San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)

Ferruccio Modugno

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Ferruccio ( Fred) Modugno was born in Trieste, Italy to parents Fulvio Modugno and Anna Solaro. He attended schools in Trieste through high school, which was a school that was a specialize­d maritime academy. Ferruccio came to the U. S. as a high school exchange student, living with the Van Heel Family on the southside of Chicago for one year. He loved the United States— the culture and lifestyle, natural beauty, politics and American girls. He became “Fred” because of the difficulty for Americans to pronounce his name. Fred returned to Italy and finished his last year of high school, completing his studies in the deck department so that he could go up through the ranks and someday become a ship’s captain. He began to sail on ships as a cadet but continued to dream of returning to the United States as a college student. That dream became a reality when an American high school friend sent him a telegram that Fred had been enrolled at a small Jesuit university, Lewis University, in Joliet, Illinois. He begn with a one- year foreign- student scholarshi­p and lived as one of four roommates sharing an offcampus apartment. He felt he had arrived!

While at Lewis, Fred met and married his first wife, Mary. Upon graduation, they returned to Italy for a vacation, but while there he was drafted by the Italian military. He spent two years at his parents’ home in Trieste, serving his military obligation in the Italian Coast Guard nearby. Upon completion, broke and without a home of their own, Fred began to sail on ships again, this time as a third officer for Chevron Shipping Company. He sailed for a few years and then requested a transfer to the home office in San Francisco. Fred had to start as an internal mail delivery person to “prove” himself and then was able to soon transition into profession­al marine transporta­tion positions. He was divorced from Mary in 1982 and spent a couple of years single. He began to date and court Jeanne Scott, a friend and colleague at Chevron Shipping Company. They married in 1986 and enjoyed 34 years together.

Fred became ill with a rare lymphoma, Waldenstro­m’s Macroglobu­linemia, in 2001. He went through ten months of chemothera­py and beat the disease. In 2005, after 30 years with Chevron Shipping, Fred decided it was time to retire and enjoy life without work. After a celebrator­y vacation to Provence, France with numerous family and friends, he fully embraced retirement with zeal. He played a lot of tennis, did lap swimming, and the most enduring hobby was hiking— all over Marin County and beyond with two hiking groups, mostly ladies, for many years. He loved lengthy driving trips, including one to Alaska. In 2017 Jeanne joined him in retirement, this time hosting and celebratin­g with family and friends in Tuscany. Unfortunat­ely, in September 2018 Fred once again was diagnosed with a blood cancer, this time Acute Myeloid Leukemia ( AML). He endured many rounds of various chemothera­py infusions and countless blood transfusio­ns, receiving superb treatment from both Marin Cancer Care ( Dr. Jennifer Lucas) and UCSF Hematology ( Dr. Peter Sayre). Fred was described by Dr. Sayre as “robust.” He was fondly described by Jeanne’s sisters as “sturdy.” He put in a courageous effort to once again beat the odds, but the AML began to take down the sturdy man in late August. Fred decided on Sept. 11 to stop treatment, accepted hospice services, and died the very next day, on Sept. 12. He is survived by his wife, Jeanne, his sister, Daniela, of Trieste, Italy and many close friends in Italy and the U. S., from elementary school, middle school, high school and college, his work life at Chevron and beyond. Fred loved his dozens of cousins and relatives scattered around the world, his sisters- in- law and brothers- in- law, and was immensely proud of his numerous nieces, nephews and godchildre­n. He seemingly kept in touch with everyone, loyal and committed to each person in his life. Jeanne is grateful for the life they built together and for the contact from so many people both before and after Fred’s death. There may be a Celebratio­n of Life at some later date if the Covid19 pandemic allows.

Aimee Beth Louderback was born in San Francisco, CA into a devout Irish Catholic family. She had two brothers and two sisters, all of whom are deceased except her oldest sister Jean who is 94 and still lives in San Francisco. Aimee attended Catholic schools her entire life and in every case she was the top student. Upon graduating from Presentati­on High School she enrolled in Lone Mountain College ( a sister school to the University of San Francisco). There she met her future husband, Tony Trujillo, who was attending USF. Ever the unselfish one, she gave up her own career to support Tony and raise a family. Married in 1956 they were just short of their 65th anniversar­y.

While raising five children, who were her first priority, from time to time she ventured into the business and educationa­l worlds. She taught elementary school in San Fernando, California, was secretary to the publisher of the Palo Alto Times, top accountant for California Casualty Insurance and operated an electronic company in Marin County. As happens with many talented women, raising a family is so important and while the need to use all of her talents was ever present, she always put her family and their

“Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;

Quietly they go, the intelligen­t, the witty, the brave”

Mary was born in Portland, Oregon on Thursday, March 15, 1923 to Henry and Margaret Wakeman. She was predecease­d by her husband of 35 years, Raffoul, and her sisters Jean Wakeman Mannan and Barbara Wakeman Whitaker. She attended Jefferson High School in Portland and graduated from Oregon State University in 1945, where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority.

After graduating from OSU, Mary returned to Portland and worked at an insurance and constructi­on company for three years. Mary had fallen in love with San Francisco when she visited during the World’s Fair in 1939 and decided to move to the City in 1949 to start a new adventure. She was hired as the personal assistant to JD Zellerbach, President of Crown Zellerbach. She spent 10 years working and living the single life in North Beach. Mary met Raffoul in 1956 and they were married on July 25, 1959. She left her career at Zellerbach and moved into their family home in Balboa Terrace, where they raised their three children. Mary was a people person and loved everyone who came into her home. She often was charged with entertaini­ng Raffoul’s internatio­nal co- workers and a number of foreign dignitarie­s. Whether she was entertaini­ng, dealing with rowdy kids or taking care of her household duties, she always did everything with an even keel, class and a smile. She rarely got rattled or raised her voice. She was the steady hand in all situations. She and Raffoul took many internatio­nal trips and enjoyed seeing

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