Rino Fornari was born in 1927 in Italy, in the small village of Gropparello in the province of Piacenza, located about 130 kilometres northwest of Bologna and about 25 kilometres south of Piacenza.
His wife Rosa (Fava) Fornari was born in 1928 in Ponte dell'Olio in the Province of Piacenza in the same Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, located about 22 kilometres south of Piacenza, about 85 kilometres south of Milan and about 160 kilometres northwest of Bologna.
Their story isn't exactly about how they met because Rosa was chosen for Rino by his mother.
Rino's mother always noticed this group of young girls on their way to church as they passed by her house. She called Rino to the window and pointed out Rosa and advised him that she would be the best one for him. It wasn't long after that, that Rino happened to meet Rosa on a Sunday afternoon.
He asked her where she was going and she told him she was on her way to a dance and the rest is history.
They fell in love, became engaged and Rino left for work in Belgium; Rosa promised to wait for him.
Rosa and Rino were engaged for the next six years while he pursued work in the mining industry both as a labourer and as an office worker doing mining research. His work took him to six different countries: Belgium, Argentina, Algeria, Uruguay, Greenland and finally Sweden where they lived for approximately six years.
With all his work in different countries Rino was quite proficient in Italian, Spanish, Swedish and French. At the age of 40 Rino decided that they should move to Canada and learn English. Rino arrived in Montreal in 1964 and eventually ended up in Prince George in 1965.
Rosa and their Swedish born son Marco arrived in Prince George in the fall of 1966.
Rosa said, "When I got to Prince George there were so many things that were different - especially the climate - and the shock of it all caused me to not like my new life at the very beginning. We joined the Italian Club and that was a good thing. Marco was in Grade 1 and could read and write a bit of Italian and found it easy to learn English. I remember the first day that Rino and I dropped him off at school - we both cried when we left him there. I didn't understand anything. The teachers were great with Marco and he was happy and he liked school so I just looked on the bright side of everything and I grew to love Prince George. We still live in the very same house that we bought in 1966. We have many wonderful friends and some really great neighbors. We are both very happy here in Prince George."
Rosa went to work for the local school board office. She was one of the first women to work in the school board maintenance department. After awhile she worked with three other Italian ladies which made it easier for her to learn the English language.
She worked for the school board for 18 years and loved it and all the people she worked with. She retired at the age of 65.
Rino worked for the City of Prince George as a mechanic and welder. He said, "Back then it was all small equipment repairs but it wasn't long before it was all big equipment. Things were certainly different back then."
Rino served as the President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 399 in Prince George for 16 years and said, "Way back then Prince George CUPE workers were the lowest paid in all of Canada."
Over those 16 years Rino was instrumental in negotiating for better wages, better working conditions, superannuation and equality for the women working for the City of Prince George.
Rino says, "The fight for equality for women back in those days was a tough fight but we did it. We never had a strike under my leadership."
In 1990 Rino resigned from CUPE and successfully ran for a three-year City Council seat.
He is a past board member and governor of the College of New Caledonia and in 1987 he was one of the board members of the newly incorporated Interior University Society and by 1990 and with thanks to the society the University of Northern B.C. was no longer a dream.
The years have flown by and Rino and Rosa are now respectively 88 and 87. Health issues now keep them both close to home.
Their son Marco (Maggie) is a retired Prince George City employee who now does all their grocery shopping.
Both Rino and Rosa said, "We are so thankful for Marco; he is always there when we need him. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our friends and neighbours for just everything."
