Immigrant made San Pedro better
By Donna Littlejohn, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 09/17/2008 10:01:43 PM PDT


Al Galletti is remembered for his love of San Pedro.


Al Galletti, an Italian immigrant who landed in San Pedro in 1959 with $20 in his pocket and went on to become one of the town's most prominent citizens, has died following a long battle with Lou Gehrig's disease.

Born Oct. 1, 1937, in Terrasini, Sicily, he died Sept. 16 at his Rancho Palos Verdes home surrounded by his family. He was 70 years old.

Galletti, the son of a fisherman, arrived in San Pedro shortly after his marriage to Sarah Briguglio on July 11, 1959. The couple raised four children in the seaside community.

He leaves a legacy that has touched San Pedro's fishing industry, its hospital, the local schools, real estate and charities (Galletti helped launch the popular annual fundraiser "Night of A Thousand Stars" for his parish, Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church.)

"He loved San Pedro and was always trying to see how he could make it better, how he could get more people to come here," said his granddaughter Heidi Basch, 26.

"I think he'll be remembered as someone who had a presence - you knew when he walked into a room - but also as someone who valued family and having family close by."

Galletti began his career as a butcher in a local supermarket. By 1970, he opened Galletti Fine Meats and Seafoods, a chain of retail markets throughout Southern California.

He built up his own business, Galletti Brothers Foods, which at one point was the nation's largest processors and distributors of fresh and

frozen seafood.
He also developed Pacific Fresh Foods.

Galletti was appointed to the California State Fish and Game Commission in 1978 by Gov. Jerry Brown. During his 12-year tenure, Galletti provided insight from a commercial fishery perspective on the state's marine resources.

In 1981, he was selected chairman of the California State Wildlife Conservation Board, where he was instrumental in protecting the California condor as an endangered species.

He also was appointed in 1982 by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce to serve on the Pacific Fisheries Management Council.

But it is Galletti's impact on his adopted hometown that probably will be most remembered.

He was one of the key investors and creative minds behind the building of the 226-room Doubletree Hotel built in 1989 at San Pedro's marina.

He managed the hotel's freestanding restaurant, the Madeo, and was a talented cook in his own right, making Sunday dinners for his family.

"He was always making the most amazing dishes of pasta," his granddaughter said. "He loved good food. He was always looking for the `perfect' tomato."

Basch said Galletti often treated his large family to vacations, loved to dance - "no one could cut a rug like my grandfather" - and was especially fond of the music of Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin and other "rat pack"-generation crooners.

When he was diagnosed in 2000 with ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, he carried on, surprising his doctors and beating the odds. Most patients with the neurodegenerative disease die 11 months after the diagnosis.

Galletti is survived by his wife, Sarah; his children, Maria Basch, Lina Palma, Sammy, and Joey; two brothers, Buddy and Joe; a sister, Angie Fischer; and eight grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 4 to

7 p.m. Friday at McNerney's Mortuary, San Pedro. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9 a.m. Saturday at Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church, San Pedro. Burial will follow at Green Hills Memorial Park, Rancho Palos Verdes.

The family requests that donations be made to The Al and Sarah Tribute Fund, c/o The ALS Association, Greater Los Angeles Chapter, P.O. Box 565, Agoura Hills, CA 91376-0565.

donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com