Longtime Marshall rancher Nina S. Respini, a Swiss-Italian
immigrant whose life was shaped by hard work and devotion to her family
and faith, died Monday, Feb. 6, in a Petaluma convalescent hospital
of complications from surgery after suffering a fall. She was 89.
In 1939, at age 22, she left her village in Corcapolo,
Switzerland, to join her older brother Phil Salmina, who’d emigrated
to West Marin and honed his skills with the razor and strop to become
Point Reyes Station’s barber.
Young Nina took a job as an au pair with the
Cheda family in San Rafael. In West Marin, an uncle introduced her to
her future husband, Philip G. Respini, a Swiss-Italian immigrant 20
years her senior who hailed from a neighboring village in Switzerland.
Mrs. Respini and her family spoke their native dialect
at home. She took three trips to the old country, and always missed
the mountains in her Swiss homeland.
Pass the gnocchi
The Respinis spent their lives operating a cattle
and sheep ranch two miles east of Marshall on the Marshall-Petaluma
Road. Like other ranch women of her generation, Mrs. Respini cooked
three fine meals a day for her family and hired ranch hands. Her signature
dishes included gnocchi — which she prepared in a butter and garlic
sauce — and a special risotto.
A quiet homebody with a warm smile, she stayed close
to hearth and home and enjoyed her garden. "Whenever I called,
I always knew Mom and Dad would be there," said her daughter, Eda
Lucas.
Mrs. Respini played the harmonica, accompanied on
the piano by her daughter or granddaughter. Her Italian standards included
"Ode al Sole" and "Il Sirio."
A hamlet no more
Over the years Mrs. Respini marveled at how much
the town of Marshall was changing. To her eye, the once quiet little
hamlet was now crowded with waterfront developments, her daughter said.
She was a member of St. Helen’s Catholic Church
in Marshall.
Mrs. Respini was predeceased by her husband, who died
on his 93rd birthday, April 21, 1990.
She was also predeceased by her brothers, Phil Salmina;
Vincenzo Salmina; Aldo Salmina; and Domenico Salmina; and her sisters,
Ernesta Salmina; and Ida Salmina.
She is survived by her son, Richard P. Respini of
Marshall; daughter and son-in-law, Eda and Fred Lucas of Petaluma; and
granddaughters, Nicole Lucas; and Natalie Lucas.
A vigil service will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday,
Feb. 9, at Parent-Sorenson Mortuary, Magnolia and Keokuk Sts., Petaluma.
A funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m., Friday,
Feb. 10, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Petaluma.
Burial will be in Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Petaluma.
Family members suggest that any memorial contributions
be made to the American Cancer Society, 1451 Guerneville Rd., Ste. 220,
Santa Rosa 95403; or to UCSF Cancer Research, 505 Parnassus Ave., San
Francisco 94143.