, due to open later this year.
The Mondavi Winery quotes his belief that if you wish to succeed, “you must listen to yourself, to your own heart, and have the courage to go your own way.” He is survived by his wife, Margrit Biever Mondavi, his three children, Michael, Marcia and Timothy; nine grandchildren; and his brother, Peter.
Angie Montini died May 17, 2008 in Napa. She was born September 25, 1922 in Novato to Pietro and Assunta Maffioli and was a lifelong resident of Sonoma. She was originally married to Americo Poncia and later, after his death, to William Montini. She raised six children and had a prosperous dairy at the home where she lived for 68 years.
Angie served as a member of the Sonoma County Fair board of directors and remained active as an honorary life board member. She was respected and well known in the Sonoma County agricultural community. She and her family established a scholarship program at Sonoma Valley High School to help agricultural students with college expenses. For 48 years, she was a member of the Native Daughters of the Golden West (Parlor #209) and held many offices including multiple terms as president, as well as a member of the past president association #7. Other clubs she participated in were the Moose Lodge, Sons of Italy, and the Marin and Sonoma Italian Club.
Angie is survived by her six children: Carolyn Kiser and husband Gary, Willie Poncia and his wife Pat, Reggie Poncia and wife Connie, Bill Montini, Bobby Montini, and Fred Montini; her siblings Rena Camp, Nob Maffioli, Rick Maffioli and his wife Jean, Mutz Maffioli, and Ida Sartori; her grandchildren Joe Kiser, Gina Brown, Tiana Adams, and Shallin Tamayo; her great-grandchildren Grace Kiser, Katherine Kiser, Ashley Brown, Matthew Brown and Giana Tamayo; and other numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.
A service will be held at Duggan’s Mission Chapel on Wednesday, May 28 at 11 a.m. A celebration of Angie’s life will be held at the Moose Lodge shortly after the service. A private inurnment service for the family at the Sonoma Mountain Cemetery will be determined at a later time. Memorial donations may be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.
Rex Whitaker Allen, 93, longtime Sonoma resident, died peacefully, surrounded by his family, on April 7, in Portland, Oregon.
A prominent West Coast architect, Allen wrote the first comprehensive guide to hospital design, “Hospital Planning Handbook.” In 2003, the American College of Healthcare Architects presented him their first Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the field.
Allen’s many significant national and international projects included Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley, Highland Hospital in Oakland, Saint Francis Hospital in San Francisco, and Boston City Hospital. In 1965, Allen worked on remodeling and additions to Sonoma Valley Hospital. In total, Allen’s firm designed more than 100 hospitals, 10 of which received national awards.
Allen was one of the first architects to call for a less institutional and a more residential style in nursing home design, including varied ceiling forms, residential roofs, and inviting dayrooms and common areas.
Allen was an early environmentalist. As President of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) from 1969 to 1970, Allen noted, “Seeing the Earth’s portrait from the moon on TV brought home to one and all that our planet is a mighty small space ship with limited resources and limited area for waste disposal.” He called on his fellow architects to be leaders in efficiency and environmental stewardship.
With his wife Bettie, Allen moved to Sonoma in 1990 and served on the Blue Ribbon Commission, which advised the Sonoma Valley Unified School District on modernizing school facilities, based on bond measures B (1994) and A (1996). He also advised the City of Sonoma on affordable housing issues.
Mr. Allen was born in San Francisco in 1914, to Dr. Lewis Whitaker and Maude Rex Allen. When Dr. Allen became the private physician of an elderly railroad heiress in 1917, the family moved to Tenafly, New Jersey, and then traveled extensively around the world with her.
After graduating from Harvard in 1936, Allen studied at Columbia University and then returned to the Harvard Graduate School of Design to work with Walter Gropius and earn his MArch in 1939.
He worked with R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic dome and popularizer of the term “Spaceship Earth,” as well as with the noted hospital architect and author, Isadore Rosenfield, in New York City during the 1940s.
In 1949, Allen moved back to San Francisco. He started his own firm, Rex Whitaker Allen and Associates, in 1953. The firm’s projects ranged throughout California, the nation, and around the world. He served at the Royal Society of Health, the International Hospital Federation, and, from 1973 through 1993, the California Building Safety Commission.
Allen and his wife Bettie, moved from Sonoma to Portland, Oregon in 2002. He is survived by his wife; his children, Alexandra Allen, Frances Dunn, Mark Allen, and Susan Rachel (Suki) Lechner; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
A memorial will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 8, at Lakeside Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Bettie Allen may be reached at 503.977.2770. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Portland Japanese Garden, P.O. Box 3847, Portland, OR 97208.
Virginia Rose Hickerson, 86, passed away peacefully in her sleep, in Sonoma on May 7, 2008. Virginia was born on June 7, 1921 in Hattiesburg, Miss. to the late Thomas (Ben) Richardson and Rosa J. Mitchell. Virginia lived the past 39 years in Sonoma where she worked for many years as a legal secretary. Virginia graduated from the University of Alabama, where she met her late husband Joseph E. (Ed) Hickerson, with whom she had three sons. Her youngest son, William Charles (Bill) Hickerson, was killed in an auto accident in 1972 while on duty as a deputy sheriff in Montana.
Virginia was a highly accomplished bridge player who earned points on a national level. She also loved sports and would never miss a Giants or a 49ers broadcast. She adored spending time with her grandson Chad, his wife Shannon and their sons, Cameron and Tylor.
Virginia is preceded in death by her beloved daughter-in-law, Carolyn Hickerson. She is survived by her sons Thomas R. Hickerson and Joseph E. Hickerson, Jr. (Ann); her brother Thomas B. Richardson, Jr. (Laine); her sister Chris Reynolds; and by numerous nieces and nephews. At her request, no services will be held; donations may be made to the charity of your choice. Arrangements under the direction of Duggan’s Mission Chapel, Mission Cremation Service, 525 W. Napa St., Sonoma.
