February 25, 2005

In memory of ‘Red’ Lamantia

1926 – 2005

By Mary Liz Cortese
Special to the Times

“When I dream,” explains Louise Lamantia, “I dream about those days in Evergreen. Sometimes we didn’t have a penny, but they were beautiful years.”

Leonard “Red” Lamantia died Feb. 5 at the age of 78.

Recalling her late husband, Leonard “Red” Lamantia who died Feb. 5 at the age of 78, Louise admits their marriage of several decades was actually a “DBA—doing business as!”

Red Lamantia planted, nurtured and harvested many fruits and vegetables in his lifetime, including raspberries, strawberries, figs, walnuts, apricots, cherries, peas, tomatoes, beans, prunes and prickly pears. In recent years, conversations may have centered on perhaps his very favorite harvest, a bountiful crop of family members, including his grandchildren and great-grandchild.

Born on April 8, 1926, of Sicilian immigrant parents, Leonard Lamantia was just 5 months old when his parents settled in a one-room farmhouse on 10 acres on Cadwallader Road. He and his siblings worked alongside their parents, and soon the Lamantia family was farming 65 acres around Evergreen.

Early on, the nickname “Red” stuck to the young Leonard because of his garnet red hair and freckles that turned almost apricot orange during the Evergreen summers. Louise says some of his older neighbors credited Red’s mischievous nature to the fact that he was a red head.

In the 1930’s, one could occasionally hear a neighbor yelling ‘testa rossa!’ (Italian for red head) as Red and his friends sampled her new peach crop and then fled from the scene. Another favorite prank involved collecting bottles to redeem for a nickel each at the local Evergreen store run by Fred Della Maggiore. As Louise retells the story, when the grocer set the bottles on a back porch, Red and his buddies would snatch them, only to redeem them again a few days later.

In 1944, an 18-year-old Red got drafted into the army, leaving a family that depended greatly on his help. He completed his tour of service in 1946 in the Philippines, where he earned a Purple Heart.

Meets the love of his life
Red returned to Evergreen in 1946, and in early 1947, met Louise Scerine, who was living with her family on the Cribari Ranch where The Villages stand today. They married the following year in 1948. Eventually, they built a beautiful showcase home off of San Felipe Road that neighbors say matched their warm and friendly personalities.

Red and Louise worked as a team. “We were partners, and I got treated just like one of the laborers,” recalls Louise with a smile, “but at home it was different.” By 1965, Red and Louise were at the peak of their business, owning or leasing property and buying and selling crops all over the Santa Clara Valley.

Louise believes the challenge of taking on new projects motivated her husband. Red was a workaholic before the term became popular. His hands were covered with calluses and the skin cracked almost to the bone.

“We bought his dried apricots,” remembers Frank Sorci, who was the head buyer at Mayfair Packing Company in San Jose. “Red was a good farmer and a hard worker.” Sorci also describes Red as an entertainer, recalling how he loved to cook and have parties when the work was done.

In 1969, a young, ambitious farmer named Larry Lobue approached Red with a business proposition. Although the Lamantia’s business was thriving, Red decided to take a chance and partner with Lobue, and their combined effort—L & L Farms—began growing and shipping cactus fruit, known as prickly pears.

One of the Lamantia fruit barns, already being used for cutting and drying apricots, soon became one of only two packing houses in the country for the dark red fruit.

Although he weighed only two pounds at birth, Red became a tall man. Louise says Red was just 6-feet, 1-inch, but his broad 48-inch shoulders made him appear much larger. In fact, all of his suits were tailor-made to accommodate his measurements.

Former Evergreen neighbors describe Red as extremely energetic and always moving, yet never too busy to greet people. He had a remarkable knack for putting others at ease with a funny story and a friendly smile.

Children of his life
Red understood children. He was not just a father, but also a friend to his only child Susan who still lives on family property with her husband and children. Red took many neighborhood kids under his wing, including his nephew Michael, who would beg his uncle for the chance to drive the tractor.

Red told Louise that he would only allow Michael to drive down the middle of the orchard rows in slow gear so he wouldn’t knock down a tree. Yet Red could hear from several acres away that Michael was shifting the tractor to higher gears and picking up speed, fortunately, without mishap.

He enjoyed watching his daughter, nephew, and other Evergreen children grow and blossom into successful adults.
Retirement

Louise says her husband began to slow down in the early 1980’s. When he finally retired in the mid ‘80s, he canned fruit and spent more time in the kitchen. In 1994, he was hospitalized with a pulmonary embolism for more than two months. The illness took away much of his energy, but he recovered well.

Less than two years ago, Red and Louise finally gave up the family home and moved to the Villages, which they both enjoyed immensely. According to Louise, Red was so comfortable in his new surroundings that he would often ask her, “Is the dream over yet?”

For Louise, and many others who experienced early Evergreen with Red, it never will be.