Monday, July 16, 2007

Obit: Antonio L. Valli, 81: Post WWII Immigrant, Owner of Rivera Italian Imported Foods in Chicago

The ANNOTICO Report

 

It is a life of achievement and a romantic love story.

 

 

Obituaries

Antonio L. Valli: 1925 - 2007

Italian immigrant, grocer brought tastes of home to Chicago

 

Chicago Tribune

By Trevor Jensen
Tribune staff reporter
July 16, 2007

Antonio L. Valli came to Chicago from Italy after World War II and toiled for years pressing clothes before opening an Italian food store on North Harlem Avenue that offered then-exotic items such as capicolla and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

The former owner of Riviera Italian Imported Foods, Mr. Valli, 81, died of complications from leukemia on Monday, July 9, in Evanston Hospital, said his daughter, Judy Lowrance. He lived for the last several months in Evanston, and was formerly of Deerfield.

A native of Marano in the Calabria region of Italy, Mr. Valli came to Chicago in the late 1940s and settled on Taylor Street. Calabrians who had preceded him got him a job as a steam presser at Hart Schaffner Marx, earning a $25 finder's fee, said Mr. Valli's son-in-law, Harry Lowrance.

With a co-worker at HSM, Matteo Evola, he hatched a plan to open agrocery store. Evola had some connections in the business and picked up tips from them, while Mr. Valli spent a couple years working part time for a sausage maker to learn that skill.

Evola and Mr. Matteo opened Riviera on Harlem just north of Belmont Avenue in the mid-1960s, naming it after the lush Mediterranean region of their homeland. "They always wanted to go to the Riviera, for them it was like a dream," his daughter said. "They wanted it to have a beautiful name."

Italians were in the midst of a migration to Harlem Avenue from various Chicago neighborhoods, many coming from the West Side along Chicago Avenue in the Our Lady of the Angels parish, said Paul Ciminello, who played in wedding bands with Mr. Valli and now hosts an Italian music program on WEEF-AM.

The store wasn't a sure bet; "They had no marketing analysis," his daughter said with a laugh. But stocked with an array of imported prosciutto, capicolla and mortadella, and many types of pastas, salads and olive oils, Riviera becam e a destination for Italian-Americans and food lovers, Judy Lowrance said.

"He imported a lot of cold cuts that no one [in America] had heard of before," she said.

Mr. Valli and Evola sold the business in 1991. It remains a well-known stop for imported foods and sandwiches.

As a teenager in Italy, Mr. Valli played the saxophone, clarinet and drums, and started his first band. He served in the Italian Navy as World War II ended and got a job as a police officer, his daughter said.

He fell in love with Rosina Scola, who lived on his street in Marano. Her mother didn't approve of the romance, and they communicated by tucking love notes in between bricks of buildings on their street, Harry Lowrance said.

Scola's father was a U.S. citizen, and her family moved to Chicago after the war. Against the wishes of her parents, the love-struck girl made her way back to Italy to reunite with her beau, and in 1948 she was married to Mr. Valli in Italy.

To the shock of his superiors -- good jobs were scarce in Italy -- Mr. Valli resigned from the police department and followed his bride back to Chicago.

Rosina Valli died in 1999, also of complications from leukemia, according to her daughter.

Working nights and weekends as a musician when he came to the U.S., Mr. Valli continued to perform with his band, the Flamingos, through the 1970s. In retirement, Mr. Valli spent many evenings reading Italian newspapers, playing cards and bocce at the Mazzini-Verdi Club in Franklin Park, said Dino Pigoni, a club member.

"He enjoyed life," Pigoni said.

Mr. Valli is also survived by three grandchildren.

Services have been held.

ttjensen@tribune.com

 

 

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