The History of the Rose's

Elvin Rose and his wife of 60 years, Jean, still live in the same great looking historic house on Smith Street in the old Alvarado area. Al, as he is fondly called, grew up in that old Victorian house.

Al was one of the very first Union City Fire Chiefs in those old days.

Al was born on June 29, 19l8 and Jean, on February 13, 1918. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary recently.

Al's family lived in Union City all their lives. He knew August May, who was the owner of the very first bank in Union City. ``I remember going there as a kid.'' He said. Pete Decoto was the brother of August May's wife. ``There was also a building, which was the Alameda County first courthouse'', he said. Al went to Alvarado Elementary School, an old two story wooden structure, later demolished, and which was also in the site of the present school.

Antoinette Rose, Al's sister, married the late Peter Pinto. Antoinette and her whole family and relatives still live in the Old Alvarado. All the Rose' are parishioners of St. Anne Catholic Church.

Al joined the Fire Dept in 1944 as a volunteer. He acted as Fire Chief during that time. They remained firefighter volunteers for 13 years. After 6 more years, Union City was able to fund for two firefighters, one stationed in old Alvarado and one in Decoto. Al stayed to help until they got organized. He stayed as a volunteer firefighter for 20 years.

Al was truly a fireman. Over the years, the early exposure to the fire environment, produced a whole battalion of firefighters in the Rose's family.

His children followed his footsteps as firemen. They were in his team of volunteer firefighters, during that time that Union City did not have a paid fire department.

The following Rose's children were the volunteer firemen for many years under the direction of their Fire Chief father Al Rose. Their mother and their only sister Suzanne, were volunteers also. ``Sometimes Al directs calls to our house and we became the fire dispatchers.'' Jean recalls.

Danny, now age 56, lives in the old Alvarado, just behind his dad's house. He worked for 30 years in the Union City Fire Department. He was Assistant Battalion Chief and then as Fire Chief of Union City. At age 52, he retired and pursued his dream of making the most exotic and expensive fishing poles.

• Richard, 54, lives in Fremont and is a supervisor at the Livermore Laboratory.
• Stanley, 52, is a Certified Public Accountant and lives in Union City. He is the head of the Board of Equalization, in San Jose.
• Dale, 49, is a fireman in San Carlos.
• Marvin, 47, is a Public Works Director at Sunnyvale.
• Gordon, 44, repairs fire trucks for the San Ramon Fire District and still lives with his parents.
• Suzanne, 41, is in Solon, Iowa with her husband, who is Head and Neck Surgeon at the University of Iowa. She takes care of their home.

As you look around the old Victorian home of Al and Jean, you could see success in the rearing their children. First, they instilled volunteerism in their minds and then they made sure that they pursue their education. The children's photographs, in their graduation gowns and caps, lined up the walls of the house.

Al had his first job working for Holly Sugar Company as a weigh master at a beet collection station in San Leandro for one year. Al then went to Hudson Lumber Company, where he worked for about five years. It was there that he met Jean. They were married in 1939. From there he went to Standard Trailer Company as a shop supervisor where he worked for 52 years.

Al Rose, a full-blooded Portuguese and Jean, a French-Canadian, planned to stay in Union City. They are very active in church; they visit their nephew in Alaska, where they enjoy fishing.

In the early `70s, Al collected artifacts for a city museum and displayed them at the now demolished Kelly Moore store, at the corner of Alvarado and Decoto.

These days of the sprawling Union Landing, the half a million-dollar homes, the increasing numbers of residents and the settlement of their children, the Roses are very much contented with the outcome of their hard work. Although they reminisce the days of vast greens in the area, and they see and experience the present day problems of day to day traffic, they are thankful of the progress they saw in Union City through the years.

We will remember Al Rose as one of the early Fire Chiefs in Union City. The history of the Rose's will never fade in the minds of the Union City residents.

From the Museum Treasurer, Miles Price:

We welcome the residents of Union City to become members of the very first historical museum in Union City. The following are the members as of this date.

• Patti Adams, Secretary
• Carson Adams
• Alice Arce
• Commissioner Lamont Allen
• Bertelson Pre-Cast Steps, Inc.
• Braswell, Steven
• Braswell, Norma
• Elvamae Borghi
• Frank Borghi, Jr.
• Alison Buenaventura
• Mike Christ
• Celcer, James L.
• Gertrude Corchero
• Regina Dennie
• Brian Eady
• Barry Ferrier
• Mrs. Barry Ferrier
• Carmen Jaramillo
• Jaime Jaramillo
• Eva Kamakea
• Heide Kitayama
• Tom Kitayama
• Darlene Hicks
• Jeanne Larson
• Elaine Martin
• Commissioner Hugh McNamara
• Museum of Local History, Fremont
• Dennis Olsen
• Mary Olsen
• Larry Orozco
• Jess Orozco
• Ruth Orozco
• Gilbert & Paula Orozco
• Miles Price, Treasurer
• Rita Price
• Commissioner Myrla Raymundo,
• President
• Ligfinio Raymundo
• Emilio Re
• Marjorie Re
• Orlando S. Rivera
• Elvin Rose
• Commissioner Georgia Santa Maria
• Leonard F. Silva
• Lupe St. Denis
• Joan Schlaepfer
• Norman Shepard
• Margaret Shepard
• Carmen Smeester
• Estelle Starr
• Timothy Swenson, Vice-President
• Midge Thornton
• Councilmember Richard Valle
• Commissioner Phil Verzola -
• (Lifetime Member)
• Commissioner Tony Vierra
• Rita Vierra

A Glimpse of History

Compiled By Timothy Swenson, Vice President

(Continuation of historical compilation published last January 2000 issue)

Quiet Years 1900 to 1958

• 1902 - Alvarado Bank founded by L.V. Ralph
• 1905 - Alvarado Fire Dept. Founded
• 1909 - WP Rail Line built in Decoto
• 1910 - Decoto Station built, moved to San Jose in 1922

Industry

• 1930 - Marlo Cannery founded in Decoto
• 1937 - Pacific States Steel founded
• Saltz Brothers Warehouse in Decoto
• Various Nurseries established
• 1950 - American Pipe Co. founded

Incorportion

• Newark Incorporated 1953
• Fremont Incorporated l956
• Hayward encroaching on Decoto
• Election held January 13, 1959
• Union City Incorporated with 9 square miles, expanded to 14 square miles in 1962

First City Council

• Tom Kitayama (Mayor)
• John Ratekin
• George Sloan
• Joseph Lewis
• Oscar Dowe
• Dean Seager appointed City Administrator

After Incorporation - 1960 - Present

• Subdivisions begin (Town & County, Casa Verde. Regency Park, Contempo, Creekside)
• 1966 - Union City Drive-In Opened
• 1972 -BART station opened
• 1974 - City bus service begins - ``The Flea''
• 1976 - Civic Center Complex built

Things Came to an End

• 1969 - Holly Sugar closed
• 1977 - Holly Sugar smokestack demolished
• 1977 - Pacific States Steel closed
• 1984 - Tom Kitayama finished as Mayor
• 1998 - UC Drive-In Theater demolished

From the President and CEO

Myrla Raymundo, MBA

Delving into the different archives in Union City and reading through scores of the local newspapers' past stories, I find historical stories to help us remember our distant past.

There are also so many people around, who had seen the early years in our city. There are so many stories to write. You never finish interviewing and talking to these people. I am very excited because these are people who had seen the early years and they are telling me their stories. Visits to their homes reveal the nostalgia of the surroundings, the old relics, the old times. There is something magical about these visits. It gives me the opportunity to get their stories and to feature them for future issues of our newsletter.

Those of us who are working for the museum should be proud of ourselves. In a short span of time, we were able to obtain a home for our museum. We were able to produce a Building Preservation Ordinance to help us preserve our historical structures. We have our very own Web site to inform our community of our history, and our Educational Program and Speakers Bureau also came into existence. The Oral History continues and our History book will materialize soon. We continually have media coverage and we continuously write our Museum Newsletter.

As we go along and continue to do our work, we can look back on challenges met and move into a clear future. We need to continue to make things happen.

We will keep up the good work.

The Union City Historical Museum

The Union City Historical Museum, founded in 1998 by Myrla Raymundo, is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to recording, documenting, and preserving the history of Union City, California. It also educates residents on history.

The Museum Officials are:

• Myrla Raymundo, MBA - President
• Timothy Swenson - Vice President
• Miles Price - Treasurer
• Patti Adams - Secretary

The Union City Historical Museum meets on the first Monday of the Month at the Union City City Hall at 7:00 PM. Please come and join us and talk history.

Union City Commissioners on Profile

Our city commissioners are vital links of the community to our city. They perform their duties diligently and are really instrumental in making things happen. They assist the city council in the day-to-day running of the city.

Hence, we will be featuring our city commissioners in our issues of the newsletter.

My Life's Story - By Phil Verzola (Human Relations Commissioner)

I was born Pamfilo (Phil) Carino Verzola, April 29, 1954 in St. Mary's Hospital, San Francisco, California. My father, Teofilo Verzola, alone and at the age of 17, emigrated from the Philippines to the United States in 1934. My father's first most vivid memory of San Francisco was traveling under the Golden Gate Bridge, still under construction, in the cargo ship that took many weeks to get to San Francisco. His first 4th of July in the US was spent detained for processing at Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay, where in the evening he saw fireworks being set off at Crissy Field. My father worked for almost 20 years as a migrant worker in California, working in the Imperial Valley. In San Francisco he met my mother, Pacita Carino, and in January 12, 1953, they were married.

Our family, along with other Filipino families, lived on a labor farm in Colma California, where the family worked picking flowers. I am the eldest of five children, two boys and three girls. My father had two jobs, working in the flower fields in the daytime, and working as a janitor in the evening at United Airlines. My mother worked the flower fields in the day and, after school and on Saturdays, my brother and sisters and I also worked in the flower fields. After school our dad would give us a ride to the flower fields before going to his second job at United Airlines. When it got dark we rode home with our mother and when we got home she would start dinner while we kids washed up. After dinner, we did our homework, then time for bed. Sundays were spent going to church, then either going to China town for lunch, visiting relatives, or going on a Sunday drive. Saturday nights were usually when parties were scheduled (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) in the large barn at the flower farm where all the Filipino families celebrated together.

Although I didn't feel deprived as a child and had manny happy memories during the time we lived at the labor farm, I remember an indident that made me realize that the Filipino kids at the farm were different from the rest of thekids we went to school with, which were largely of Italian, Irish and other Euro-American descent. One year my school had a food drive and we had to bring items to the school to give to the poor. My mother looked at our pantry and gave me a rusty can of white hominy corn and a can of spinach. I remember thinking ``Good, I can't stand those vegetables anyway''. I brought them to school, and they were collected to be sent out to the poor that afternoon. When I returned home later that afternoon, there was a large box at our front door with cans of food in it. I thought to myself why did we get this food that was for the poor? It was my mother that had to explain to me that to the rest of the community outside the labor farm we are looked upon as poor. She also explained to me that we weren't really poor but it would be impolite to refuse their gift, so we kept the food.

In 1965 our family saved enough money to put a down payment on a home in Mountain View, California. The new house was huge compared to the tiny two bedroom hotel we stayed in at the labor farm, and for the first week the whole family slept in my parents room. After awhile we kids eventually slept in our own rooms, but it took a couple months to get used to the idea. My father continued to work evenings at United AirLines and my mother got a job at Hewlett Packard in Palo Alto. The family continued to work at the flower farm on the weekends until it was finally sold in the 70's, and turned into a senior citizen community complex.

My brother and sisters all went to grade school and High School in Mountain View and then to San Jose State College. My Major was Pre-Med with a minor in Photography. I found that I preferred photography and found that there was a profession I could pursue called Medical Photography. I took additional courses in Medical Photography at R.I.T. in New York and at Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, and became a member of the Biological Photography Association.

In 1976 Stanford University hired me as a Medical Photographer and in 1985 I headed the Medical Photography Division in the Department of Pathology at Stanford. While at Stanford I joined the cultural groups, the Asian Staff Forum, (ASF) Filipinos at Community of Stanford, (FACS) and Filipinos for Affirmative Action (FAA). Each year I sponsor in my department the Toys for Tots drive during Christmas. In 1997 I accepted a position on the board of directors for the Dr. Norman Shumway Foundation that gives out scholarships to underprivileged youths in San Mateo County.

In 1980 I met Leila Villafuerte, my future wife, while visiting my relatives in the Philippines. I corresponded with Leila after I returned to the U S and one-year later I returned to the Philippines to ask Leila to marry me. She said yes with the condition that she remained in the Philippines until she graduated from college. Leila held a full-time job working six days a week while attending college part-time.

We were married in the Philippines, in July 18, 1981. While Leila became a full-time student to finish her degree in accounting, I went back to the U S, working two jobs so that when Leila graduated a year later and immigrated to the U S, we would have enough money to put a down-payment on a home. In August 1982, Leila graduated and came to the U S. Leila has made a career in banking and is presently working as a Trust Specialist at Greater Bay Trust in Palo Alto.

Our first home (which we bought in December of 82' and still own) was in Mountain View where much of our family and relatives lived. After a few years many of our family, relatives and friends began to move to Union City and Fremont, as they were able to buy new homes at a price that was much less than Mountain View. In 1984 Leila and I also moved to Fremont to be close to family, in the Ardenwood area where we lived until 1994.

In 1986, Veronica, our daughter was born. She attended Ardenwood School until the 2nd grade when we decided that we would like her to attend a Catholic School. We were also looking for a larger home as Leila's mother, Bienvenida, moved in with us. We were able to find a new home and a new school, Our Lady of the Rosary School, both in Union City.

Our family attends Our Lady of the Rosary Church where Leila is a Lector and on the development committee, and our daughter is an Altar Server. Leila also is very active in the Parent Teacher Club at Our Lady of the Rosary School. Leila organized parents and students for caroling during Christmas to raise funds for the school, and has chaired many events to raise funds for both the school and the church.

I have for several years now been the school board president at Our Lady of the Rosary. I am a member of the local Knights of Columbus and a local organizing group, Congregations Organizing for Renewal, (COR) which is part of a larger group, Pacific Institute for Community Organization (PICO) at Our Lady of the Rosary Church.

PICO was the driving force in getting the city to clean up a park in the Decoto area and to allocate $250,000 for after school care. These two items were important in that it figured in Union City becoming an All-American Award Winner. PICO's latest victory (November 99') was getting the County Supervisors to vote that all the money that the county receives from the Tobacco settlement, 19 million dollars per year for the next 25 years, go for healthcare.

In 1998 when PICO was lobbying the City Council to allocate $250,000 for after school care my wife and I saw the graduation of the first Union City Citizens Workshop in the council chambers. Leila and I were unhappy with the way PICO had handled the situation in approaching the council members to grant the request (although we did get the money for after school care, the meeting got out of hand and was too confrontational).

Leila and I decided to learn more about city government and the proper way to approach the city council so we signed up for the 2nd Union City Citizens Workshop class. We found the workshop very informative and we feel very reassured and confident that our taxes are well spent in running city government. The workshop also inspired me to do my part in civic responsibilities. I took classes to become a Community Emergency Response Team member (CERTS) and I signed up and was appointed as a Human Relations Commissioner.

My family and I met Myrla Raymundo during a Friends of the Library book sale at the library where my family bought about 50 books (we are a family of readers). Myrla, who is president of Friends of the Library, signed us up as members and mentioned that she was also president of the Union City Historical Museum. Myrla said that I should consider joining as it pertains to the preserving the culture and history of Union City. As a Union City Human Relations Commissioner it is my obligation to acknowledge, appreciate and promote the many cultures of our city. Since it is the culture of Union City that allows the many other cultures of different people to live in harmony in Union City, it was my pleasure to become the Union City Historical Museum's first lifetime member.

There is something unique about the culture of Union City that started from the very beginning of its becoming a city. The new citizens of Union City elected a Japanese-American as their 1st mayor, where as only 14 years before the US had interned all Japanese-Americans, solely based on their national heritage. It seems that the first Union City citizens had been able to look beyond stereotyping groups of peoples and instead really look into the qualities of an individual and determined that Mr. Tom Kitayama was the right person for mayor. It is stories like this that I want to make sure are remembered.

I feel very fortunate and excited to be a Human Relations Commissioner in Union City as it is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the state and the US. With 71 different languages and dialects spoken in the city, it is more important than ever to be interculturally competent in interacting with people of many cultures. It is the challenge of the City of Union City, and the Human Relations Commission in particular, to lead the way in showing the rest of the state, country, and the world how the many cultures of Union City can live in harmony. It is my hope that the work we do in the Human Relations Commission will advance the understanding, respect and insight of the many different cultures of Union City to make it, ``the City of Unity''.

Happy Birthday Union City and congratulations on becoming an All-America City Award Winner.

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY OF THE EARLY FILIPINOS IN THE UNITED STATES

In 1920 the first generation Filipinos came to the United States, where they worked in the sugar plantations in Hawaii. These pioneering Filipinos had little education when they left the Philippines and so they found menial jobs such as apple pickers and agricultural workers in vegetable farms, house cleaners, helpers, dishwashers, bellboys and domestic helpers. The camps provided by the owners of the plantations were their homes. They rarely went out to have fun.

The second generation Filipinos came in l946 under the Exchange Students Programs and they settled in the East Coast. They stayed there and they became doctors, engineers, architects, and teachers.

The third and latest influx of the Filipino immigrants came in the early 1970 and late 1980. Most of them were professionals and relatives of families who had been here for quite a while and they settled in California. Some of them were U. S. Navy men and some of them were those who worked for the U. S. Navy in the Philippines. Some of them settled in Union City, Fremont, Hayward, Newark and the outlying areas.

Today the Filipinos are one of the largest Asian group in this country. Most of them possess the intelligence and expertise that they brought over here and they are considered as brain drain in the Philippines.