Sugar Tramp Chronicles
by
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About the Book
By the time our Dad became a sugar chemist, it was becoming a year round job, as they became involved in other parts of the sugar process. However our Mom always affectionately called Dad her “Sugar Tramp”. Indeed they did move about quite a bit. From Louisiana to Hawaii, a try at farming in California, to Mexico to work in a sugar mill, to San Diego, to Crocket. He was out of the sugar business for a while when the family moved to Concord, California, then back to Mexico; finally working at Spreckles Sugar Company in San Francisco.
Often, due to Dads work, they were separated and letters became an important part of their life. There were a few letters from Dad when he was studying sugar technology at Louisiana State University. Mom was teaching school then, and her letters of that period were probably lost when he went to Hawaii. When he went to Hawaii they wrote almost weekly for two years and ten months, telling of their activities, becoming engaged, discussing marriage, and of course loving each other. When they were together, Mom wrote to her family, asking that they return her letters to keep as a kind of diary. Thus the Sugar Tramp Chronicles were written.
About the Author
Born in Wialuku Maui, July 15 1917. Moved about with family according to my father's jobs, as told in The Sugar Tramp Chronicles.
Graduated from Holy Names College in Oakland, California in 1939. Received MS in Social Work from Catholic University of America, Washington D.C. in 1942. Group Work major.
Worked in Los Angeles with Catholic Welfare Centers and Settlements and with Los Angeles Youth Project. The latter with street clubs among Mexican and Negro youths. Gave a paper on Group Work with the Hard to Reach at 1950 Social Work Conference in Atlantic City. This paper selected as one to be included in the SW annual publication.
Was granted a Fulbright Cultural Exchange Program assignment in 1955 to act as consultant with a school of social work in Rome, Italy. I was requested to submit an article for the University of Rome periodical, on Group work. This was translated to Italian.
After the two year grant was up I married Michele Ricchiuto at St. Peter's in Rome. When he obtained his Visa, I returned with him to the USA. When our son, John, was in the second grade, I returned to work as a Child Welfare Worker with Contra Costa County in California. I worked in foster care and day care licensing, then in Protective Services, working with the Juvenile Court system.
I retired in 1981 and when Mike (Michele) retired in 1986 we moved to San Andreas. Our son John and daughter-in-law Marijane have three children; Abbey, Michael, and Thea. Mike and I live on five acres. Mike cares for the edibles and I take care of the ornamentals in our garden
I am currently putting together, letters, diaries, pictures from all my past activities, but primarily the letters and diaries of my Mom and Dad who were a remarkable couple.