Cited for Outstanding Styles
Daly City Record 09/56
Nation-wide honors have been bestowed upon Elio A. Fontana and Valerio Fontana Monument Company of Colma.The 35-year-old local firm and its 37-year-old manager were featured in the August issue of "Monumental News-Review" magazine, international "bible" of the industry.The publication cited Elio as "an outstanding memorialist-designer," and its two-page spread lauded the company for "pioneering drastic changes in accepted customs and designs."The magazine praised the Fontana firm for new ideas, advanced sales techniques and up-to-date machinery. It marked the first time a West Coast monument firm has been so honored.Valerio Fontana, 69, the firm's founder and sculptor, supervises all operations at the company's ultra-modern factory across from the Italian Cemetery in Colma. His son, Elio, does all the designing and serves as "front man" int the main office at 7600 Mission Street.A fourth generation memorialist, Valerio came to this country at the age of 19 after learning the rudiments of the profession in the quarries of Sardinia and Egypt. Before establishing roots here he gained fame for sculptoring at the World Fair of 1915 and on the San Francisco City Hall and Public Library buildings a year later.Elio, a 1938 Jefferson graduate, learned the business "from the ground up." He worked at the plant during high school days, then became a key employee after spending four years as a draftsman in Army Intelligence during World War II."The reason we're out in front is because we try to give our customers a fresh approach in monument design," commented Elio. "By rough comparison, you might say it's somewhat like the automobile industry. We attempt to keep up with the times in new styles, getting away from the somber and unattractive patterns of the past while still maintaining classical beauty. Of course, we're limited byGo to Page 2
