Fontana: a Name Carved in Granite San Francisco Examiner 02/23/83 by John Flinn
		COLMA -- Elio Fontana proudly slapped a cold slab of granite that had begun the metamorphosis from rock to ornate headstone. "I can always pick out our monuments when I go to a cemetery," he said. "It has our family's style and workmanship." Generations of Fontana's family have been carving granite longer than he can determine. Church records show the family was in the business as far back as 1800, when they moved to Sant'Andre, Italy. "One of the guys who built St. Peters was named Fontana," said Elio, 64. "Wouldn't that be something if...?" After so many generations, it seemed inevitable that Elio's son, Mark, would follow in the footsteps of his father, his grandfather and his great-great grandfather. Instead, he became a cop. "I wanted to go out and see if I could make it on my own in another field," said Mark, 30. "Being a cop was a good thing to do. It made me feel like I was giving service to the community." Mark spent five years as an officer		with the Colma police department. But as his father approached retirement age, he quit the force and went to work for the family business. "I realized my father was going to be getting out of it pretty soon," Mark said. "Either I would take it over or he would sell it. I don't have any brothers, just one sister." Looking back, realizes that stonecutting is in his genes. "I guess I always knew that someday this business would be mine, but it was important to me to see if I could do something on my own," he said. This month Elio retired and Mark took over operation of the family business, V. Fontana and Co. The business was founded nearly 70 years ago in Colma by Elio's father, Valerio, who emigrated to San Francisco from Italy. Valerio Fontana put the family talent to use carving the granite for San Francisco's Hall of Justice, the library and scores of other downtown Go to Page 2