Tuesday,
October 23
Obit: Vincent DeDomenico,
92; Helped Create Rice-A-Roni
The
ANNOTICO Report
It
is always a pleasure to report on another successful Italian American.
But
it is saddening to see that they so often are NOT involved with any activities
furthering the Italian community or Heritage.
Vincent
DeDomenico, 92; Helped Create Rice-A-Roni
By
Dennis McLellan
Staff Writer
October 23, 2007
Vincent DeDomenico, an icon of the pasta industry who
was instrumental in his family-run company's creation of Rice-A-Roni, the legendary "
DeDomenico, who later built and operated the Napa
Valley Wine Train, died Thursday in his sleep at his home in
He had not been ill and had been working in his office at the train station in
"He was a warm, fun guy, somebody who liked a good time but whose work was
his life," Bleecher said. "For him, work
and play were all the same thing."
The son of Italian immigrants who owned a family pasta company originally
called Gragnano Macaroni Factory and renamed the
Golden Grain Macaroni Co., DeDomenico, along with his
brothers Tom and Paskey, took over the business
shortly before their father died in 1943.
In the late 1950s, DeDomenico began working on the
idea of packaging dry rice and vermicelli with seasonings in one package to be
sold in grocery stores and launched Rice-A-Roni.
Rice-A-Roni quickly became associated with the
City by the Bay, thanks to the company's national commercials featuring
cable cars and the catchy jingle: "Rice-A-Roni,
the San Francisco treat; Rice-A-Roni, the flavor
can't be beat."
"My dad was insistent on a jingle that people would remember,"
Bleecher said. "That's what made it
successful."
DeDomenico and his brothers bought the
Ghirardelli Chocolate Co. in 1964 and soon added the main Ghirardelli plant
onto the Golden Grain factory in
The innovative DeDomenico helped develop microwave
machines to dry pasta in the '70s.
In 1986, the family sold its various companies to Quaker Oats for a reported
$300 million.
But after five decades in the pasta business, DeDomenico
had no intention of retiring.
"I thought, 'What am I going to do now? I like to keep busy. I'm not a
golfer," he told the
"I
heard someone up here had an idea for a wine train. I came up to check it out.
I was looking for a fun, new thing."
DeDomenico spent millions buying and
restoring vintage rail cars and repairing the railroad's ties, trestles and
bridges and creating new depots at
Despite opposition from vintners and landowners, he launched year-round daily
dining excursions between
"I never ceased to be amazed at his capacity to learn and endeavor new
challenges," said Erica Ercolano, the longtime
director of marketing and business development for Napa Valley Wine Train Inc.
"He was the embodiment of entrepreneurship born of the Depression
era," she said. "He was the consummate, patriarchal, fair-minded
taskmaster. And the hardest-working person I will ever know."
Ercolano said DeDomenico
came to work "darn near every day. His wife would make him go on
sabbatical to their place in
But, she said, "He hated vacations. He called us every day, he faxed us
every day. He loved to work."
Aside from the train, DeDomenico also had a large
cattle and farming operation in the
The fourth of six children, DeDomenico was
born in
After graduating from high school, DeDomenico began
working in his family's company full time as a salesman while attending night
classes in accounting and business at
In addition to his daughter, he survived by his wife, Mildred; their other
children, Michael DeDomenico, Vicki McManus and
Vincent DeDomenico Jr.; seven grandchildren; and his
sister, Katherine Reichert.
The family req uests that
donations in his memory be made to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley,
the Napa Valley Opera House, Queen of the Valley Hospital or St. Helena
Hospital.
A public celebration of DeDomenico's life will be
held at 4 p.m. Thursday at the
dennis.mclellan@ latimes.com
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