Louis Marenghi

Obituary of Louis P Marenghi

LOUIS P MARENGHI SEPTEMBER 7, 1917-MARCH 13, 2011 Louie Marenghi passed away peacefully at home this past Sunday. He was 93. Louie was born in Santa Cruz at the old Garabaldi Hotel to Rachelle Cordani Marenghi and Guisseppi Marenghi who immigrated from Casa Nova, Bardi, Italy. He was raised on the Costella Ranch, which his family leased for 25 years on Graham Hill Road where the Santa Cruz water treatment plant is located today. Growing up he attended elementary school at Grant School, middle school at Mission Hill and Scotts Valley. Louie left school early to full fill the family needs on the ranch. The primary crop on the 40 acre ranch were grapes for making wine, which still exist today. Bordering the ranch was 100 acres of Cowell property where the Marenghi family kept their vast heard of livestock....exactly 1 cow. During the winter months if they heard his good friend Mac Mc Derrmot, the local game warden, driving his car down the driveway, the quail dinner in the oven would quickly be changed to chicken. In 1945 Louie married Vivian Johnson, the love of his life, and "Lou & Viv" celebrated 65 years of marriage. Louie worked for Santa Cruz Veneer for 21 years where he debarked logs for making brussel sprout baskets. He then retired from Camp Evers Food Center in Scotts Valley. Through the years Louie had a passion for woodworking, making Vivi all kinds of decorative pieces for their home. Louie had a very green thumb and loved grooming his garden roses, trees and flowers. Louie was a fisherman and spent countless hours fishing for steel-head on the San Lorenzo, Trinity, Klamath and the Sandy river Oregon, trout fishing in Markleeville (this was Vivian's favorite spot) and fly fishing the Fall River and the Burney area; making many of those trips with his devoted nephew Michael. Louie's heart was bigger than life and if you ever stopped by for a visit you were definitely having desert and coffee. In the late 1950's Vivi and Louie were one of the first homes in Santa Cruz to decorate for Christmas. For over years their house became an annual stop for generations of locals. Louie would always be in the front yard handing out candy canes to all, young and old. When Louie could no longer spend the weeks it took to decorate, at the age of 86, the SC Sentinel featured their house on the front page with the caption "the Christmas house to go dark". Louie was honored in 2005 by the Santa Cruz Old Timer Association as their SC Old Timer of the Year for his commitment and service to Santa Cruz. Louie leaves behind his loving wife Vivian Marenghi, sister-in-law Betty Marenghi, cousins Marie Stoner (Pini) and Enes Mori (Pini), niece Sharon Segehtti and husband Roy, nephew Michael Marenghi and wife Sheryl, his godsons Kim Stoner and Geno Pini, many great nieces and nephews and great friends as well his Smokey the cat. He was preceded in death by his nephew, Robert Marenghi, his brothers Joseph and Ernest Marenghi. Services will be held at Benito & Azzaro Pacific Gardens Chapel, 1050 Cayuga St. Santa Cruz, CA on Thursday March 17, 2011 at 10:30 am. Visitation will be held at Pacific Gardens Chapel on Wednesday from 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm. Entombment will be in Santa Cruz Memorial Park. The family would like to extend their thanks, appreciation and gratitude to Florence Kuo Homecare and caregivers, Ma Clarissa Williams and Lorna Sanchez and a special thanks to Nina Peeples, good friends Pat Boone and Ann Hodges and Dr. Shan Crockett. Contributions can be made to Hospice of Santa Cruz or the Santa Cruz Animal Shelter. Please visit www.pacificgardenschapel.com to light a candle or express your condolences to Louie's family.
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We are deeply sorry for your loss ~ the staff at Benito & Azzaro Pacific Gardens Chapel
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