Domenico Massari; Former Palmdale Mayor

Domenico Massari, a former mayor of Palmdale who was instrumental in the city’s development, has died. He was 102.

Massari died Sunday at his home of natural causes, according to his son, Joseph J. Lobue.

“He went to sleep and died with the dignity that he lived with,” said Lobue.

Born Nov. 14, 1893, in Pietragalla, a town in the Italian province of Potenza, Massari landed in Los Angeles in 1922 after a stint as a railroad worker in Canada and San Francisco. He built a house at Alameda Street and Manchester Avenue and opened a restaurant.

In 1929, Massari moved to Palmdale, where, once again, he built a house. “When I finish the house, I was looking for a job, and I couldn’t find any job there,” Massari told The Times in a 1989 interview, “So I said, ‘Well, I think I’m going to make my own job.’ ”

He sold firewood and vegetables from a cart and then built a service station on Sierra Highway, which thrived during the lean Depression years. He then opened a restaurant and a six-unit motel called Palmdale Modern Cabins.

Massari established himself as one of the region’s biggest cheerleaders, pushing for the development of the downtown area and, years later, leading an eight-year campaign to win the city’s 1962 incorporation.

“I work hard to get the town incorporated,” said Massari. “Because every time we want something, we have to go down to Los Angeles to Board of Supervisors . . . they say ‘yes, yes, yes’ and we never see anything.”

Massari served as a city councilman and then became Palmdale’s second mayor.

In 1969, he established a mobile home park where he lived with his wife, Teresa, until his death. The couple would have celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary Tuesday.

Massari served on the Palmdale Library board of directors and was instrumental in the planning and building of Palmdale Hospital.

“He worked very hard,” said Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford. “His legacy is the establishment of a community in the south Antelope Valley that is a thriving metropolis with a quality of life that Domenic envisioned.”

Shortly before Massari’s 100th birthday, Palmdale honored its founding father, known locally as “Mr. Palmdale,” by renaming the 40-acre Palms Park after him.

In addition to his wife and son, Massari is survived by his daughter, Lena Sulpi of Palmdale; three sisters, Carmalla and Angela Massari, both of Turin, Italy, Rosa Massari of Buenos Aires, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A rosary will be recited today at 7 p.m. at Chapel of the Valley Mortuary, 38141 6th St. E., Palmdale. Funeral services will be held Thursday at 10 a.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 1600 E. Ave. R 4, Palmdale, with interment to follow at Desert Lawn Memorial Park, Palmdale.