Rudolph Renaldo Genetti

(July 25, 1929 – Feb. 27, 2012)

Published from Legacy.com Obituaries.

With deep sadness, the family of Rudolph Renaldo (“Rudy”) Genetti reports the passing of his great spirit on February 27th, 2012, as a result of complications from Parkinson’s Disease. Rudy was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming, on July 25th, 1929, the son of Enrico Genetti and Caterina Cologna, immigrants from the Val di Non in the Trentino district in northern Italy.

He had a beloved sister Elda, who lived a long and rich life, predeceasing him in 2010. The children were raised as part of a close Italian community in La Barge, Wyoming, where their parents founded the Eagle Bar, a restaurant, bar, and dance hall that was at the center of the local social life. Tragically, Enrico and Caterina both died in 1941.

Rudy attended Wasatch Academy, a boarding school in the Wasatch mountains of Utah, graduating in 1947. He then attended Occidental College in Los Angeles. He joined the Air Force in 1951 and served for two years, including a posting in Korea, where he was certified as an aerial photographer.

He then moved back to San Francisco, where he met his life’s true love, Lois Ruth Peters, whom he married in 1955. He began teaching at Davidson Junior High and San Rafael High before settling permanently at Sir Francis Drake High School, where he taught for 30 years.

As a teacher he was both passionate and innovative, infusing his students with his twin loves of science and photography, and teaching life lessons that went far beyond the classroom. He helped to found Sir Francis Drake’s School Within A School (SWAS), an alternative high school that was based on the principles of small classes, student-initiated learning, and experiential education. This program allowed the development of close bonds between teachers and students, enabling him to profoundly influence hundreds of lives, as he served as a role model, friend, and mentor.

Rudy had many hobbies. He grew grapes and made wine. He was an avid choral singer, award-winning photographer, amateur pilot, world traveler, fantastic cook, and wine connoisseur.

But perhaps foremost Rudy was a family man. He had three children (Ken, married to Alexandra Balfour; Cathy, married to Raymond Reinhard; and Carol, married to Paul Campbell), seven grandchildren (Cerrithwen, Bronwen (Oran T. Egger), and Gaelen Genetti; Michael and Jeremy Reinhard; and Olivia and Marcus Campbell), and two great-grandchildren (Kelson and Jordan Egger), whom he loved and assisted with selfless devotion to the end of his life.

He was known as a man of unfailing kindness, remarkable wisdom, lively intelligence, and delightful humor. A memorial service will be held May 12th, 2012, at the Marin Art and Garden Center, at 2:00 p.m. People wishing to honor his legacy may send a check in his memory to the Drake Scholarship Foundation (In Memory of Rudy Genetti), c/o Sir Francis Drake High School, 1327 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, San Anselmo, CA, 94960.