Obituary of William Jospeh Corso

William Joseph Corso was born on August 10, 1926 to Louis and Lena Corso. He lived the first part of his life in San Francisco. His family moved to Tracy, CA in his early teens when his father and uncle purchased the Tracy Garbage Company. “Willie” and his sister were elated to leave the big city and move to a much more rural community. He began working for his dad and uncle at age 13 and was known to have driven the garbage truck at a very young age, long before he had a license. In 1950 he married Nancy Marie Vital and in 1954 they moved to Santa Cruz, CA, where he worked for the City of Santa Cruz in the Sanitation Department from which he retired. Willie and Nancy lived through the Depression as well at WWII and this influenced their lives in many ways. They were generous, always willing to provide food for everyone in need. Dad was known to stand up for those being discriminated against and once in the 1940’s he stood up for a man that was being treated unfairly because of his race. He loved to cook, and you knew this by his whistling and the aromas that permeated the house. He would make rare Italian dishes such as pennings, zabaglione and tripe, and they were exceptionally good. But he was best known for his pasta sauce. Willie is survived by his sons Al Corso (Edy), Dave Corso (Sue), and his daughter Kathy Pilant (Paul), five granddaughters, five great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren, his two brother-in-law’s, Russ Vital (Bobbie), Rick Vital, and nine nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife Nancy Corso. He passed on October 18, 2018, his wife’s birthday, providing her a wonderful gift of their reunion in heaven. The family would like to thank June Weasa for her friendship to our dad this last year as well as Arlyn Largeteau for her caregiving as his health deteriorated. Dad will be interred in Tracy, CA at a date yet to be determined.