Charles B. Ramorino

October 9, 1927 - March 12, 2023

Charles Bernard Ramorino was born October 9, 1927 to Italian immigrants Maria Domenica (Pastorino) and Giovanni Bernardo Ramorino. A native of San Francisco, he was the sixth born of seven children. He played basketball and graduated from St. Ignatius High School. He honorably served in the Navy in World War II and was stationed at the North Island Navy Base on Coronado Island in San Diego.

Upon returning from the war, he and his brother Joe bought a gas station in San Francisco. Around this time, he met the love of his life, Joann Ropelato, from Ogden, Utah. Her roommate was dating his best friend, and they fell in love and would double date. Eventually, they were married on October 8, 1955.

In the late 50s, Charlie began to purchase some trucks and expand on his gas station business. He and Joann bought their first home in Millbrae, California and moved out of the City. Their two sons, Bob and Rich, were then born there. In 1959, as his trucking endeavors grew, he officially started a trucking company, Bob Rich Trucking, named after his two sons, in San Francisco.

In 1965, Charlie and Joann built a house in Atherton, California. This would become their home for the next 58 years. Together there, they raised their sons and would love to garden and care for their beautiful Koi fish ponds.

In 1970, Charlie joined the professional trade association for the trucking industry, the California Trucking Association. Immediately impressed by the polished and knowledgeable staff, he quickly became very involved in the association and advocated on behalf of small business and the trucking industry. He became active in local San Francisco politics and rose through the ranks of the California Trucking Association.

After serving as their President in 1985, he furthered his involvement in the industry by serving as President of the Western Highway Institute in 1992 – 1993 and later the Chairman of the American Trucking Associations from 19961997. With this honor, he traveled to every state and greatly served the industry he held in high esteem.

In the late 70s, Charlie and a few of his best friends bought the long-running Italian restaurant the Fior d’ Italia in San Francisco’s North Beach. He loved to spend many nights hosting there, and he and his family would continue to dine there for years to come.

At this same time he purchased another family trucking company in San Francisco, Schroeder Drayage Company, that had been founded in 1906. He incorporated the two operations into Bob Rich Schroeder Trucking.

In 1980, Charlie’s son Bob, who grew up coming to work with Charlie, bought a truck and started his own company Roadstar Trucking, and the two ran both trucking companies together. By 1988, they had grown the business tremendously and expanded into the warehousing business. They built a warehouse, Peppertree Warehouse & Distribution Company, in Hayward, California and relocated the trucking businesses to the East Bay with their newly founded warehouse. In 2006, they would ultimately merge the two trucking businesses into one, using the Roadstar Trucking, Inc., name.

Charlie continued to stay active in the community, serving on many boards including the San Mateo County California Transportation Authority, the California Caltrans Executive Advisory Board, National Sleep Foundation, Peninsula Bank of Commerce, Atherton Civic Interest League, Atherton General Planning Commission, US Chamber of Commerce, and the St. Rose Hospital Foundation Board.

Over all the years, he and Joann loved to travel with their friends to Italy, Carmel, and Coronado. They spent many nights dancing away together at the Italian Boys’ Club and any social event they were at. Most of all they loved spending time with their family, which grew over the years to include two daughters-in-law, five granddaughters, and five great-grandchildren.

Charlie will be dearly missed by all and is survived by his one true love, Joann Ramorino; his two sons and daughters-in-law, Robert and Carolyn Ramorino and Richard and Jacqui Ramorino; his five granddaughters Christina (Dominic) DeLuca, Karen Ramorino, Jackie (Aaron) Bogdanoff, Teresa Ramorino, and Carina Ramorino; his five great-grandchildren Gianna, Sofia, and Makayla DeLuca and Rickey and Caroline Bogdanoff, and many nieces and nephews.

For friends and family that would like to attend, the Viewing and Rosary will be held March 22nd from 3-7pm, with the Rosary commencing at 6pm, at the Crippen and Flynn Woodside Chapel at 400 Woodside Road in Redwood City. A Funeral Mass will be held March 23rd at the Church of the Nativity at 210 Oak Grove Avenue in Menlo Park at 11am. Burial to follow at 1:30pm at the Italian Cemetery at 540 F Street in Colma.