Nicolo Lombardo

Nicolo Lombardo was born in Marsala, Italy on September 12, 1938. He was one of four children. His family was in the farming and wine making business. He worked in the family business until the age of eighteen when he joined the Italian Air Force where he served honorably for four years as an orderly. Prior to joining the Air Force he worked as a truck driver hauling construction materials for a local Italian company. Ever since Nicolo was a young boy, he had dreams of moving to America. His dream came true when he was twenty two years old. His parents pulled together all of their resources to fulfill their son's dream and put him on a boat set sail to America. His first stop was New York where he then boarded a plane to Oakland, California. Once he arrived in California, Nicolo's main focus of effort was to find a place to live and employment. This effort was challenging as Nicolo knew very little English. He was fortunate enough to stay with his older sister and her family for about a year. After working odd jobs, he met a gentleman by the name of Tony Conti. Tony took Nicolo under his wing and employed him as a janitor and gave him a place to live in the shed behind the main house. A few years passed and Nicolo was able to make friends and cultivate his own business contacts. He then opened his own janitorial company where he serviced accounts such as banks, attorney firms, CPA firms, AAA and large scale office buildings. His business flourished for thirty years. Nicolo met Nancy Mantegna in 1967. They instantly fell in love and were married on April 27, 1968. Together, they continued their entrepreneurial flare of being business owners and opened bars and restaurants throughout the Bay Area for forty years. Their restaurants consisted of upscale Italian restaurants. They had two children together, Domenic (age 45) and Francesca (age 41). Nicolo and Nancy retired in 2000 and moved to Las Vegas in 2001. Nicolo's hobbies throughout his life consisted of hunting, fishing, traveling, wine and sausage making. He thoroughly enjoyed all of his grandchildren. Nicolo is survived by his wife of forty six years, Nancy Lombardo; his two children Domenic (Heather) Lombardo and Francesca (Ron) Stevenson; and eight grandchildren.