Posted by: John_Hamilton on 06/26/2012 09:31 AM
Updated by: John_Hamilton on 06/26/2012 09:36 AM
Expires: 01/01/2017 12:00 AM
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Former Calaveras County Supervisor John Joseph Lodato Passed Away June 17
San Andreas, CA...Born on the 24th of April, 1919 in Los Angeles, CA, to Sicilian immigrant Salvatore Lodato and Jean Giarratano. His parents separated shortly after his birth, and he was raised by his maternal grandparents and foster families in the East L.A. neighborhood. He attended high school at Lincoln High School in inner city Los Angeles, where he received encouragement and the assistance of teachers and counselors to apply to Stanford University. He was admitted to Stanford University in 1937 with the class of 1941....
Above is John Lodato at Arlington in 2009 and the Lodato - Brock Family Below
Through a combination of summer work savings and University jobs, including living and working at the campus firehouse as a fireman, the economic challenges of a private university were met. He joined the Stanford Army ROTC program in 1939 as the war in Europe began to expand. The ROTC unit at Stanford trained with horse-drawn artillery guns and caissons.
In his senior year he began dating Blanche Ann Dwelle, a sophomore coed from Alberta, Canada. On a June weekend in 1941 he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on Friday, was graduated with a BA degree in History on Saturday, married Blanche in the Stanford Chapel on Sunday and reported to Camp Roberts, California for duty with the Army on Monday. He was assigned to the 39th Field Artillery Unit of the Third Infantry Division. Lodato’s artillery training included duty at Fort Ord, California, Camp Roberts, CA, Fort Sill, OK and on September 1, 1941 he assigned to Fort Lewis, WA as a Second Lieutenant. He was at Fort Lewis when early on December 7, 1941, he learned of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
The young couple’s first child was born in August, 1942 as Lodato’s unit prepared to ship out for an amphibious landing in North Africa in the fall. The Third Division fought its way across North Africa, chasing Rommel back to Germany. After a brief rest the Third prepared for another amphibious landing in Sicily, then Anzio in southern Italy. Lodato’s duties in
1942-1945 included Battery Commander and assignments in S-2 Intelligence. He achieved the rank of Major and was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and other decorations. When the Third Reich collapsed in the spring of 1945 the Third began preparation while still in Europe for battle in the Pacific against Japan. Japan surrendered prior to the Third shipping out.
Lodato returned to California in the summer of 1945 and began a career in business in Calaveras County where he still lives today. After 12 years in retail building supplies and home construction Lodato obtained graduate degrees and a teaching credential and taught English for 20 years at Calaveras High School. He was also the tennis coach and the announcer at the football games. In the mid-seventies Lodato was elected to the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors where he served two terms and was instrumental in several projects which improved Calaveras County including the construction of the new airport, the main branch of the library, and Nielsen Park in San Andreas. His retirement years were spent building and operating a private tennis club, the Gold Hunter Tennis and Swim Club in San Andreas. The Tennis Club became a popular venue for sanctioned USTA Seniors tournaments. Following the sale of the Tennis Club, Lodato focused on development and publication of a grammar handbook which has been widely distributed in the local school districts. He continued to travel extensively, returning to Europe in 2010 to commemorate his role as part of “Operation Dragoon”, the liberation of France. He was also honored at a ceremony at Arlington Cemetery. From the time he arrived in Calaveras County he was active in local service organizations such as the Lions Club and throughout the years he served on the Mark Twain Hospital Foundation Board, the Quarterback Club, the Progressive Club and was one of the founders of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church. He and Blanche raised and educated four children. He had seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Blanche died in 2002.
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