Delio “Dale” Fama

March 2, 1928 - January 6, 2017

Delio “Dale” Fama was born and raised in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco. His mother Giuseppina and father Santi were immigrants from Roccalumera-Allume, Sicily. She worked as a master seamstress for top-line clothing manufacturers in the City; he was a skilled cobbler who owned the San Francisco Shoe Hospital on Church Street.

As a depression-era child, Dale learned well the value of the dollar and home economics, including the benefits of growing vegetables and fruit in the backyard. He also enjoyed a Noe Valley much different than today: a working class and close-knit neighborhood with very few cars, multiple rail lines and movie theaters, much open space on the hills above, and many family-owned businesses.

Dale attended public schools in San Francisco, including James Lick, and graduated from Mission High in 1946 (the second photograph here was taken around that time at Dolores Park, across from that school).

In 1946, Dale went to work in the San Francisco warehouse of Dohrmann’s, a restaurant supply company. This began a remarkable 60 year career in that service and sales business, during which he sold everything from kitchen equipment including stoves, dishwashers, pots and pans, and the full array of front-of-the-house items including dishes, glasses, flatware, tables, and chairs.

After transferring from the warehouse to Dohrmann’s merchandise office, where he learned the fundamentals of the restaurant supply business, Dale in 1949 was assigned a sales territory which eventually included many classic mid-century San Francisco restaurants, some of which, such as Alfred’s, House of Prime Rib, Tadich Grill, and Westlake Joe’s, continue to this day.

In 1951-1952, Dale served in the Army, stationed in Germany. In 1953, he married Irene (also known as Rena), who he had met on a blind date on New Years Eve 1948; a few years later the two began their family. They had four children and remain married – and deeply in love – for 59 years.

In 1960, Dale was promoted to Branch Manager of Dohrmann’s San Jose store. He continued to be active in sales while supervising others, servicing restaurants throughout the future Silicon Valley, including for example the Brave Bull, as well as in Monterey and Santa Cruz, including Stagnaro’s on the wharf.

In 1974, Dale was transferred to Dohrmann’s Reno store. He invigorated sales such that he was named the company’s Branch Manager of the Year.

In 1978, Dale became the Reno representative of East Bay Restaurant Supply. This began a wildly successful second act in the business.

With constantly increasing annual sales – resulting from his skills and the growth of Washoe County’s population and food service industry – Dale became well-known in the region. Among his clients were the Biggest Little City’s largest casinos, such as the Eldorado, Peppermill, and John Ascauga’s Nugget, and Reno restaurant mainstays such as Johnny’s Little Italy, Vario’s (now Bricks), Truckee River Bar & Grill, and Pinnochio’s.

One of Dale’s signature sales techniques was to enter a restaurant through the back or kitchen door, and to walk in as if he owned the place. In that way, he would show the manager and chef not only that he was there for them, but that he knew his way around the back-end of the business. It also allowed him to see the kitchen in action, so as to figure out what products they used and might need.

The always-enter-through-the-kitchen approach only worked, of course, because Dale had an encyclopedic knowledge of food service products and was known for his reliability, integrity, genuinely friendly personality, and almost round-the-clock availability. He was named East Bay’s employee of the month multiple times and in 2000 was recognized as Dealer Sales Representative of the month by Foodservice Equipment and Supplies, the industry’s leading national periodical.

In the years before he retired in 2007, Dale became known for his turn-key services. A new restaurant would have him determine what was needed and then coordinate the ordering of all equipment and supplies necessary to open.

Dale mentored and facilitated the food service careers of many. During Dale’s final days, his family was touched by the warm thanks given him by chefs, restaurant proprietors, and sales representatives who said they would not be where they are today without his help and advice.

When Dale and his family moved to Reno in 1974, he and his wife Irene were the first to purchase a home in the still desirable Mayberry Drive subdivision then known as Stonegate. Over the 42 years he lived there (including four years after the 2012 death of Irene), Dale along with his wife developed deep knowledge of the neighborhood’s homes and residents, and became good friends with many who lived there, including at times two or even three generations of families.

Dale, particularly during his decade-long retirement, would keep up and visit with others via daily walks around the neighborhood’s streets and cul-de-sacs. For many years he was popularly called “The Mayor of Stonegate.”

Dale was a loving and generous father. This included supplying his children with all the kitchen supplies they would ever need when they went out on their own. Not many college kids showed up to their first apartment with, among other things, a full set of matching china plates, including such oddities as monkey dishes, and a full set of flatware, including crab forks.

After a relatively healthy life, Dale’s December 2016 diagnosis of advanced Multiple Myeloma was a shock. He died at home on hospice care, attended to by his family.

Predeceased by his beloved wife Irene (2012) and brother Dominic (2015), Dale is survived by children Steven (Mary), Robert, Lynne (Ted), and Glenn (Kim), grandchildren Jessica, Erin, Claire, Lucy, and Payne, five great-grandchildren, numerous other relatives including cousins, nieces and nephews, and many close friends.

A celebration of Dale’s and Irene’s lives will be held on Friday, January 27th from 4:30 to7:30 p.m. at Pinnochio’s on South Virginia Street in Reno.

In lieu of flowers, Dale’s family asks that you take family or friends to a favorite restaurant, and enjoy a meal outside the home. In fact, if you can, please make a habit of doing that!