“Don’t put angelic wings on me”
– Frank Cividino at a family gathering before his passing
Born in the fertile fields at the base of the Carnic Pre Alps in Majano, Udine Italy. Francesco was the second son of Attilio Cividino and Santa Ester Riva. He remembered the church bells as they tolled throughout his childhood – in joy and in sadness, silenced when the occupiers came, and timidly resurrected after WWII. Francesco left war ravaged Italy for France where he worked under the mentorship of his father, with brick and stone, using his mathematical aptitude and flair for architecture.
A youthful impulse to expand his wings brought him to Canada where he met and married Dora Giois Gatti and they started their life together dancing to the melody of “La Vie en Rose”, eventually finding that “Shining City on a Hill” by the Bay. They created a family of two daughters and one son and Frank became the disciplined father who gave instruction through love, a spontaneous singing of favorite songs of the Alpine men of the mountains, reciting memorized stanzas from Dante’s Paradiso Lost and delivering readings of scripture and sayings from the Italian Friulan culture for instruction in virtue, honesty and right living…
…all the while leaving his fingerprints on some of the largest and tallest buildings in San Francisco where he guided teams of young men and oversaw interior architectural construction. He became a mentor to several who respectfully called him ‘papa’ as they learned excellence of craft and work ethic. He was ever grateful for his U.S. citizenship, the land that gave him abundant opportunities to expand his interests, and in retirement to resurrect his love of the land, enjoying his vineyard and olive trees.
The church bells toll today as Frank’s spirit sails forth, giving a faint nod to the land that formed his creativity, resolve, character and work ethic. Until we meet again, I bid you farewell Francesco, grateful to have shared this life with you as we close the chapter of ‘La Vie en Rose’.
His children; Daria, Claudia (Jon Miller), Paolo (Heidi Cividino); His grandchildren; Matthew Milton, Daniel (Isabel) Milton, and Enzo Cividino and new arrival Victoria Francesca Milton, all grieve his loss.
A Funeral Mass will be at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, April 3, 2024, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 235 Chapel Street in Grass Valley.
Special thanks to Hospice of the Foothills, and the dedicated nurses who lovingly guided us through his last chapter.
