Steve
Passelli attended the grammar school until he was fourteen years old,
and then he commenced to work in real earnest. He
helped his father until he came of age; and then, desiring to profit by
the greater opportunities in the New World, he crossed the ocean, came
out to California, and started to work on a dairy farm near Gonzales,
in Monterey County. He worked for six
years on dairy farms, and then he leased a large dairy ranch for five
years. After a year’s experience there,
however, he sold out to his partner and started a new dairy. He built this up until he had about 100 cows,
and at the end of two years, he disposed of that ranch also.
Mr. Passelli then made a trip home to
Switzerland, where he stayed for ten months; and there ha married, on
November 18, 1920, Miss Paulina Barea, the daughter of John and
Serafina Barea. Her father was a stone
mason by trade, and he took a pride in sending his daughter to the
excellent Swiss public schools. On his
return to America with his bride, Mr. Passelli settled on Capital
Avenue, and on April 1, 1921, he started a model dairy on the Tuttle
ranch. Now he has fifty-two cows and
sixty-four acres in alfalfa, and he is able to send about 100 gallons
of milk a day to the east Bay Milk Producers’ Association.
Mr. And Mrs. Passelli, who have become favorites with all who
know them and are highly esteemed in the town and vicinity of Milpitas,
have one child, a daughter named Elsie; and Mr. Passelli is a member of
Soledad Lodge No. 167, of the Druids.
Transcribed by Susan Schooler from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 1391
SANTA CLARA COUNTY PIONEER BIOGRAPHIES
SANTA CLARA HISTORY