Lee Sciacqua

Lee was born in Madera, CA and spent his early years in the Swiss Italian neighborhood of Madera which was heavily populated by immigrants from northern Italy. He was a third generation Italian whose family originated from Luca, up near Florence.

Lee attended St. Joachim’s Catholic School in Madera until they moved to the family’s ranch near Biola. He graduated from Central High School in 1955 where he played football, baseball and basketball. Upon graduating, he enlisted in the army. Due to his Italian background, Lee chose to be stationed in Vicenza, Italy about 30 minutes from Venice.

Lee met his future wife there, Gianna Ambrosi, who worked at a restaurant near the army base. Gianna didn’t speak English and Lee’s Italian was rusty at best. He wrote her a love letter in English which a friend translated for her. She answered him back in Italian which the friend then translated to Lee. They began courting and were eventually married in Italy on Nov. 28, 1959. They returned to California where they lived on the ranch with Lee's father.

Lee started working as a lineman for the Kerman Telephone Company where he was later promoted to the accounting department. He worked at the phone company for over 20 years during which time he was heavily involved in civic organizations like the Rotary Club and Junior Achievement. He volunteered for many years and was very proud of the work he did with them. He was also a member of the Kerman City Council where in 1973, he was elected to the Environmental Impact Review Board. Lee was a City of Kerman Council member from 1974-1978 and from 1978-1982, he was elected Mayor of the City of Kerman.

In 1983, Lee, along with several other businessmen, was instrumental in founding Kerman State Bank. He served as the board of director from 1983 to 2002 when it merged into WestAmerica Bank.

When Lee retired from Kerman Telephone in 1980, he took over the family farm where he worked until 2016.

In early 2000, Lee and Gianna purchased an apartment in northern Italy where his wife was born. Lee was very proud of his Italian-American heritage. He enjoyed listening to Bocelli and Pavarotti. He enjoyed gardening, tennis and their yearly trips to Italy but his biggest pride and joy was his three grandchildren.

Lee was preceded in death by his wife Gianna, his parents Guido and Italia Sciacqua and his sister Mary Lou Bewley.

He is survived by his daughter Anne Lemus, her husband Rick and their son Eric of Kerman. His son Michael Sciacqua, his wife Rohini and their daughter Alexa and son Giovanni of Fresno. Also by his cousins and extended family in Madera and Bakersfield and his sister in laws, brother in laws and many nieces and nephews in Italy.

Lee was affectionately known as Papa and Nonno by his grandchildren. He was so loved and will be greatly missed by his family.

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