Serventi, Zumstein, Sanker, Sterrett and related Family Histories
Serventi, Gulielmo William Joseph
1910 - 1980 (70 years)
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Name Serventi, Gulielmo William Joseph Nickname Bill Born 20 Feb 1910 Miliana, Annassur quarter, Algeria 
Gender Male Naturalization 16 Nov 1938 Martinez, Contra Costa County, California USA Occupation Foreman: Stockton Firebrick, Gladding McBean, Interpace - for 50 years Reference Number Serv012 Died 3 Mar 1980 Concord, California, USA Buried Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery, Pleasant Hill, Contra Costa County, California, United States Person ID I557 Our Genealogy Last Modified 4 Sep 2013
Father Servente, Cesare, b. 14 Mar 1880, Masso, Genova, Italy , d. 30 Mar 1935, French Camp, California, USA (Age 55 years) Mother Sambuceti, Luisa, b. 14 Jan 1882, Tessi, Genova, Italy , d. 15 Jan 1959, Stockton, California, USA (Age 77 years) Married 14 Feb 1901 San Saturnino, Italy Family ID F111 Group Sheet
Family Zumstein, Henrietta Lucille, b. 14 Jul 1913, Blaine, Washington, USA , d. 7 Jan 2000, Concord, CA (Age 86 years) Married 1 Aug 1931 Reno, Nevada, USA [1] Children + 1. Living + 2. Living + 3. Living + 4. Serventi, Robert William, b. 20 Dec 1946, Concord, California, USA , d. 24 Jun 2016, Santa Clara, California, USA (Age 69 years)5. Serventi, Raymond Joseph, b. 26 Jul 1948, Concord, California, USA , d. 10 Jun 1951, Concord, California, USA (Age 2 years)+ 6. Living + 7. Living 8. Living 9. Living Photos 
Bill and Henrietta Serventi Wedding Picture 1931 
Bill and Henrietta Serventi Wedding 1931
with Joseph and Edith Meister (Witnesses)
Bill and Henrietta Serventi - 1930 
Bill and Henrietta Serventi 
Bill and Henrietta 1930s 
Billl and Henrietta Serventi and family 1970s 
Bill Serventi and son Jim 1937 
Bill Serventi and son Bob 1948
Bob's birthday. Cake with animal crackers. Back yard of Bonifacio St. home
Bill and Henrietta Serventi with family and friends 1971 Last Modified 28 Aug 2010 Family ID F328 Group Sheet
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Event Map 
Born - 20 Feb 1910 - Miliana, Annassur quarter, Algeria 
Buried - - Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery, Pleasant Hill, Contra Costa County, California, United States 
= Link to Google Maps = Link to Google Earth
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Photos William Serventi 
Bill Serventi and his Stinson 
Bill Serventi and his car 
Bill Serventi at Gladding McBean & Co refractory 
Bill Serventi when very young 
Bill Serventi with his MOTH 
Bill at work at Gladding McBean Pittsburg, CA 
Workers at Gladding McBean, Pittsburg, Ca 1939
Bill Serventi is in second row, third from left.
Photo extracted from http://calbricks.netfirms.com/brick.gmcbpittsburg.html
Documents 
Birth Certificate - William Serventi
French Algerian Birth CertificateMarriage License and Certificate -Bill Serventi and Henrietta Zumstein
1 Aug 1931
Reno, Nevada
3 PagesCitizenship Certificate - William Serventi 16 Nov 1938 1920 US Census - Cesare Serventi and family, Line 91 1930 US Census - Cesare Serventi and Family, Line 66 At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld. 
Ship Manifest - S. S. Ancona
Arrived Ellis Island April 23, 1912. Departed Genova, Italy, April 9, 1912. Passengers included Luisa Sambucetti and her three children Amelia, Enes and Gulielmo Servente
Headstones 
William and Henrietta Serventi
Located in Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery, Pleasant Hill, Contra Costa County, California
Note firebrick headstone inlay for Bill was made at Interpace, his employer for 50 years prior to his retirement
Plot: Row 11, Plot 20
Histories 
Bill Serventi - Pictoral History of Flight
Pictures and descriptions of the planes and people that Bill Serventi flew with. Compiled by James Serventi
Servente Family History
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Notes - William was born in Algiers, Algeria in 1910 while his father was working as a stone mason in that area. Moved back to Italy at a young age. Immigrated to the United States in 1912 aboard the ship Ancona. Arrived at and processed through Ellis Island on April 23, 1912. Came with his mother and two sisters Amelia and Enes. Immediately traveled to Stockton, California, with his family to join their father, who had already settled there.
A member of the California National Guard horse cavalry in 1928-29- his horse was named Jerry. He attained the rank of Corporal.
He took up flying prior to age 20, and flew a Fleet 2 Bi-plane out of Orange Brothers Airport, Stockton, CA. In 1930s he operated a Monocoupe 90 airplane, owned by his wife and a friend, Bill Manley, out of a small airfield in West Pittsburg, CA. The plane was sold in 1937 at North Field, Oakland Airport, CA.
After marriage at 21, during the early years of the great Depression of the 1930's, he and Henrietta first lived on a ranch at Linden, CA near Stockton, then moved to rented house in Enes Tract/West Pittsburg, California, then temporarily lived with close friends, Bill and Bonnie Manley, at the Coast Counties Gas Company's Employee Housing near Clyde, CA, adjacent to the Concord Naval Weapons Facility, then they bought a house on Bonifacio St. and moved to Concord in 1937.
During the Depression he worked at as many as three jobs, from the brickyard to digging ditches, to vulcanizing/recapping tires. Worked for Stockton Firebrick company, later sold to Gladding McBean, then to Interpace Corp., for 50 years. He was chief foreman at the Pittsburg facility when he retired. He retired due to a medical condition, silicosis, brought on by working the long years in the dusty environment of the brick yards.
Was not required to serve in the military during W.W.II because of his work in critical, war-related industry which supplied firebrick for boilers used in merchant and naval ships, and the Steel Mills.
During WWII, he also was an air raid warden. He also was able to visit his widowed mother and sister in Stockton, California by taking on an extra job to obtain additional gasoline ration coupons in order to make the biweekly trip from Concord.
He gave up flying to begin raising his family, and due to the heavy cut back in General Aviation opportunities caused by the start of WW II.
Temporarily had his flying license reinstated after WWII, but flew only for a few months more before abandoning his aviation hobby for a higher priority - a four year home remodeling effort. The project added a second story, an enlarged kitchen, two bedrooms, new and remodeled bathrooms, a sewing room, a large utility room, a three-section garage and workshop, and a covered brick patio. He was a skilled craftsman; a responsible citizen and homeowner; and an equally strong willed, responsible, and loving husband and father, who was extremely proud of his Italian heritage, his wife, each of his nine children, and his grandchildren.
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- William was born in Algiers, Algeria in 1910 while his father was working as a stone mason in that area. Moved back to Italy at a young age. Immigrated to the United States in 1912 aboard the ship Ancona. Arrived at and processed through Ellis Island on April 23, 1912. Came with his mother and two sisters Amelia and Enes. Immediately traveled to Stockton, California, with his family to join their father, who had already settled there.
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Sources