San
Joaquin County
Biographies
ONARY J. GALASSI
An important branch of interior
decorating is that of mosaic and terrazzo work in marble and stone and the work
along this line done by O. J. Galassi is worthy of creditable mention. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts,
February 20, 1880, a son of Francis and Emma (Ferretti) Galassi, born in Rome,
Italy. When he was four years old his
parents made to trip to their native city on a visit; returning to Boston the
father worked at his trade of coppersmith until his death in 1911, aged
sixty-three; the mother of our subject resides in Rome, Italy. O. J. Galassi attended school in Italy until
he was twelve years old, then accompanied an uncle to Brazil; when he was
thirteen years old he worked on a large coffee plantation for his board and
lodging, driving an ox-cart about the plantation; later he became a jockey,
riding the races. He spent six years in
Brazil and then returned to Boston where he learned his trade, working for the
Charles E. Old Company for five years; in 1901 he did the mosaic work in the
Museum of Natural History in New York, which occupied fourteen months. After completing this work he came to San
Francisco and did contract work for the U. S. Government, doing the work in the
post office building in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. He established headquarters at 1121 Fell
Street, San Francisco, and among his outstanding work was the mosaic and
terrazzo work in the Palace Hotel, Standard Oil Building and the Sub-Treasury
Building. In 1915 he permanently located
in Stockton and opened his shop at 138 East Sonora Street, modernly equipped to
do all kinds of stone and marble work; he has also invented and has received
United States and Canadian patents on the Everlasting Sanitary Sink Top,
perfected after many years of work. It
is now being used in most of the modern homes.
The marriage of Mr. Galassi occurred
in Stockton November 10, 1907, which united him with Miss Mary Ann Riba, a daughter of Battista Riba. Three children have blessed their union: Francis, O. J., Jr., deceased; and Victor
A. Mr. Galassi is a charter member of
the Loyal Order of Moose, Stockton, and in politics is a Republican, and is a
member of the Stockton Builder’s Exchange.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1460. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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