/Santa Barbara
Welcome to Zirana/Santa Barbara, your local community online where you will find news, events and information about Santa Barbara. We invite you to be a part of Zirana/Santa Barbara by sharing your thoughts, ideas, photos and news with your neighbors. Zirana will be as valuable as you and your neighbors make it.
Arthur Cyril Ottolini March 17, 1922 - September 5, 2008 Arthur Cyril Ottolini,
of San Francisco, CA, died at age 86 in Santa Barbara, CA, on September 5, 2008.
Art is survived by his wife of nearly 66 years, Janet (nee Cameron); his sons
and daughters: Bruce Ottolini and wife Gail, Julie Ottolini McGovern and husband
Steven, Keith Ottolini and wife Shelley (deceased), Lori Ottolini Geno and
husband Kevin, Jennifer Ottolini and partner Wendy Bear. Art was preceded in
death by his beloved first born, Robin Repp, wife of Joseph; his parents, Esther
Kittyle Ottolini and Cyril Ottolini and his only sister, Gloria Ottolini Bowen.
Art is also survived by his loving in-laws Peggy Roberts, Sam Cameron and Lloyd
Bowen and many treasured grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
Art lived most of his life in San Francisco - he was a Cow Hollow boy, and a
member of the first graduating class of George Washington High School. Art was
proud to be a boy scout as a youth and a scout leader through the 1950s. He was
an adventurous young man with unusual pursuits for a "city boy." As a teenager,
he rode and trained horses at the St. Francis Riding Academy near Golden Gate
Park. Later, he rode as a "hand" on the Rancheros Vistadores trail ride and
campout, a Santa Barbara County tradition. He performed in the Cavalcade at the
1939 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island on SF Bay. Art
married Janet Cameron of Greenville, CA, in 1942. Shortly afterward, as a pilot
in the Army Air Corps, he headed to the South Pacific where he transported
troops and evacuated American prisoners-of-war. Like so many servicemen in
wartime, his first child, Robin, was born while he was overseas. For Art, his
return from war in 1945 was the beginning of his biggest role and greatest
delight in life... husband and father. After the war, Art went to work for Marin
Dell Creamery and later Foremost Dairies where he was production manager at the
ice cream plant. He is credited with the development of various ice cream
flavors and played a leading role in the initial process to make sour cream, a
dairy byproduct, into a palatable and popular food. He is also credited with
providing a financial boost to many college students by hiring them over the
summer to manufacture and package ice cream products. Art was a long-time member
of the California Dairy Industries Association and the SF Italian Athletic Club.
Art was an avid deer hunter and enjoyed taking family and friends hiking and
camping in Northern CA wilderness areas. After retiring from Foremost, Art
managed Fenton's Creamery on Piedmont Avenue, a well-known restaurant in
Oakland. He was in his element there, seeking-out the best Dungeness crab,
freshest produce and crustiest San Francisco sourdough for which the restaurant
was well known. In 2005, Art and Janet moved to the Vista Del Monte retirement
community in Santa Barbara, CA. While their decision to leave San Francisco was
difficult, they quickly made friends at VDM and enjoyed frequent visits with
their family and friends. Art's family invites his many friends and colleagues
to join them at a Memorial Mass to be held at Star of the Sea Church (Geary Blvd
& 8th Ave.) in SF on Saturday, September 20 at 11:00 a.m. The family is
grateful for the devoted care provided by Art's caregivers at Vista Del Monte of
SB, Sansum Clinic of SB and Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care of SB and would
appreciate donations made in his memory to these wonderful organizations.
Show/Hide comment form
