Thank you for all those who attended the memorial mass and other who shared prayers/stories about Yolanda onthis site. It's been truly amazing to read the responses about her and hear the stories.
We had a lovely mass with those who could attend, followed by a quick lunch and a blessing at the Mausolium in Sonoma.
On behalf of all of the family, thank you for helping us remember how special Yolanda was to many people. God bless.
After 20 year of successful business, Leo became ill with cancer and Yolanda was there to take care of him again. He died in the fall of 1992 and Yolanda continue to live in San Francisco close to her sister-in-law/nephew. She often travelled back to Italy with the Piemontesi Nel Mondo and reconnecting with family again. In 1998, she travelled to her nephew’s wedding to Lynda Degruccio in NYC and quickly became part of Lynda’s NJ Italian family. In 1999, her grand-niece, Nicole De Petris was born and Yolanda was there to take care of her. They often would stroll to the Palace of Fine Arts, feeding the birds and playing games. In 2000, her grand-nephew from Italy, Lorenzo Capirone, came to live/work in San Francisco and she loved to cook his favorite meals. In 2001, her grand-nephew, Giancarlo De Petris, was born and Yolanda was there again to help raise him. She loved to spoil her grand-nephew/neice by making their favorite pasta, homemade soup and allow them to make a mess of her apartment without one complaint.
Just after Christmas 2008, Yolanda took terrible fall in her apartment and fractured her hip. After several months of recovery, she was extremely fortunate to find a room at Little Sister of the Poor St. Anne’s Home in San Francisco. She was nursed back to health and made many friends over the years. She liked to play bingo, exercise and often participated in her grand-nephew/neice's activities.
Yolanda appreciated the amazing, loving care of the staff and sisters at St. Anne's home. She was extremely thankful to Chiara, Alpina and entire Robinowitz family for making many days special with their visits.
Yolanda passed away in her sleep of natural causes.
Leo established a successful fabric and fashion design store in Torino and continued in business for over 12 years. After the sudden death of Leo’s brother, Ettore Capirone, Yolanda & Leo were there to help raise his children, Giorgio & Daniella with their mother Milena.
In 1965, Yolanda and Leo came to visit Carla, her husband and her 2 year old son in California. They fell in love with California and decide to move their Italian fashion design business to San Francisco. They enjoyed travelling up to Sonoma and spoiling their young nephew, Walther. Leonardo and Yolanda opened their new fashion business in a beautiful historical house at 1976 California St in San Francisco. They were immediately adopted and supported by many important families in San Francisco & Peninsula. They held many fashion shows to benefit many needy non-profit organizations Boy’s & Girl’s Town of Italy, Greek Society, SF Symphony, SF Opera and SF Italian American Club. Yolanda was always by her husband side, perfectly fitting the dresses to her clients and became good friends with many of them.
Yolanda was born in a small town, Casinette d’Ivrea, near Torino, Italy in 1920. During WW II, she met her husband, Leonardo, when he was camped outside of their village as part of the Alpini, an elite mountain warfare military corps of the Italian Army. Yolanda was bringing meals to the camp to help the soldier in their tents and Leonardo (Leo) always said he fell in love with her caring hands that he saw from under the tent flap. They married during the war and then moved to Paris to begin designing/sewing high fashion clothing. They returned to Torino when Leo’s mother passed away and Carla, Leo’s younger sister, was left completely alone. They lived together until Carla married and moved to San Francisco, CA in 1956.
