Los Angeles
County
Biographies
ANGELO, HERMAN and HUGH CORRADINI
A
craftsman in the old tradition who makes wise use of modern methods, Angelo
Corradini is the owner of the oldest terrazzo company in Los Angeles County, A.
Corradini and Sons, which was originally established in 1924 as the California
Terrazzo Company. Specializing in
terrazzo work entirely, Mr. Corradini’s company is at present doing the largest
terrazzo job ever done in the United States, at the International Airport in
Los Angeles, and has done terrazzo work in the Alhambra City Hall, Alhambra
Police Building, Alhambra Elks Club, the Medical Center at the University of
California at Los Angeles, hospitals, and private homes. During World War II Mr. Corradini moved his
operation to San Diego where he was engaged in work for the United States Navy
for two years. The past director for
twelve years of the National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association in Washington, D.
C., he is now chairman of the code of ethics of that organization.
A
former coal miner, Angelo Corradini was born in Barcis,
Italy, on July 24, 1892, and came to the United States at the age of
fourteen. His father, Dominic Corradini,
came to the United States in 1892, two months before Angelo was born, and
worked as a coal miner, living in Flushing, Ohio, for fifty-four years. The family, in which there were seven
children, came to this country in relays as finances permitted. Angelo Corradini came in 1906; his mother,
Victoria (Fabbro) Corradini,
came in 1907; his sister came in 1908.
Mr.
Corradini attended five years of elementary school in Italy, until he was
eleven years old. In that district of
Italy schooling was only available for children up to the age of twelve; only
those who were financially able went on to other areas to finish their education. Arriving in the United States in 1906, Mr.
Corradini started on the long road to success, success born of a burning
ambition to make good and to do good work.
He worked in the Ohio coal mines from the age of fourteen until he was
twenty. After two years in Chicago in
the construction business, he returned to the coal mines, in Illinois, for four
more years, until 1920, when he came to Los Angeles and became a fireman for
the Southern Pacific Railroad. When he
was in the coal mines he was the youngest of the eighty-five union organizers,
working directly under John L. Lewis, a resident of Panama, Illinois, at that
time.
In
1921 Mr. Corradini began working in terrazzo for different contractors,
starting his own California Terrazzo Company in partnership with two other men
in 1924. In 1928 four companies joined
together, forming the Consolidated Terrazzo Company, Inc., of which Mr.
Corradini was the general superintendent in charge of all construction. After ten years he and his two sons, Herman
and Hugh, formed their present company at 4880 Valley Blvd., Los Angeles.
In
Hillsboro, near Panama, Illinois, on August 15, 1915, Angelo Corradini married
the former Miss Theresa Basso. They now
live in Alhambra where Mrs. Corradini loves gardening and flowers.
Herman
Dominic Corradini, who was born on January 22, 1916, attended Park Elementary
School and graduated from Alhambra High School where he excelled in baseball
and football; he was a letterman for three years in both sports, and was on the
Pacific Coast League Conference team in 1932.
He was a professional baseball player with the Cincinnati Reds for short
time until an arm injury ended hopes for a career in sports. He is married to the former Miss Jane
Katherine Stewart, who graduated from Alhambra High School in the same year as
her husband. He went into business with
his father and brother in 1938; he is a member of the Alhambra Elks Lodge
Number 1328. The Herman Corradini’s live
in Pasadena, where Mrs. Corradini is active in Red Cross, Parent-Teachers’
Association, and philanthropic work. Their
three children are Nicholas James, who attends Pasadena City College, Marc, who
attends Pasadena High School, and Linda May, who attends Wilson School.
Hugh
James Corradini, who was born on December 27, 1919, was a member of the first
graduating class at Emery Park Elementary School. He also played baseball before his graduation
from Alhambra High School. His wife, the
former Miss Lorraine Florence Dellarocco, also an
Alhambra High School graduate, is active in philanthropic work and in San
Marino Parent-Teachers’ Association, the San Marino Women’s Club, and the John
Tracy Clinic. The Hugh Corradini’s have
three children: Rick Hugh, who attends
San Marino High School; and Ronald Angelo and Nancy Jill, who attend Huntington
School in San Marino.
During World War II both the younger
Corradini’s served in the United States Army; Hugh was in the 10th
Air Corps for two and one half years, spending eighteen months overseas in
administrative skills. Herman served for
thirty-four months overseas with the Forestry Engineers.
Raising
horses, an engrossing hobby, occupies the senior Mr. Corradini and his sons in
their free time. Members of the Thorough
Horse Breeders Association, they have a farm in Riverside for the raising and
breeding of racehorses.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Historical Volume & Reference Works Including Alhambra, Monterey Park,
Rosemead, San Gabriel & Temple City, by Robert P. Studer,
Pages 763-766, Historical Publ., Los Angeles, California. 1962.
© 2013 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES