Alfredina Riccomini Obituary

Alfredina "Dina" Riccomini passed away Friday, June 6, 2025. She is survived by her son Donald R. Riccomini and his wife Betsy; daughter Susan Radov and husband Douglas; two grandchildren, Christopher Riccomini and Alex Riccomini; and five grandchildren, Liam, Stella, Claire, Owen, and Ethan. She was married to Joseph L. Riccomini for forty-nine years, until his death in 1998, marrying him after emigrating to the United States after World War II.
Dina was born in Italy on July 29, 1927, and would have been 98 next month. Her long life saw many major historical events and she experienced some first hand. Her childhood and adolescence in Italy during the 1930s were marked by political strife, economic malaise, and war. During that time, Dina, her mother Virginia, and her siblings Aida and Pete, were without their husband and father, Giuseppe, who had emigrated for work in the United States and could not return because of the war.
When the war ended, Dina and her family emigrated to the United States, specifically Northern California, where her father worked in the lumber industry. There she met and married Joseph L. Riccomini, and started a family. She learned English in part by reading comic books to her son, Donald, and talking with a next-door neighbor, Jerry Julian, who served as Dina's unofficial tutor of English and American culture. A second child, Susan, was born in 1956, and since much of the extended family, including Dina's sister Aida, had moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, Dina and Joe decided to follow, settling in San Carlos, California, in 1959.
The following years were consumed in raising children and working in various service businesses, including catering, delicatessens, hospital food service, and later, retirement home care. Dina also spent time cultivating her garden, cooking (often from scratch), socializing with neighbors, and staying active socially. Later, she dedicated herself to helping her husband, Joe, when he became ill.
After Joe died in 1998, Dina lived independently into her early nineties, with local support from her daughter Susan and son-in-law Doug and weekly visits from her son Donald and daughter-in-law Betsy. Among her favorite experiences was giving treats to Donald and Betsy's bulldogs, who also loved to take a bath in her laundry tub. She enjoyed socializing with neighbors, attending local social club lunches, and spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She remained quite physically active during those years-on one visit Betsy and Alex learned how Dina had meticulously painted the baseboards of a room while sitting on a small step-stool. Her work ethic, reflecting the difficult upbringing she experienced in Italy without a father and during wartime, became a major part of her character and a defining value in her life, and one she passed on to her children.
As a final wish, Dina requests that instead of flowers, vegetables and fruit trees be grown in remembrance of her time in this life, and that monetary donations go to the Sjogren's Foundation.

Crippen & Flynn Carlmont Chapel (FD1825)