Obituaries : * Ralph T. Viola; Construction Contractor of Prominent Public Buildings

Ralph Thomas Viola, a longtime Ventura County resident whose construction company built the Oxnard Civic Auditorium and more than 100 schools in the county, has died of leukemia. He was 79.

Viola was born the youngest son of Italian immigrants Thomas and Josephine Viola on Dec. 28, 1916, in Orono, Maine. He spent his youth in the college town before attending the University of Maine on an athletic scholarship he won after playing halfback during his high school’s most legendary football season in 1932. That year, the team was undefeated, untied and never scored against.

Viola lost his college scholarship after breaking his leg, but went on to graduate in 1938 with a degree in forestry and a minor in civil engineering.

He then accepted a job at the Department of the Interior as an agricultural advisor to farmers.

In 1942, he joined the Navy where he achieved the rank of Lieutenant Senior Grade and served as captain of the USS Submarine Chaser 645 in the Pacific Fleet.

While in the Navy he met and married his wife of 52 years, Virginia Frances Watson, in Los Angeles.

When Viola left the Navy in 1946, the couple moved to Oxnard and founded the Viola Inc. construction company in their home. Now located on Commercial Street in Oxnard, the company builds schools, libraries, hospitals and manufacturing facilities.

In addition to Oxnard’s auditorium, Viola Inc. oversaw the construction of the old Thousand Oaks city hall, most of the Oxnard city complex, and the UC Santa Barbara library.

During the Nixon administration, Viola was appointed to the National Alliance of Businessmen and was twice appointed by former President Ronald Reagan to the California Contractors State License Board.

In 1970, he moved with his family to Ventura. Soon after, Viola bought Bond Jewelers, a jewelry store in the Oxnard Marketplace complex. Although he retired in 1986, Viola was still active in running both companies, according to his wife. In his spare time, he enjoyed gardening and reading, she said.

He was a 45-year member of the Elks Oxnard Lodge and was a Fourth Degree Knight of the Oxnard Knights of Columbus.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by three sons, Michael T. Viola, William R. Viola and Timothy R. Viola, all of Ventura; a sister Olga Viola Lazzaro of Oxnard; and seven grandchildren.

Viewing will be held Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Chapel in Ventura and on Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rosary will be said Monday at 8:15 p.m. at the San Buenaventura Mission. Funeral Mass will be held Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church in Ventura. Interment at the Santa Clara Mausoleum will be private.