Sutter Creek,CA
Here are obituaries for three prominent Tuolumne County residents or former residents.
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Marie Elizabeth ROZIER
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Obituary
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Thursday 30 October 1997 [Sonora, CA] Union Democrat, p.2A
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Marie Elizabeth Rozier, Teacher and Historian
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8 July 1904 - 25 October 1997
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Marie Elizabeth Rozier, a Tuolumne native, long-time teacher and historian, died Saturday at St. Elizabeth Convalescent Hospital in North Hollywood, her home for the last three years.
Miss Rozier, 93, who never married or had children of her own, was nevertheless deeply involved with children.
A long-time friend, Joan Gorsuch of Jamestown, said Miss Rozier may never have had children, but "I don't know how many children she had around the world -- former students."
"She was really an interesting person," she added.
Miss Rozier's teaching career began with a two-month assignment at Middlecamp School. She then taught for a year at Spring Gulch School on Priest-Coulterville Road before being assigned to Summerville Elementary School, where she worked from 1925 until her retirement in 1963.
She was also very involved in the history of Tuolumne and could easily provide information on the history behind the name changes of the town, or any other topic, either from memory or from any number of papers she had compiled over the years.
She was honored by the Tuolumne Chamber of Commerce in 1978 as Citizen of the Year. She was only the third person from Tuolumne in the history of the award, which began in 1921, to receive it.
Miss Rozier is survived by two sisters, Frances McNeill of Vallejo and former Tuolumne resident Sister Clair Antione Rozier, now of Indiana.
Visitation will be held from 3 p.m. until a Vigil service at 5:50 p.m. Monday at Terzich and Wilson Funeral Home's Tuolumne Chapel, which is handling arrangements. Mass will be celebrated Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Tuolumne.
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Renato "Reno" SARDELLA
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Obituary
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Monday 8 May 1995 [Sonora, CA] Union Democrat, Page One
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Family, Friends Mourn Rancher Reno Sardella
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By Kathe Waterbury
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Horseman, rancher, high country pack station founder, Renato "Reno" Sardella died Friday at his Stent home. He was 82.
Born in Sonora July 1 1913, Mr. Sardella was the first child born in the United States to the late Maria and John Sardella, who arrived in Tuolumne County from their native Italy in 1910.
One of nine children born to the couple, Mr. Sardella lived his entire life in Tuolumne and attended Sonora schools.
His first job was in the water department of PG&E, where he later worked as a lineman.
He then went into ranching and cattle raising, which in turn led him into his other careers, including [operating] resort and pack stations in the Sierra Nevada. He started his first pack station in 1929, which is now [the] Boulder Creek Campground.
A man who made friends easily and valued the traditions of the Old West, Mr. Sardella knew the back county like few others and trained others in his sense of the woods.
He ran horse stables in Pincrest, Long Barn and Mi-Wuk Village in the 1950s and 1960s, owned and operated pack station in Cherry Valley and Dorrington and frequently helped his brother, the late Miller Sardella, on high country searches when Miller was sheriff.
Early on in Pinecrest, he offered horse-drawn sleigh rides during the winter. He later bought Douglas Resort and Kennedy Meadows, which he also operated for many years.
The family still owns the Reno Sardella Pack Station.
Mr. Sardella was also involved in the county's long-time and active connections with film and television production.
As a young man he workded on [films which] included "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Robin Hood of El Dorado," and "High Noon."
More recently, his equipment and livestock were used in the series "Tales of Wells Fargo," "The Big Valley," and "Little House on the Prarie."
He willingly loaned his stock and equipment to celebrations and parades to promote county organizations.
He was a member of the Sonora Motion Pictures Association, Sonora Pass Vactionland, West Coast Packers Association, Native Sons of the Golden West, Tuolumne County Sheriff's Posse, Movie Wranglers and Teamster Local 439 and St. Patrick's Parish.
He was grand marshal of the Mother Lode Roundup Parad in 1971 and High Sierra Packer Association's Packer of the Year for the Bishop Mule Days Parade in 1986.
Mr. Sardella is survived by his wife of 59 years, Geraldine Sardella of Stent; two sisters and bothers-in-law, Mary and Ben Cassinetto and Leona and John Kisling, all of Sonora; a brother and sister-in-law, John and Blanche Sardella of Columbia, and a daughter and son-in-law, LaVerne and former Tuolumne County Sheriff Jack Litteral of Stent.
He is also survived by a granddaughter and her husband, Renalda Salyers and Joson Penders of Stent; a grandson and wife, Joe and Robin Litteral of Chinese Camp; a granddaughter, LaRinda Litteral of Sonora; four great grandchildren, Todd Salyers, Devon Salyers, Brody Salyers and Matthew Litteral, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Mr. Sardella was preced in death by sisters Diane "Dena" Hooe and Rosie Pinotti; brothers Albert "Red" Sardella and former Tuolumne County Sheriff Miller Sardella.
A memorial service will be held Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at Terzich & Wilson Funeral Home in Sonora.
Donations in Mr. Sardella's memory may be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 73, Jamestown, to [The] Visiting Nurses Association-Hospice of the Mother Lode, P.O. Box 4805, Sonora, or to a favorite charity.
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Emilio "Miller" SARDELLA
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Obituary
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Tuesday 17 May 1988 [Sonora, CA] Union Democrat, Page One
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Rites Set for 'Mr. Tuolumne County,' Miller Sardella
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By Russell Frank
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When Miller Sardella was elected sheriff in 1962, Tuolumne County had 15,000 people and one stoplight. When he died yesterday at the age of 78, both the population and the number of stoplights had tripled.
Perhaps more than anyone else, Miller Sardella symbolized what the old one-stoplight Tuolumne County was all about.
He wasn't born here. He made the voyage to American from Italy "in arms," as his brother Reno put it, in 1912. To the hard-line oldtimers, the ones whose granddaddies came during the Gold Rush, this made him a "newcomer."
But what really defines the oldtimer is not the date or place of birth, but a system of values based on an ideal of neighborliness.
"We knew everybody," Sardella said during a 1985 interview on the eve of a party in his honor. "That was the main battle, see. When I was sheriff, every time a new house would go up, if I didn't know 'em, I'd go up and visit. 'I'm the sheriff; I'm glad to know ye.'"
When Sardella was sheriff he was often seen on Washington St., squatting like a baseball catcher as he regaled his fellow cowmen and anyone else who cared to listen with death-defying tales of search and rescue.
"You could be going to a deadline appointment and he'd see someone he wanted to talk to and he'd just stop," said his wife Mary on the occasion of the couple's 50th anniversary last fall. Talking to people, telling stories, Mary said, "was his whole life."
"He could start in the morning and tell stories 'til the end of the night," said his sister Leona Kisling.
The stories were mostly true, his friend and family say. But like any master storyteller, Sardella was not above an occasional elmbellishment if it made for a livlier tale.
"This is the truth," he'd say when he got wound up, and that's how you knew the truth was about to bent a little bit.
It was this gift for gab -- for taking the time to talk to people -- that made him such a popular figure. And that popularity translated into votes: beginning with a recall election in 1961, he was elected four times, receiving more total votes than any other elected official in Tuolumne County history.
When he retired to his Wards Ferry Rd. ranch in 1974 the immigrant had become the oldtimer's oldtimer and when he was introduced to 500 people who attended the 1985 party, it was as "Mr. Tuolumne County."
The Sardellas were part of a wave of Italian immigrants who found their way to Tuolumne County in the early years of this century. John Sardella came in 1910. Two years later, with a secure job at the U.S. Lime Quarry on Limekiln Rd., he sent for his family: his wife Maria, daughters Dena and Rosa and sons Ernesto (Curly) and Emilio (Miller).
Six more children were born here. All the men -- Curley, Miller, Reno, Johnny and Albert ("Red") -- worked at the lime quarry at one time of another. But Miller and Reno were more interested in horses and cattle. As teenagers, they worked as cow hands, horse breakers, and high country packers.
When Miler became a sheriff's deputy in 1946, one of the first things he did [was to form] a search and rescue team, and the first person he would call was his brother Reno. Whichever brother made the rescue wouldn't let on so he could send the other on a wild goose chase.
"We pulled a lot of tricks on each other," Reno said. "Yeah, God sakes. That made life, you know."
Sardella is surved by his wife Mary, son Michael, brothers Reno, Curly, and Johnny, sisters Leona Kisling, Mary Cassinetto and Dena Hooe and grandchildren Jolene and Adam.
The rosary for Sardella will be said Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at the Terzich-Wilson chapel. The funeral service will be held Friday at Terzich-Wilson at 9:30 a.m. The pallbearers will be Ed and John Popke, Jack Cassinetto, Joe and Jack Litteral and John Kisling. Burial will be at St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery.
The family has asked that memorials be in the form of contributions to a law enforcement shcolarship fund at the Bank of America.
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Tributes Aplenty Paid Main Who Loved People
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Family and friends have responded to the news of Miller Sardella's death with an outpouring of tributes. Here are a few:
Jack Litteral - Served 17 years under Sardella and served one term as sheriff after Sardella retired -- 1975 to 1979:
"He was one of a kind, a compassionate man. A lot of law enforcement officers are called peace officers. This guy was a peacemaker. When he started working for the sheriff's office, they'd send him out on a call, and I guess he didn't like to write reports -- so he settled everything out in the field. If he had two people with conflicts, he could get them together and resolve most of the cases out in the field. Of course, as time goes by and the complexion of law enforcement changed, it got tougher and tougher to do that.
"I think he was one good sheriff for his time and the people of the county. I'll miss him a hell of a lot. He made whoever he come into contact with feel good, even the people he had to pick up. He was a champion."
Sheriff Bob Coane:
"There no doubt in my mind he's the most memorable sheriff the county's ever had. I was lucky to be around while he was sheriff because he demonstrated to me many traits that I think are necessary for a sheriff -- compassion, humor, a true love for the people and a desire to serve them."
Ray Antonini -- As a young boy he was a frequent visitor at Miller Sardella's ranch on Wards Ferry Rd. Later, he worked under Sardella in the sheriff's office from late 1958 until Sardella's retirement:
"I'm sure he was the most colorful sheriff Tuolumne County ever had, and I'm pretty sure he was the most popular one. That man had a lot of friends, I tell you, and a lot of friends he put in jail. But when he needed help, he had his own backup from the citizens he had to deal with. Very few law enforecement people can say that.
"He was on the most compassionate sheriffs in he history of the county. Miller's main concept was to keep people out of jail if it was at all within our means. He would just as soon go out at 3 or 4 in the morning as at any other time to settle family arguments and mediate their problems.
"Miller never asked anybody else (in the departement) to do something he could do himself. The front door was always open, and people didn't call for appointments. If someone had a problem, he would listen to it and try to help.
"I found him very good to work with. He was always willing to listen and talk about any problems I was having, and he never hesitated about going with me on tough cases. He handled murder cases, drownings, rescues -- so many experiences over the years.
"I hold him in the highest regard of any sheriff I have worked with."
Ralph Thiel -- Former county supervisor. Closest contact with Sardella was in 1955 and 1956 when Thiel was constable in Groveland and Sardella was a deputy sheriff:
"I developed a tremendous admiration for his homespun ability. I've gone on trips with him to recover bodies, and his mountaineering skills were really great. I remember one rescue at Cherry Falls, where Cherry Lake is now. We were never told we could not get the horses into where the body was because of the sheer granite bluffs, but Miller got the horses in and we got the body out.
"The thing that impressed me the most about Miller was that he knew people so well. He had a way to cause a crime to be downscoped so it could be easily handled instead of making a federal case out of it. He could bring things down to the basic elements.
"His personality was a big thing. Long before I knew who he was, I remember his warm smile and greeting when I met him walking down the sidewalks of Sonora. He always had a warm smile and friendly greeting for everybody. I formed a liking for him before I even knew him.
"And Miller had lots of courage. I remember he was shot once by a boy with a pistol on the railroad grade near Sonora. The poor kid in his nervousness shot Miller in the stomach. But Miller never pressed charges, because he knew the boy had no intention of shooting him. It had just happened because he was so nervous."
Carlo DeFerrari -- County historian and chief deputy county clerk and auditor starting in 1947, County Clerk from 1966 to 1978. He and Miller Sardella went to work for the county within a month of each other. At that time the sheriff had a small office in the county courthouse:
"I remember when Miller reported to work his first day as a deputy. He came in with his old ragged cowboy jeans and old hat. Walter Hoskins ran him right back home to change clothes. Miller was right off the range, you might say.
"When Miller passed away it was the end of the era of old-fashioned, practical, common sense sheriff[s].
"He was a strange man. Although he was injured in the line of duty several times, he never brought charges against the people who injured him. He just didn't see the sense in wrecking somebody's life by bringing charges against him.
"Miller had a great deal of faith that everybody in the world was really good. He just couldn't conceive of anyone being really bad. He was a very persuasive person with a way of doing thing that didn't 'rub the fur the wrong way.'"
County Assessor Dave Wynne:
"He was the same way with anybody no matter who you were. It didn't matter whether you were important or not. He treated you the same way whoever you were."
Albert N. "Bub" Dambacher, former cook at the county jail and lifelong friend:
"He was just as common as an old shoe. He was a true friend always; he stood by me all the way."
Mary Cassinetto, sister:
"We dearly loved Miller. Everybody loved him and he was such a giving person. I'll miss him terribly."
Leona Kisling, sister:
"Miller is a legend. He knew the mountains like the back of his hand, he was a great storyteller, and he helped a lot of people in this county. He was more like a father to me. I was closer to Miller than anyone in the family."
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A Sardella Sampling [Homilies]
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Miller Sardella was always good for a colorful quote. He was at his best telling long, detailed stories about events that may have happened 30 years ago, but here are some of his pithier sayings covering his years as county sheriff:
On being sheriff:
"The gamblers made bets that I wouldn't be there two weeks. Well, I fooled 'em. I stayed 30 years and never lost a a shift for bein' sick in my life and worked Saturdays and Sundays, too."
"I didn't go to parties; never joined. I never been to the district attorney's house, I never been to the judge's house, I never been to any of the supervisors' houses in my life. Now go put yourself in a position like me for bein' a politician 30 years. That's what kept me here that long. See, I didn't join 'em."
"All the meanest person needs is a fair deal."
"You can't be a good sheriff unless you've been an outlaw first."
Justice is the Statue of Liberty. It's up there so high and you can't shake hands with it. You should be able to shake hands with the Statue of Liberty and say, 'Hello, Justice.'"
"The grand jury called me a Model T sheriff and with all the problems we have today maybe we should to back to the Model T."
On search and rescue:
"We used to pack out dead people by horseback. I'd like to have a dollar for every one I packed out."
"I know the mountains better than I know my own chair."
On how the county has changed:
"Everything's changed. We knew everybody. That was the main battle, see. We lost all that, and when we lose all that trust in people, we lost everything. See, now they offer you $50 and you'll squeal on your mother, see, and it's no good[;] boy, and we had a good county then."
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Links:
- Wikipedia article on Tuolumne County
- Tuolumne County Historical Society website
- Real Estate Broker's History of Tuolumne County
Sa 26 Nov Actual Route: N.F. Tuolumne River - Sonora - Frogtown RV Park
Su 27 Nov Route: Frogtown RV Park - Angels Camp - Murphys - Angels Camp - San Andreas - Valley Springs - New Hogan Reservoir Campground
M 28 Nov Actual Route: New Hogan Resv CG - Valley Springs - San Andreas - New Hogan Resv CG
T 29 Nov Actual Route: New Hogan Resv CG - Mokelumne Hill - Martell - Sutter Creek
W 30 Nov Actual Route: Sutter Creek
Th 1 Dec Actual Route: Sutter Creek - Lathrop - Dos Reis [San Joaquin] County Park
F 2 Dec Actual Route: Dos Reis County Park - Stockton - French Camp - Escalon - Woodward Resv
Sa 3 Dec Actual Route: Woodward Resv - Oakdale - Sonora
Su 4 Dec Actual Route: Sonora
M 5 Dec Actual Route: Sonora - Oakdale - Riverbank - Waterford - Modesto Reservoir RV Park
T 6 Dec Route: Modesto Reservoir RV Park - Waterford - Modesto - Waterford - Modesto Reservoir RV Park
Finding Campgrounds:
- RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
- Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
