Al Mazza, a fixture of Sonoma politics, infrastructure and volunteerism, passed away last Saturday after a long battle with cancer. Mazza, a lifelong Sonoma resident was a veteran firefighter who served on the force for 33 years, 23 of them as fire chief. He was also a two-term city council member and former mayor of Sonoma. He was 73.
While in charge of the firehouse, Mazza was an active recruiter of volunteer firefighters, pulling from the business community around him. He took pride in running a tight ship that included the most to-to-date equipment and the best-trained firefighters. He was also responsible for initiating the annual July 4th fireworks show put on by the Sonoma fire department as well as raising the funds necessary to pay for the display.
Mazza also served as president of the board of the Sonoma Community Center and during his tenure, according to councilmember Ken Brown, no job was too small for him to undertake. “Al Mazza was one of the finest citizens ever produced by Sonoma. His leadership skills were always exhibited by personal example. No one worked harder, no one was more willing to do any of the tasks needed to get a job done. His dedication to his wife, his family and his community is unsurpassed. On a personal note when my family and I needed to move out into the real world from the Community Center it was Al and his wife Kathy who stepped forward without being asked to loan us the money for first and last month’s deposit on a house. The Plaza are being flown at half-mast in his honor and a very honorable man he was,” said Brown.
On Monday, July 12 at 6 p.m., the community is invited to a visitation at Duggan’s Mission Chapel. Mazza’s funeral will be held at St. Francis Solano Church on Tuesday, July 13 at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Relay for Life, the Frank Howard Allen Sonoma team or to Sonoma Volunteer Firefighters.
Further, the City will dedicate the Sonoma firehouse in his honor, renaming it the Al Mazza Firehouse. That ceremony will take place on Wednesday, August 4 at 10 a.m.