Lydia Borradori DeVito

Lydia was born in San Francisco, California. Her parents were Immigrants from the southern part of Switzerland, her mother from Bogno, a small town in the alps north of Lugano, and her father from the nearby fortress town of Bellinzona. The family was part of the San Francisco Italian community in North Beach and would grow with the addition of her brother Ettore and sister Laura. She described her early years having many visiting relatives from Switzerland as well as numerous relatives having settled in the East Bay and Stockton areas of California. In 1933 artists painting the murals in San Francisco’s Coit Tower asked her father to bring his family and they were painted as subjects in two of the murals. She spoke of the lean times growing up during the depression and what is was like during the war years. In the late 1940’s she married Joseph DeVito, a North Beach Sicilian with an appetite for food and making children. They moved to the suburbs in nearby Westlake/Daly City and proceeded happily to produce a family of six children. While Joseph provided for the family as a civil engineer at Caltrans, Lydia remained a homemaker and focused on raising her active family. She was known by her family, relatives and friends to have unlimited drive and as an incredible cook who could make the most mouthwatering Italian meals. At her best she was outgoing and warm and generous; at her occasional not so best she was tough as nails and could push you to the limit of your sanity. She enjoyed going out dancing with her husband, nature walks along the coastal beaches, and occasional landscaping of her yard with driftwood and beach stones as well as innumerable jade plants. After her husband retired she spent the next 20 years with periodic travelling as well as plenty of dancing and good meals. Her health remained amazingly good her entire life all the way up to her 95th birthday, and she remained surrounded by her loving family up to her passing. She outlived her husband, siblings, and all her friends. Her family of note includes her children Michele DeVito (deceased), Leo DeVito, Lisa DeVito, Brian DeVito (deceased), Gina Webster, and Joey DeVito, grandchildren Michele Philip, Andre DeVito, Vince Dvorak, Jeannine Dvorak (deceased), Lauren Bryant, Brian Webster, Jessica DeVito, Amanda DeVito, Ian DeVito, Yvette DeVito, and numerous greatgrandchildren. A private ceremony is planned in her honor.