Coelho Family History

Dave, Deolinda and their four children David, Samuel, Stephanie, and Jeanne.

Dave's grandfather, Joe Coelho, was originally from Terceira, Portugal.  He moved to Brazil for work as a young boy then returned to the Azores, before immigrating to Rhode Island in 1914 at the age of 14.  

At 22, Joe married Virginia, originally from San Miguel and they started a family.  In 1936 he migrated alone to California in order to make a home for his new family.  Isolated, he found work with the mafia.  When they asked him to start passing counterfeit $10 and $20 bills, his wife weighed in and gave him an ultimatum: no more mafia work.  Joe acquiesced, returned to Rhode Island, picked up his family and moved the whole crew to Novato, California.  He became a dairyman, and made Portuguese wine on the side for his family and friends.

Deolinda’s grandfather, José (Joe) Serpa was a whaler in the Azores.  He was from the island of Pico, and her grandmother, Delphina was from the island of São Jorge.  Joe Serpa came to the United States via Ellis Island around 1922 and settled in Massachusetts.  Two years later he sent for his family.  In 1927, the family migrated to California where Joe worked for a creamery for many years, before starting his own carpentry business.

Joe tried his hand at winemaking in the basement, but it was short lived.  Joe and Delphina had eight children, and one evening the boys thought that it would be a good idea to siphon some wine out for themselves and friends.  The next morning, the siphon was still in the barrel, the wine was all over the floor, and so were a few sick boys!