Lou Foppiano 'Always a Farmer at Heart'

Family and friends are invited to attend a Funeral Mass on Friday, March 30 at 11 a.m., at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 208 Matheson St., Healdsburg. A visitation will be held on Thursday, March 29 between 2 and 7 p.m. at the Daniels Chapel of the Roses, 1225 Sonoma Ave., Santa Rosa.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. John the Baptist Caholic School, 217 Fitch St. Healsburg, or the UCSF Foundation, P.O. Box 45339, San Francisco 94145, to benefit the USCF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center for Blood Cancer Research.

___________________

Louis J. Foppiano, vineyard farmer and patriarch of Sonoma County's oldest winemaking family, passed away at 8:15 p.m. Friday, March 23rd at Sutter Hospital in Santa Rosa, California.  He was 101. 

Outspoken and friendly, Louis J. Foppiano was always a farmer at heart.  Born on November 25, 1910 on the very farm where he lived and worked his whole life, Foppiano was dedicated to his family, his 169 acre in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, and to his passion for wine.  He became a great pioneer of Sonoma County’s wine industry.

He was a founding member of the Sonoma County Wine Growers Association in 1946 and he was its first president.  Foppiano was also a founding member of the Wine Institute, where he remained a director for 45 years, and is known for his love of and devotion to the development of Petite Sirah.

Louis J. Foppiano was also known for his friendship, sportsmanship and love for life.  "He may have been one of the wine industry’s great pioneers of our time, but he was also an athlete who played football and basketball in his youth, had passion for flying which included regular fishing trips to Canada and vacations to Mexico, "said Louis M. Foppiano, of his father.

"In business, he was well known for being a tough negotiator, but in life you could find him enjoying a cigar with his friends, most of whom were also sons of Italian immigrants and in the wine business.  He was very well liked by his peers and a friend to all,” he continued. 

In 1946, Louis J. married the late Della Bastoni of Santa Rosa. The couple was married for 56 years, and raised three children, Louis M., Rod (who passed away from leukemia in 1984) and Susan.

Until his death, Lou’s greatest joys continued to reflect his love for family and the wine business.  Often one could find him pruning in the vineyard, visiting with guests in the winery tasting room, marking the weather on a calendar in the office in true farmer style, or playing with his great granddaughter Gianna, the sixth generation of the Foppiano clan.

A longtime member of in Healdsburg, Louis is survived by his son, Louis M. Foppiano, daughter Susan Foppiano Valera, four grandchildren: Paul Foppiano (Rod’s son), Gina Foppiano (Rod’s daughter), James and Joseph Valera (Susan’s sons), and two great granddaughters (Gianna Ann Foppiano, Paul’s daughter and Joy Marie Hocker, Gina’s daughter).