| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Matriarch of last fresh fish company on Fisherman's Wharf dies
Saturday August 16, 2003SAN FRANCISCO, (AP) Annetta Alioto Lazio, whose family runs the last fresh fish company on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, has died of heart failure in Greenbrae.
She was 98.
Born in Santa Elia, Sicily, Annetta Alioto came to the United States as a child. She married Tom Lazio, and in 1940 they founded the Tom Lazio Fish Company, which eventually became the Alioto-Lazio Fish Co. on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf.
The Alioto and Lazio families helped develop the Wharf, but have been caught in a legal dispute with the city for years over their fishing shed, which port engineers say may collapse.
While the case was being debated in court, Lazio was called to give a deposition. Whent the judge asked the then 97-year-old woman if she wanted to sit down, she answered, ``Your honor, Alioto women always stand.''
She is survived by her daughter, Stephanie Cincotta of San Rafael; and her son, Lawrence Lazio of Eureka. A Mass will be held on Wednesday at 10:45 a.m. at SS Peter and Paul's Church on Washington Square in San Francisco.
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