Dominic Salvavtore Artuso

Dominic Salvatore Artuso , Sept 24 1924-July 31 2019
Born in Montreal, Canada first generation second to oldest of 8 living children. The family lived in the French district in the east section of Montreal. Born to Fortunato Artuso and Angelina Celestino. Survived by brother Anthony (Giulia) Artuso and daughter Joan (Rolland) Page and stepdaughter Angela (Ben) Gage. 4 grandchildren, Dominic (Tarrah), Deborah (Andrew), Julie (Troy) and Vince (Jeanne). 6 great grandchildren, Maxwell, Audrey, Gianna, Ava, Mia, Alysa and nieces and nephews. Preceded in death by wife Diana DeGiorgo (1919-1971) and wife Mary Kinsella (1924-2017), brothers Lawrence (Lidia), Frank (Olive), Sam (Helene), and Joe, and sisters Julie and Rosie (Chuck).
Dad grew up in the depression. The family spoke Italian, French and English. While Dad lived with Joan, he related many tales of “being on the dole”. Dad’s father lost his job doing carpentry work on box cars at the Pacific Canadian Railway and supplemented the family income by growing big vegetable gardens. Dad’s least favorite job was picking the bugs off the potato plants (talk about organic gardening). Dad would also go door to door selling baskets of peas. As a child he went to 7th grade at St. Aloysius school run by the Irish Presentation Brothers. Dad said he was shy and self-conscious in class. He enjoyed icy embankment around the fence in the school yard. The game was to stay at the top of the icy embankment and resist not getting pushed down by other boys. He also played hard at the game of handball against the school building brick wall. He skated by the hour at city ice rinks during his early teens and much more when younger on hand-me-down skates. 3 of the brothers had 1 bike to share. A special school friend he has never forgotten was a small Italian school boy. In his middle teen years, he worked for his uncle Joe who owned a shoe repair shop and he lived with them for a while. He did some repair work and shinned shoes which carried over with him as he always took pride in polishing his shoes. He joined the Royal Canadian Airforce at 18 and was stationed in England during the last part of WWII. He was color blind so could not learn how to fly a plane. After the war he worked various jobs, messenger, parts. He worked for Rolls Royce, Fluor Utah and Bechtel Corp. Going to night school he received his certificate as purchasing agent. He purchased for engineering projects such as subways, airports etc. He married Diana DeGiorgio when he was 23 and they had their only child Joan in 1949. Both sides of the family gathered frequently for parties and went on outing together. Diana, nick named “Diny,” came from a family of 7. She came down with breast cancer and passed away 4 years later in San Mateo, CA. Dominic and she had relocated there so she could receive treatment at the University of California, San Francisco hospital.
When he was 48, he met a pretty lady from England named Mary and they married in San Francisco. During the early part of their marriage they traveled abroad for Dominic’s job. They eventually settled in Fresno, CA where Mary’s daughter, Angela and family lived. In 2007 Dominic and Mary moved to Bellingham, WA where Angela and Ben had moved to. Due to a decline in both Dominic and Mary’s health Dominic came to live with Joan and Rolland in Port Orchard, WA and they enjoyed having him. Joan got to know her father better as they had not lived near each other for a long time.
In 2016, following a hospitalization, a decline in mobility and memory loss Dominic was transferred to a nursing home near his daughter. They continued to be an active member of the care team at Stafford Health Care at Ridgemont.
Dominic was a conscientious worker and good provider. He carried his love for music and singing from childhood and has a beautiful voice. When the little French neighborhood kids would ask dad to sing for them in English, the ‘Isle of Capri’ was a favorite and they were fascinated by it. His family used to sing around the piano when they had a drink or two. One of dads’ favorite songs was ‘Stardust’ by Hoagie Carmichael. Dad loved to go to the huge Jean Talon farmers market in Montreal and buy fresh, crisp fall apples. Also, the cheese shop, home made jams and honey from the farmers, Joan would go with him and enjoyed it. He also loved, and has always sought out private bakeries where they sold good bread and coffee shops with a good cup of coffee, this was one of his favorite things to do. The kitchen at Ridgemont would at any time of the day make him toast and coffee.
He ran in 2 full marathons in his 50’s in the Bay area and played tennis with a group of friends well into his 70’s at a park in Fresno. He was the senior player but gave them a run for their money. While riding his bike he would stop to feed the horses carrots along the fenced roadside, so much so that the owner of the horses named one of them Dominic. One of his hobbies in his earlier years in Montreal was making wine from fresh grapes which arrived by train loads in wooden boxes in the fall; crushed the grapes then to the wine barrels which patiently waited for fermentation in the cellar. Mostly all of the Italians in our neighborhood made their own wine in the Autumn and you could smell the crushed grapes as you walked down the street.
Dad made friends with many of the residents at Ridgemont especially a wonderful man named Jed. They loved him and said he was so polite and a gentleman. When his health took a turn for the worse in late Spring, he could no longer go to the dinning room for meals. Residents and staff would ask how he was doing and many prayers where offered for him. He was kind, generous, concerned about others, and was always offering his food to his table mates. Once you got to know him, he had a good sense of humor. He helped his paternal cousins when they immigrated from Italy to Montreal in the 1950’s and to this day they remember how he taught them how to fill out income tax forms.
These are just some glimpses into his life and I hope this honor his memory.
It was an honor and gift to be with him in his last years. One last note, he loved his mom’s very best roast pork with roast potatoes and scrumptious breaded steak cutlets. He also loved horses and dogs. We love you dad/grandpa.
1 John 4:16
God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.