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Vivian A. Versaggi
Vivian A. Versaggi, a 28-year Half Moon Bay resident, died Dec. 31 at age 87 at the Pacifica Rehabilitation Center in Pacifica.
Mrs. Versaggi was born Aug. 23, 1916 in Vermont, and came to San Francisco with her family when she was a child of 5 or 6. She married for the first time at age 18. She and her husband had four sons during their 39-year marriage, which ended with his death. During that time, she lived in San Francisco.
She came to the Coastside in 1978 upon her second marriage to Saverio Versaggi, a widower who had three sons. The couple built a home in El Granada.
Mrs. Versaggi was "full of a sense of humor," said her second husband, Saverio Versaggi of El Granada. "She was always happy."
He also describes those years as idyllic, and "the best years of my life" surrounded by their large blended family.
"As a wife, she was the best woman I'd ever met in my life," he said. "As a mother, she was one of the best mothers you could ever find."
The couple loved to travel and took 48 cruises in their marriage to all corners of the world. "We saw every continent, every nation in the world," Mr. Versaggi said. "We have mementos from everywhere."
Mrs. Versaggi was dedicated to the Presbyterian faith of her childhood but respectful of her husband's Catholic faith.
Mrs. Versaggi is survived by her husband of 28 years, Saverio Versaggi, of El Granada, her four sons, Elwyn Raffetto of San Diego, Joseph Raffetto of Oregon, Allen Raffetto of Wisconsin and William Raffetto of Moraga, and her three stepsons, Charles Versaggi of Marin County, Salvador Versaggi of Sonoma County and Robert Versaggi of Petaluma. She is also survived by 19 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
A private family Rosary was said at the Miller-Dutra Coastside Chapel, and a private family Mass was held at Our Lady of the Pillar Catholic Church in Half Moon Bay. Interment took place at the Italian Cemetery
in Colma.
Betty R. Capote
Betty R. Capote, a San Mateo resident and mother of Half Moon Bay resident Jane Loveland, died Jan. 8 at Washington Hospital in Fremont due to illness, at age 78.
Mrs. Capote, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Czechoslovakia, was born in San Mateo, where she graduated from San Mateo High School and lived for most of her life. She was a homemaker, raising four children, and also worked for Peninsula Hospital in housekeeping for more than a decade.
Mrs. Capote was a "fun-loving person who found good in everybody and never had a bad word to say about anybody," said her daughter, Sharon Ingram of Newark.
She added that her mother enjoyed gambling and going to Tahoe to gamble. Mrs. Capote was also very active with her fellow senior neighbors, frequently taking part in bingo games and outings with them.
Mrs. Capote is predeceased by her husband of almost 50 years, Clarence Capote, who died in 1994. She is survived by her children, Sharon (and husband John) Ingram of Newark, Bill Capote (and wife Jo James) of San Carlos, Jane Loveland (and husband Francis Moorehouse) of Half Moon Bay and Cathy (and husband Rob) Myers of Redwood City.
She is survived by grandchildren Shawn (and husband Jason) Moore, Bill Ingram, Ashley Ingram, LeAnna (and husband Fausto) Rodriguez, Virenea Loveland, Kendall Capote, Shelby Capote, Nathan Moore and Angie Rodriguez. She is also survived by brothers and sisters-in-law John and Pauline Nosek and Bob and Doris Nosek, and by many nieces, nephews and cousins, some of whom live in Half Moon Bay.
A vigil service was held on Feb. 1 at Sneider and Sullivan Funeral Home in San Mateo, and a funeral Mass was celebrated on Feb. 2 at St. Matthew's Catholic Church in San Mateo, followed by interment at Skylawn Memorial Park.
Lillian F. Stanfield
Lillian F. Stanfield, who could trace her family back for generations in Half Moon Bay, where she lived most of her life, died Feb.13 at Menlo Park Place convalescent hospital in Menlo Park. She was 82.
Mrs. Stanfield was born Lillian Cunha and married her husband, Edmond Stanfield, in 1944. The couple raised two children and were married until Mr. Stanfield's death in 1987.
Mrs. Stanfield was a homemaker while raising her children. Later in life, she began working in caring for the elderly, at first individuals in Half Moon Bay and later at the Carlmont Convalescent Hospital in Bel-mont, where she worked for several years.
Mrs. Stanfield is preceded in death by her husband of 43 years, Edmond Stanfield. She is survived
by her children and their spouses, Tim and Maureen Stanfield of Half Moon Bay and Sue and Bob Betz of Clearlake, and grandchildren Ed Lucido and wife K.C. of Oakley, Calif., Linda Taylor and husband T.J. of Winnemucca, Nev., Bill Bright of Lafayette and Stephen Bright of Redwood City, and six great-grandchildren, Carina, Mikaila, Dante and Dominic Lucido and Travis and Tiffinny Taylor.
She is also survived by her sister, Catherine "Pet" Burke of San Andreas, and nieces, nephews and cousins, most of whom live in Half Moon Bay.
Visitation is scheduled from 4 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19 at the Miller-Dutra Coastside Chapel in Half Moon Bay. A blessing service will be held at 10 a.m. on the next day, Friday, Feb. 20, also at Miller-Dutra Coastside Chapel, followed by interment at Our Lady of the Pillar Cemetery
in Half Moon Bay.
Robert E. Toland
Robert E. "Bob" Toland, a four-year Half Moon Bay resident who combined several successful careers in his lifetime, died on Feb. 14 at his Half Moon Bay home, at age 80, due to complications of Parkinson's disease.
Among Mr. Toland's professional ventures were as a pilot during World War II, a Realtor and a San Francisco firefighter from the early 1950s to 1970s.
In his firefighting career he saved numerous lives, particularly through rescues on the 270-foot-high cliffs overlooking Land's End near Ocean Beach. To effect the rescues, he led rescue teams, dangling suspended from ropes, down jagged terrain to pluck hikers and sometimes their dogs to safety.
Plagued with a persistent fear of heights, Mr. Toland once used the word "terrifying" to describe to his family what it was like to negotiate the cliffs, sometimes higher than a 20-story building. But he added, "I realize how helpless the stranded hiker feels. After that, I think only of his safety."
His favorite story, his family remembered, involved a San Francisco Police Department mounted patrol horse that had wandered away from the officer and gotten entangled in barbed wire. Mr. Toland climbed down to the struggling horse, talked to it and gently disentangled it. When surprised police officers asked where he'd learned to work with horses, his reply was that he'd watched a lot of Westerns on television and, as his son said, "Maybe you guys should, too."
"Bob Toland was an unassuming man who always wanted to be remembered as one of the 'good guys,'" said his son, James Toland of San Anselmo. "He certainly achieved that."
Mr. Toland was born Nov. 2, 1923 in the Outer Mission District, the sixth of seven siblings, and was named after Irish patriot Robert Emmet.
He attended Balboa High School, where he was a Prep All-City guard on the school's all-varsity football team in 1941 and a 1942 graduate.
Upon his high school graduation, Mr. Toland entered the Army Air Corps and went on to fly B-17s and B-29s as a bomber pilot during World War II.
During the war, Balboa schoolmate Beatrice Lazzarini wrote to Mr. Toland, and later ran into him at a mutual friend's wedding, when she "noticed a handsome Army officer ... staring at me." He asked for a date, and they were married in 1947.
The couple lived for many years in San Francisco's Outer Mission District. With the San Francisco Fire Department, Mr. Toland served as Captain of Truck 14 and is credited with writing the department's "Cliff Rescue Procedures" manual that eventually spread to dozens of emergency services agencies nationwide.
While a firefighter, he separately founded City Redwood Fence, which employed his then-teen son and several fellow firefighters as part-time builders.
"Bob was considered a mentor to many of the young firefighters, including me," said Robert O'Donnell, recently retired chief of the Daly City Fire Department and a longtime Pacifica neighbor.
"Though always firm, he was usually fair and often quick to forgive," said his son, Jim.
After his retirement from the fire department in 1973, Mr. Toland moved from San Francisco to Pacifica and worked as a Realtor for Dolphin Realty. He and his wife later bought a Hallmark store in Pacifica, which they operated with their daughter and son-in-law until the late 1980s.
The Tolands had become acquainted with the Coastside in the early 1960s when Mr. Toland bought and refurbished a house in Moss Beach, but, liking the area, they moved here four years ago.
Mr. Toland was an avid football fan and loved the San Francisco 49ers, and a passionate golfer and poker player, but also enjoyed serene and simple things like trout fishing in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He had been known to tell his family, "It's the small things, the simple moments, in life that are the most beautiful."
Mr. Toland is survived by his wife of 57 years, Beatrice Lazzarini Toland of Half Moon Bay, and his children and their spouses, James and Laura Toland of San Anselmo and Katherine and Gary Chinca of Pacifica.
He is also survived by four grandsons, three of whom have followed him into emergency services work. Joseph Toland of Seattle is a disaster services engineer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Robert Chinca of San Mateo is a Hillsborough police officer and Nick Chinca of Pacifica is a San Bruno police officer. The fourth grandson, John Toland of Arcata, attends Humboldt State University.
Mr. Toland is also survived by great-grandson Nicholas Chinca, granddaughter-in-law Sandra Chinca, and former daughter-in-law Elaine Toland of Oakland. He is also survived by a sister, Mae Rose Clancy of Santa Rosa, a brother, Raymond Toland of Belmont, who is also retired from the San Francisco Fire Department, several nieces and nephews, and close friend and longtime nurse Marge Lesky of Half Moon Bay.
A Rosary was recited at the Chapel of the Sea in Pacifica on Monday and Tuesday. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Peter's Catholic Church at noon today, Feb. 18 at 700 Oddstad Blvd. in Pacifica, followed by interment at the Italian Cemetery
in Colma.
