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     Charles George Spiteri was born on 9 January 1948 in San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.^1,2 He married Peggy J Howard on 18 February 1972 at San Francisco, CA, USA. Charles George Spiteri married Veronica L Morby on 15 December 1972 at San Mateo Co., CA, USA. Charles George Spiteri and Veronica L Morby were divorced on 14 October 1975 at Clark Co., WA, USA. Charles George Spiteri married Charlene K. Land on 22 December 1979 at Clark Co., WA, USA. Charles George Spiteri married Bonny K. Johnston on 17 May 1985 at Blanco, TX, USA.^1,3 Charles George Spiteri died on 6 November 2023 at Carey, ID, USA, at age 75.
     He was listed in the 1940 US Census of Joseph Spiteri and Carmela Raphela Josephine Gajetana Spiteri in 1950 at San Francisco, CA, USA; age 27, skating shoe mfg. shoemaker. Charles George Spiteri began military service in 1965 Charles Spiteri served in the Marines from 1965 to 1966. He reached the rank of lance corporal and was stationed in Camp Pendleton in San Diego. Charles later joined the Air Force reserves. He remained in the reserves for some 25 years and was called up to active duty during Desert Storm.
Charles George Spiteri Honored by MHS for his military service during the Vietnam War on 18 November 2018. As of 2023, Charles George Spiteri lived at Clarkdale, AZ, USA.
Obituary: on 15 November 2023: Charles George Spiteri ~1948-2023~
Charles George Spiteri born January 9, 1948, in San Francisco, California passed away on November 6, 2023, in Idaho, surrounded by his loving family. He was predeceased by his loving wife of thirty-six years, Bonny Johnston Spiteri, his parents Joseph and Carmen Spiteri and his sister Tessy Spiteri Lencioni. He leaves behind his children, Joseph Spiteri, Heather Spiteri, and Joshua Spiteri. In addition, he leaves behind his grandchildren, Nicholas Spiteri (Shawntel), Alyssa Spiteri, Jewelia Spiteri Jensen (Jordan Jensen), Jessica Spiteri (Teagan Jackson), his great-grandchildren, Hayley Spiteri, Theodore Spiteri, Phoenix Jensen, and Venice Jensen. He is also survived by his brother, George Spiteri (Jacki), sister, Josephine Spiteri Ghiglieri (Steve), and brother-in-law, Emil Lencioni (Tessy). He is mourned by his three surviving Aunts and Uncle, his nieces, nephews, many cousins and friends.
His courage showed in his determination to fight his battle with cancer.
Charles grew up in the Bayview District and Portola District of San Francisco. He attended All Hallows Catholic Grammer School, Pelton Junior High school, and Mission High school.
He joined the U. S. Marines at the age of seventeen. He was awarded a medical discharge. He later joined the U.S. Army and then the United States Air Force Reserve where he served in Operation Desert Storm. He retired from the Air Force Reserve in the year 2000 as a Tech Sgt. He was very proud to be the crew chief of the C-5 Galaxy based out of Travis Air Force Base. He loved serving his country in the military, which he did for thirty-five years. He later volunteered as captain in the Civil Air Patrol.
He previously lived in Cottonwood Arizona for twenty years with his wife, Bonny.
He had a love of cars, and later enjoyed baking and cooking
He was proud of his Maltese - American heritage and was a member of the Maltese American Social Club of San Francisco.
He will be remembered as being thoughtful, caring and always willing to serve his family, friends, and community.

     George Frank Spiteri was born on 18 July 1949 in San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.^1,2 He married Patricia L. Brown.¹ George Frank Spiteri and Patricia L. Brown were divorced in March 1972 at San Francisco, CA, USA. George Frank Spiteri married Jaclyn Jean Hanson.¹
     George Frank Spiteri was listed in the 1940 US Census of Joseph Spiteri and Carmela Raphela Josephine Gajetana Spiteri in 1950 at San Francisco, CA, USA; age 27, skating shoe mfg. shoemaker. George Frank Spiteri began military service in 1969 at Germany George served in the Army from 1969 to 1972 during the Vietnam War. He was stationed in Germany for almost two years, working as a radar repair man. He worked on Tomahawk missiles. He and Aaron Spiteri were a Owner of A and G skate shop that he and his son, Aaron ( A and G = Aaron and George) run. George Frank Spiteri witnessed the Newspaper of Joseph Spiteri and Maltese In the News on 18 February 1992; Sculpting Skates For Olympic Feet -- Family’s clients take home medals -- BY TORRI MINTON
CHRONICLE Staff Writer
Before Joseph Spiteri took a boat to America, he had never seen ice. He was a shoemaker from Malta who was sick of making shoes. He’d been making them since age 12, working where rats crawled behind the leather. Once he picked up a sole shape soaking in water — but it was a dead rat Leaving his tools behind, he and his new wife, Carmen, arrived in America. They took a train from New York to Oakland, nearly broke. Soldiers bought them apples in Reno. They had 25 cents left when they arrived in the Bay Area, Jost enough to call relatives to bring them to San Francisco. They arrived on a Saturday in 1947. By Monday, Spiteri was back making shoes. “I never did like it,’* says Spiteri, 68, the smell of boot glue strong in the air around him. “But I had no choice.“ He did it for 15 years, making ballet slippers, tap shoe«, cowboy boots, flamenco shoes, sandals and a kind of shoe he’d never seen — ict skates. You’d think he would have had enough. But no. Spiteri started his own skate company in 1963, with a $20,000 loan from family and friends. Family-run SP-Terl of South San Francisco is now the second-biggest maker of skating boots in the country. It makes almost half the ice skates for American figure-skaters at the Olympics, and for Olympic skaters from England to Russia and beyond.
Shaping Skates of The Stars
Pair figure skaters who won gold, silver and bronze Olympic medals in the past few days bought SP-Teri boots: Unified Team members Artur Dmitriev, Natalia Mishkutionok, Denis Petrov and Elena Bechke; and Canadians Lloyd Eisler and Isabelle Brasseur. Handmade S P-Terls have covered the feet of champions like Tal Babilonla and partner Handy Gardner in 1960 and Scott Hamilton, 1984 Olymplc gold medalist. You'd think that by now, Joseph Splterl would quit making shoos. He's only boon doing it for 56 years.
But no. He still works six days a week. "It's in ny blood, to come here," he says. standing amid stacks and rolls of leather and flat foot-shaped boot linings, half- made boots ind the rumbling of leatherstiching sewing machines. Although his job of president has been tuned over to the Spiteri's son George, 42. Joseph is still in charge of soles and heels, and cuts patterns for custom boots. Carmen Splterl, 71, and daughter Teresa Lencioni, 37, clean the insides of the boots and lace them. They are the final inspectors. The family bufcness is a small operation, with 22 employees, making about 36 pairs of skate a day. All are handmade, one-quarter of them custom, costing as much as $500, not counting blades, which run from $140 to $440 for fancy freestyle Jumpers. Cousin Joseph Falzon, vice president, is working next to a veiny white plaster cast of the foot of Edith, an ice skater with large bunions. She has a corn on her second toe and her feet bend inward. She wants custom skates, and she will get them. So will a coach from Colorado who wants pink suede skates with a red heart at the ankle. So will Snoopy. S P-Teri is working on an order for the woman who plays Snoopy at Chartes Schulz’s ice rink in Santa Rosa. Pedro Becerra, bootmaker to the stars, is in charge of things like red hearts at the ankle. Before his 20 years at S P-Teri, he made boots for musicians like Santana and The Who, boots with secret hollow heels and extra zippers strategically placed. George Spiteri came to this business the way his father did. He wasn't looking forward to it He wanted to go into accounting and took a job in skates just to pay for college. By the time he graduated, he started to like the work. He was getting to know skaters, watching them grow up, watching them compete. The Spiteri family attends four to five major skating competitions a year. George says he’s become close friends with some, skaters, like Charles Tickner, winner of the Olympic bronze in I960.


George Frank Spiteri witnessed the Newspaper of Joseph Spiteri and Maltese In the News on 9 February 2002 at San Francisco Chronicle; WINTER OLYMPICS / Skates fit for champions / Family firm crafts stars' custom boots
Anastasia Hendrix, Chronicle Staff Writer, Feb. 9, 2002
A glance at Joseph Spiteri's gentle hands reveals the toll taken by making more than a million stiff leather boots for ice skaters' feet.
His swollen fingers are stained from 50 years of exposure to the paints and glues used on every one -- fumes so familiar he can no longer detect them. The tip of his right pinky is missing, the result of accidentally activating a leather-cutting machine more than 20 years ago.
The calluses and cuticles caked with boot polish symbolize the perfectionism that has made his boots the choice of the biggest stars on ice --including U.S. Olympic figure skating team favorites Michelle Kwan and Timothy Goebel. As she strokes her way to the center of the rink later this month in her quest for a gold medal, Kwan will probably be wearing one of the three pairs of custom-made boots Spiteri, 79, designed and delivered to her in October. Men's skating star Timothy Goebel has become famous for his record-setting quadruple jumps, made in boots that were stitched, soled and styled by hand at Spiteri's South San Francisco factory.
Spiteri cut the pattern for Goebel's size 7B and Kwan's size 5AAA boots himself, in the garage of his Portola district home in San Francisco on a standard manila folder -- just as he has since he first started making boots shortly after coming to America from his native Malta at age 23. It's quieter at home, he explained, and he can concentrate better than amid the whirl of activity at his 10,000-square-foot warehouse. In contrast to the modern machinery inside, Spiteri's methods for finding the perfect fit haven't changed since he founded his namesake company in 1963. Working from a pencil tracing of the skater's bare foot, Spiteri calculates the specific angles and adjustments needed to support the skater. He must take into consideration every spur, fallen arch, knobby joint and twisted toe, as well as the age and weight of the skater. Some orders from far away include detailed photographs, which he uses to formulate the final design. The whole mathematical process takes him about 20 minutes. "After a while, you begin to figure it out automatically," he said, pointing to the various fractions and abbreviations written on the paper pattern. "But I feel like I am still learning because everyone's feet are so different." Spiteri said he has come to love the intricacies of designing scalloped lacing holes or creating special shapes for skaters with missing toes or physical abnormalities, but he admits his fondness for the craft did not come naturally.
He had hoped to leave his shoe-making days behind when he and his new wife arrived in the Bay Area, but there were bills to pay, and he was good at it, so he quickly returned to the trade he had learned in the "old country." Spiteri was later hired by Louis Harlick. He learned to make skating boots from the man whose San Carlos company remains one of his biggest competitors. It was 1963 when Spiteri split with Harlick and started his own business, which he named SP-Teri because he thought it would be easier for people to pronounce and remember than his last name. There were many difficulties at first, said Spiteri, shaking his head and laughing at the recollection of the confusing business letters he sent while learning English.
But the boots spoke for themselves. The business grew, and so did his family. He and his wife, Carmen, raised two sons and two daughters, although none of them became serious skaters. His son George, 52, married a skating coach and is now president of the company. Daughter Tessy Lencioni and her mother are in charge of lacing the boots, fitting them with custom insoles and packaging them. Now that George's oldest son, Aaron, works at the company, there are three generations under the same roof.
George Spiteri, who lives in Redwood City, has watched his father's company outgrow two San Francisco workshops, moving to its current site between Highways 280 and 101. He also oversees the final fittings when customers come to pick up their prized skates -- which can cost more than $1,000 once the blades are attached. Part of the process involves heating the boot in a Toastmaster convection oven in the lobby. After five minutes at 200 degrees, a blue plastic kitchen timer rings and the skater puts on the warm, now pliable, leather boot to mold to the foot as it cools. The process may be novel, but so are some of the custom skates they've made over the years. Though the majority of the skates are white, beige or black, boots with leopard-, giraffe- and zebra-print leather have become quite popular, mostly among coaches who no longer have to coordinate them with sparkly costumes for competitions. During Operation Desert Storm, a skater in Texas ordered camouflage leather boots. More recently, some skaters have asked to have an American flag stitched on the side of their boots. Because the majority of serious ice skaters are young girls, skates in purple and pink suedes are perennial favorites. And some customers have asked the Spiteris to sign the bottom of their skates or autograph the box holding their brand-new boots. But the Spiteris don't expect Olympic fever to result in more orders for skating boots, even though the extensive coverage traditionally boosts profits at ice rinks and apparel shops. Parents of beginning skaters and those who skate occasionally usually wait until they are more skilled or serious about the sport before investing in SP-Teris. Even George Spiteri opted to buy his daughter's first skates from a rival manufacturer instead of making them himself.
He may be practical about skates, but he admits he's less pragmatic when it comes to watching a skater wearing SP-Teri boots perform in a high-stakes competition.
"It's just too nerve-racking," he says, wincing at the thought of watching Kwan compete. Joseph Spiteri said he would "probably watch," then looked skyward and said, "Oh God, oh God, I pray for her." More than likely, the Spiteris will be at the factory while the skaters perform, tending to orders from those aspiring to fill Kwan's boots one day. George Frank Spiteri was a member of the Maltese American Social Club and the St Elizabeth Maltese Society. in 2009. He lived in 2009 at 58 Dockside Circle, Redwood City, CA, USA.

George Frank Spiteri was interviewed: on 20 October 2010: George Spiteri -- October 20, 2010;     Allison Podcast Episodes , MWSC
An interview with George Spiteri, President of SP-Teri Boots. SP-Teri has been making boots since 1963. We talk about the history and evolution of the skating boot, the worst pair of boots he’s ever seen, and dealing with stinky feet. 39 minutes, 36 seconds.
On his most embarrassing skating moment: I’ve got several times where I thought I knew the skater and called them by the wrong name. Or talking to a coach or a skater and asking questions about their parents, and then realizing I was thinking about the wrong person. But other than that, I haven’t had anything where the boot fell apart or anything like that. So I’ve been lucky [laughs].

On the history of SP-Teri boots: My father was a shoemaker on the isle of Malta, and he migrated to San Francisco, because he had an aunt that lived here. This was right after World War II, and Malta was bombed very heavily by the Germans. So a lot of buildings were destroyed and apartments were hard to find. And my mother’s father required that my mother and father have a place to stay before they got married. So my father’s aunt said that she had a place for him to stay in San Francisco, and she knew a guy who made shoes, so my father could probably get a job there. So they put in their papers to get immigration to the United States, and when they got that, they were able to get married, and they came here to the States.

And my father, Joseph, started working for a company that was part-owned by a Maltese guy, making ballet slippers, flamenco shoes, riding boots, that sort of footwear. By 1948 the two gentlemen had the opportunity to make some skating boots for local skaters, and it became a lucrative business. One partner bought out the other partner, and that company became Harlick. Then in the 1950s Joseph became a partner with Louis Harlick in making the skating boots, and then by the early 60s Mr. Harlick found that he had cancer, and so he wanted to sell his interests in the business. And two gentlemen, Jack Henderson who was already in the business and his brother Bob Henderson, bought out Mr. Harlick’s ownership, and they had 80% ownership of the company. And then six months after that Joseph sold his share of the company to the Hendersons, and in 1963 he started the SP-Teri company.
It’s amazing because nobody had planned to make skating boots, or that there would be a business making skating boots in San Francisco. Back then they were just shoemakers and there was an opportunity, and they made them basically because it was a job and they were making money and they were able to raise families. None of them had anticipated becoming large companies or expanding, and they just grew and just added workers to their locations. And we are where we are now because of the skating market of the 1970s through the 1990s.
On the company name: The last name, Spiteri, sometimes gets tied up on the tongue, so SP-Teri was much easier to pronounce for the Americans. I had a tough time at school because some of the teachers couldn’t pronounce my name, so when they took roll I knew it was my name when they were in the Ss and they were fumbling with a last name, so I knew it had to be me [laughs].
On his own skating: I know how to skate, but I don’t skate. It’s not a passion of mine, because I realize that skating is difficult. And it does take some talent. So I choose not to skate [laughs] because I don’t have the talent.
On his family working in the business: My son Aaron helps with sales and some repairs and production. My youngest son Ryan married a gal from St. Louis and moved to St. Louis, and she is an ex-skater, and his sister-in-law is a skating coach. So he’s still involved in the industry. And Bryan met this girl at the ISI [Ice Skating Institute] conference in Las Vegas. He met two other coaches at the same conference, and ended up dating one of them and living with them in San Francisco. And they broke up, and then he dated a coach in Chicago. And then they broke up and he ended up with this coach in St. Louis. So there’s something about Midwest girls [laughs].
On modifying the original last for the boot: In the 1960s, the last looked very similar to the Harlick last, about the same length and same width, but we had a little rounder toe. But since then we narrowed out the heel because we found that a lot of kids were complaining about the heel moving up and down. We also dropped the arch a little bit because of changes in the human foot – we saw more skaters coming in with lower arches so we dropped the arch to make it a little more comfortable. And the last change, we increased the toe box. People have rounder wider feet, so we kept up with the changes in the boot as we see the population change.
On making a boot: For a custom boot, once we have the tracing and measurements and decide on a size — or sizes, because you could have a half or full size between the two feet — and the width for the heel and the ball, then we create a pattern for the upper based on the measurements of the foot. And then from the pattern we cut out all the leather, and then build up a last based on the size we want to make. The last is a plastic form that replicates the foot. Then on that we would build up bunions, heel spurs, ankle spurs, hammer toes. Then we pull the upper over the last, so it will have a certain shape and size. And after that we put on the soles and heels. And sometimes also at that point they might want something like a higher heel, or they might want the soles and heels to be longer because they want to put a particular blade on that boot. Or they might want different covers for tongues. And at the very end, some skaters might want us to do waterproofing or lacquering, or in some cases we send them to the skate shop who will then do the waterproofing.
For a stock boot, we don’t have a pattern because that’s all set up on dies. We just select the materials from the dies. We still have to stitch them the same as a custom boot, on a last, and the soles and heels are put on very similar to a custom boot.
We make upwards of 13 pairs a day, 55 a week, 260 a month. It’s a lot.
On differences between the brands of skating boots: Compared to Riedell and Harlick, our boots are rounder in the toe box, so it is more ideal for a wider foot. But we also accommodate the narrow feet because we make stock boots right down to an AAAA, and in a custom boot we can make up to an AAAAA, or even an AAAAAA. And we make boots all the way up to an EE.
On trade shows: I currently go to about 12 a year. I also go to roller skating Regionals and shows.
On the worst boots he has ever seen: It was the Russians. Working with the Americans and Canadians, they would buy boots when they needed them, on a regular basis, and didn’t wait until they were totally falling apart. But with the Russian skaters during Soviet control, they could not get boots whenever they wanted to. They would apply for boots and it would take them maybe six months or nine months to get a new pair. The other thing was, they always requested boots larger than their foot, sometimes a whole size larger. It didn’t make any sense to me at that time, but they told me, if they get a pair of boots and it doesn’t fit, they couldn’t just send them back and get another pair — they had to wait in line all over again. So if the boot is too small or too narrow, they can`t get their feet in there and skate in them, but if the boot is too big, they can get their feet in there and stuff them with paper to make them fit. And if they were chosen to skate and didn’t do well, and they fell out of favor with the Soviet authorities, they had to go back home and work in factories. So skating was a lot better than working in a factory and living in a two-bedroom apartment with two families in there.
It was unbelievable, not only the fitting, but how long they kept the boots. Sergei Ponomarenko`s boots [at the 1990 World Championships] were duct-taped. The blades were bolted on the boot and they had no rocker on them. But he still managed to win the world championships. And when you look at something like that, it’s just raw desire and raw talent to win a world championship with that kind of equipment. I also fit most of the Russian team then [in 1990], and I realized how fortunate we are in the United States and western Europe, that they could get equipment any time they wanted, and have several pairs a year, and still not do as well as Russians in boots that are two years old and falling apart.
My dealer in Great Britain, Les Westaway, who knew the Russians because he had worked with MK Blades for many years, called me at my hotel [at 1990 Worlds] and asked me to meet him at his hotel and meet two of the skaters who needed boots. So we arrived at midnight to fit two skaters, and by the time I finished I had measured eight or ten of the skaters and it was four o’clock in the morning. And both Les and I were so hyped up and excited by then that we went for breakfast [laughs].
On breaking in boots prior to the introduction of heat-molding ovens: We didn’t recommend getting the boots wet, but show skaters, who didn’t have the luxury of spending two or three weeks breaking in boots, when they got boots on tour they had to break them in that night or the next day. So they would put on heavy wool socks, wet them, and then put their boots on, and then go skate around. And the wetness of the sock would help stretch out the boots. Some of the stories I heard, they would put the boot on, and then step into a bucket of water, and then go out and skate. Some skaters just have more strength so they can break boots in quicker. Some skaters get stiffer boots that take longer to break in. It just depends on who the skater is and what level of skater they are. We have some skaters that take three weeks to break in a boot, and we have some that take two days.
On boot materials: We have microfiber material, which is a lightweight leather, on several of our stock boots. We use cow leather for our stiffer boots and our custom boots, but we do have people request the microfiber upper on their custom boots. With skaters nowadays being younger and smaller, they want a stiff boot but they don’t like the upper leather because it’s too heavy and stiff. So the microfiber is a good compromise for those skaters. They can get a boot that is solid around their feet, has some firmness to it, but doesn’t take as long to break in.
On changing boot designs as the sport changes: We sort of have two issues. How stiff can we make a pair of boots, but then we also have to look at the skater’s feet. Humans’ bones are not getting harder, so we’re still looking at bones that can break or tendons that can rip. So we can only go so stiff, because a skater can develop tendonitis, or shin splints, or stress fractures, and we have to be conscious of that. If you’ve got a 110-pound girl who’s doing triple axels and maybe a quad loop or quad salchow, she’s going to go through two pairs of stiff boots a year. And maybe a guy who’s 150 pounds and doing a quad toe, quad loop, maybe a quad flip, maybe he’s going to go through three or four pairs of boots a year, rather than get a pair of boots that is so stiff so that it lasts a whole year. It’s like in the Indy 500, you’re not going to get a set of tires to last the whole 500 miles, you know you’re going to go through a certain number of sets of wheels, that’s just the way it is. And the families are going to have to budget for the equipment just like they budget for hotels and travel and coaching.
I get these people who want lightweight boots, but want them to last for two years. And I tell them, it’s like you want the luxury of a Cadillac, with a good steady solid ride, but you want 60 MPG, you want maneuverability, but at the same time you want to go up a hill at 80 miles an hour. You don’t get both. The boot is going to break down, the water is going to get into the soles, so you should be planning for a new pair in the next six or nine months.
On the craziest boots he ever created: For a coach in Houston, who is no longer coaching, I created a pair of boots with the American flag on the outside of one boot and the inside of the other boot, and the British flag on the opposite side. So when he had one foot forward from the other, if you saw him from one side you saw an American flag on both boots, but if you saw him in the other direction you saw a British flag on both boots. And we’ve made boots that look like ostrich, and alligator, and fur — that’s the hair-on leather — zebras, tigers, and baby giraffes. But that’s slowed down. People now want artwork on their boots. We do a lot of rhinestones. My dad made a pair of boots for a coach back in the 1960s, Mabel Fairbanks, with rhinestones in the heels. That was the first time they had done something like that, and I remember him telling me that she had one of the first pairs with colors and rhinestones.
On working with the competition: At Liberty Cup, we were at this trade show, and there were five of us boot manufacturers, all connected — three of us were in a line and two of them were facing us. We were in this little area looking at each other, and watching the customers go to each one of us. That is not an ideal situation to be in [laughs] but we’ve been in that case before. There is no boot manufacturers’ conference, but we all go to ISI and PSA [Professional Skaters Association] and we see each other at those shows.
On the stinkiest feet he’s ever encountered: I’m not going to put a name on one, but I get so many of them. It’s very common for me to be at a competition, and they’ll come up to me to be fitted right after they’ve skated. So we get that all the time. And we get a lot of kids who come in to the store, and it’s not like they’ve skated that day, but they come in with tennis shoes, and as soon as they take them off you can just smell it [laughs]. I’ve never thought about who would have the stinkiest feet, but it’s just part of our industry that we’re going to end up with some kid with really bad-smelling feet coming to us. He was Maltese Business Owner of A and G skate shop that he and his son, Aaron ( A and G = Aaron and George) run. He and Aaron Spiteri were a In 2018 decided to sell the manufacturing assets of SP-Teri Co. Inc. Now SP-Teri LLC, the manufacturing operations have moved to Tennessee under new president Bill Fauver. George has been traveling to the new site to aid in the transition and will continue as a consultant for the company. In addition, the formerly SP-Teri Co. Inc. here will be renamed as the A & G Skate Shop, run by George and his son, Aaron. in 2018. As of November 2018, George Frank Spiteri lived at an unknown place ; spterisk8@aol.com.
George Frank Spiteri Honored by MHS for his military service during the Vietnam War on 18 November 2018. He witnessed the Newspaper of Joseph Spiteri and Maltese In the News in December 2019; SP-Teri: A Family Affair
from November/December 2019 PS Magazine by Professiona Skaters Association
By Terri Milner Tarquini
Joseph Spiteri was both a product and the embodiment of The Greatest Generation. Known as such because the men and women born in 1900 through the 1930s did not set out to seek fame or recognition, The Greatest Generation believed that whatever they chose to do should be done well. These are the values that make up the fabric of a man who founded and built a company that is still one of the leading custom boot manufacturers in the U.S. and the world. “Once my dad became committed to making skates, he believed they should be the best skates they could be,” said son George Spiteri of Joseph, who founded SP-Teri Boots over five decades ago. “He believed in working five, six, seven days a week—whatever it took— to satisfy the customer.” Joseph had been a cobbler in his native Malta, an island in the Mediterranean Sea, before migrating to San Francisco in 1946 as a newly-married 23-year-old. He soon heard of Joe Galdes, also from Malta, who owned a shoe shop and was partners with Louis Harlick.

“He thought he would work there for a little while, get some money in his pocket and move on to other opportunities,” George said of the shop that constructed such offerings as riding boots, ballet slippers, flamenco boots, and dance shoes. But fate intervened in 1947 when some ice dancers who were in need of skates approached Harlick. Back then, skating boots were really only available in Minnesota, Chicago, and New York and were essentially two layers of leather—basically a riding boot, but cut lower and with laces. Harlick saw an opportunity in the industry. In short order, Joseph became the head designer of skates for the company and, Galdes having been previously bought out, a partner of Harlick’s in the 1950s, along with Jack Henderson. “During this time, they developed one stock boot and one custom boot for figure skaters,” George said, “and they stopped making all other lines of footwear. So, skating was it.” Those were the years when George was putting in time at what would one day be his future—although he didn’t know it then. “I wasn’t even a teenager yet and my dad was still with Mr. Harlick,” George said. “I’d go sweep the floors and empty garbage cans for four hours and Mr. Harlick would give me a dollar—which was a big deal back then.” In 1960, at a time when there was no cure, Harlick was diagnosed with cancer. He decided to liquidate his ownership, selling to Henderson and his brother, Bob, thereby giving them 80 percent of the company. In 1962, Joseph sold his 20 percent to the Hendersons, resulting in what is still Harlick Skate Company, and in August the following year, Joseph started his own business. “My dad never thought about making skates for Olympic and World skaters; he just knew that there were skaters out there who needed skates,” George said. “And he had a wife and four kids to provide for. My dad had spent 15 years making skating boots, so that’s what he knew how to do—and he knew how to do it well.”

What those humble beginnings ended up growing into was something that always boggled the mind of Joseph, the one-time cobbler from Malta. “We were making boots for the Santees when they were 10 years old; we didn’t know what they would go on to do, we just knew that there were these two brothers out there who needed skates,” George said. “Paul Wylie, Charlie Tickner, Dorothy Hamill, Nicole Bobek, Christopher Bowman—they were all just kids who needed skates. You don’t know when they’re young that they’re going to go on and become these big names.” While George’s path to the world of skating manufacturing might seem more predictable than that of his father, it actually was not. “My dad told me throughout high school to go work for the government,” George said. “’You’ll have insurance. You’ll have vacation time.’ So that’s what I did.” But it was while working at a naval shipyard as a draftsman in 1969, George had a low draft number and knew the Vietnam War was about to come calling, that he enlisted. When he got out of the service, he went to college, while working at the family skate business, and graduated with an accounting degree in 1978. “By then, we had moved to a bigger location and we were one of the boot makers for higher level skaters,” George said. “I was running a lot of the business because I understood finances and we were growing and growing—we had 10 to 12 weeks of back logs for orders. It hadn’t been the plan, but I decided to stay with the family business.” In a facility they have inhabited for the last 30 years, and after more than a half-a-century as a family-owned and operated business, George made the call earlier this year to sell the manufacturing assets of SP-Teri Co. Inc. Now SP-Teri LLC, the manufacturing operations have moved to Tennessee under new president Bill Fauver. George has been traveling to the new site to aid in the transition and will continue as a consultant for the company.
In addition, the formerly SP-Teri Co. Inc. will be renamed to A & G Skate Shop, run by George and his son, Aaron. Located in their same location in south San Francisco, they will continue to sell skates and accessories and provide sharpening services. “I have files going back 15 years of custom boots with patterns and instructions,” George said. “My goal is to aid Bill, who I have known and worked with for a very long time, to have everything he needs and to establish wonderful relationships with the dealers and the coaches.” Fauver, a five-time national pairs skater, with four silver medals and one bronze medal, and a two-time Olympian, was also a dealer of SP-Teri boots, worked closely with George through the years, and knew a good product when he saw it. “The number one thing is that the materials used are the highest quality possible and none of that is going to change,” Fauver said. “Each recipe, if you will, for each boot is slightly different, but the materials and craftsmanship is unparalleled. The boots are made from leather, which articulates with the foot and has a natural return to it. While we plan on marketing it in a more expansive way with a new website and expanding into social media, the base of the company is the same and we are carrying on the heritage.” Part of that heritage, and the success that SP-Teri has continued to enjoy, is grounded in evolution. “My dad started with two models: a stock boot and a custom boot,” George said. “Now SP-Teri has 10 models. We have always developed through the years, while maintaining the quality, and I know that that will continue.”
Fauver, a Level V ranked and master-rated coach, is keenly aware that injuries are becoming more frequent in figure skating and that it needs to be a priority for skate manufacturers to address these concerns. “We will be stocking the same core quality products, but we are looking at introducing some additional offerings that will still be manufactured using the same equipment and the same materials, but have some additional benefits,” Fauver said. “If we can introduce a product that increases safety and improves performance, it would do so much for the sport.” Fauver, founder and president of Avanta Skating Boots from 2012-2014, was at a U.S. Figure Skating boot summit about 10 years ago where the major boot companies put their heads together. “Following the summit, U.S. Figure Skating came out with four recommendations they were looking for in skates,” Fauver said. “A slightly lower heel, more flexibility, lateral support and shock absorption on jump landings.”
Almost a decade later, a unique idea from 2010 might now come to fruition: Fauver holds a patent on the Variable Flexion Resistance Sports Boot.
“The patent is for a boot design that has the first three things that U.S. Figure Skating was looking for,” Fauver said. “Additionally, I designed an air bladder for inside a skate that is also covered in the patent and it would address the fourth.” Fauver likens the air bladder to the air discs inside football helmets—an addition that, when the player is hit, the disc compresses, lengthening the shock absorption process. “This would eventually be another offering in skating boots,” Fauver said. “I think there is more than an itch for an increasingly well-made, high quality boot that can do even more for the skater.”
As George Spiteri, 70, is helping in the transition, and is eyeing some time to spend more time fishing with his son, go swing dancing and ballroom dancing with his wife, and continue in local community theater, the future of the company his father started 56 years ago is still at the forefront.
“The most important thing, and I do not doubt this, is that I know the new company will maintain the quality and fit of the current models, while developing new models that will continue to move the company, and what it can provide the skating world, forward,” George said. “It’s still the SP-Teri name; that’s our family name. What that name has meant to skaters through the years—all of that will continue.”.

     Teresa Frances Spiteri was born on 3 January 1955 in San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.^1,2 She married Emil John Lencioni on 11 July 1976 at San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.¹ Teresa Frances Spiteri died on 24 February 2018 at Fresno, CA, USA, at age 63.³
     Her married name was Lencioni.¹ She was a member of the Maltese American Social Club between 1991 and 2009 at San Francisco, CA, USA. She witnessed the Newspaper of Joseph Spiteri and Maltese In the News on 18 February 1992; Sculpting Skates For Olympic Feet -- Family’s clients take home medals -- BY TORRI MINTON
CHRONICLE Staff Writer
Before Joseph Spiteri took a boat to America, he had never seen ice. He was a shoemaker from Malta who was sick of making shoes. He’d been making them since age 12, working where rats crawled behind the leather. Once he picked up a sole shape soaking in water — but it was a dead rat Leaving his tools behind, he and his new wife, Carmen, arrived in America. They took a train from New York to Oakland, nearly broke. Soldiers bought them apples in Reno. They had 25 cents left when they arrived in the Bay Area, Jost enough to call relatives to bring them to San Francisco. They arrived on a Saturday in 1947. By Monday, Spiteri was back making shoes. “I never did like it,’* says Spiteri, 68, the smell of boot glue strong in the air around him. “But I had no choice.“ He did it for 15 years, making ballet slippers, tap shoe«, cowboy boots, flamenco shoes, sandals and a kind of shoe he’d never seen — ict skates. You’d think he would have had enough. But no. Spiteri started his own skate company in 1963, with a $20,000 loan from family and friends. Family-run SP-Terl of South San Francisco is now the second-biggest maker of skating boots in the country. It makes almost half the ice skates for American figure-skaters at the Olympics, and for Olympic skaters from England to Russia and beyond.
Shaping Skates of The Stars
Pair figure skaters who won gold, silver and bronze Olympic medals in the past few days bought SP-Teri boots: Unified Team members Artur Dmitriev, Natalia Mishkutionok, Denis Petrov and Elena Bechke; and Canadians Lloyd Eisler and Isabelle Brasseur. Handmade S P-Terls have covered the feet of champions like Tal Babilonla and partner Handy Gardner in 1960 and Scott Hamilton, 1984 Olymplc gold medalist. You'd think that by now, Joseph Splterl would quit making shoos. He's only boon doing it for 56 years.
But no. He still works six days a week. "It's in ny blood, to come here," he says. standing amid stacks and rolls of leather and flat foot-shaped boot linings, half- made boots ind the rumbling of leatherstiching sewing machines. Although his job of president has been tuned over to the Spiteri's son George, 42. Joseph is still in charge of soles and heels, and cuts patterns for custom boots. Carmen Splterl, 71, and daughter Teresa Lencioni, 37, clean the insides of the boots and lace them. They are the final inspectors. The family bufcness is a small operation, with 22 employees, making about 36 pairs of skate a day. All are handmade, one-quarter of them custom, costing as much as $500, not counting blades, which run from $140 to $440 for fancy freestyle Jumpers. Cousin Joseph Falzon, vice president, is working next to a veiny white plaster cast of the foot of Edith, an ice skater with large bunions. She has a corn on her second toe and her feet bend inward. She wants custom skates, and she will get them. So will a coach from Colorado who wants pink suede skates with a red heart at the ankle. So will Snoopy. S P-Teri is working on an order for the woman who plays Snoopy at Chartes Schulz’s ice rink in Santa Rosa. Pedro Becerra, bootmaker to the stars, is in charge of things like red hearts at the ankle. Before his 20 years at S P-Teri, he made boots for musicians like Santana and The Who, boots with secret hollow heels and extra zippers strategically placed. George Spiteri came to this business the way his father did. He wasn't looking forward to it He wanted to go into accounting and took a job in skates just to pay for college. By the time he graduated, he started to like the work. He was getting to know skaters, watching them grow up, watching them compete. The Spiteri family attends four to five major skating competitions a year. George says he’s become close friends with some, skaters, like Charles Tickner, winner of the Olympic bronze in I960.


Teresa Frances Spiteri lived in 2009 at 120 Alta Mesa Dr, South San Francisco, CA, USA.
Obituary: on 28 February 2018: Teresa (Tessy) Frances Spiteri Lencioni passed away peacefully on February 24, 2018. After struggling with neuropathy and early Dementia for several years, she quickly succumbed to sepsis due to undetected pancreatic cancer. She was born on January 3, 1955 to Joe and Carmen Spiteri. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay View close to her extended family and attended All Hallows Elementary School and Notre Dame San Francisco High School. While living across the street from Bell Market on Silver Avenue, she met her husband, Emil, who was a meat-cutter there. They married on July 11, 1976. She worked at her parent's company, S.P. Teri, for over 30 years. In addition, she also worked and volunteered at St. Veronica Parish in the after-school extension program and as a catechism teacher.
She is survived by her loving husband, Emil, two daughters Laura (Santiago) and Gina (Joe), five grandchildren, Alex, Sophia, Diego, Evan and Emilia, as well as her siblings Charles (Bonny), George (Jacki) and Josie Ghiglieri (Steve) and sisters-in-law Toni Wootten (Dennis) and Anna Murphy (Pat) and many loved aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. Tessy is remembered as being kind, creative, and loving. She enjoyed fashion and was known to always be dressed to the nines. Her family was her treasure. She was a member of the Maltese American Social Club and enjoyed camping with friends and family. She was probably the first "glamper" around. Tessy had a big heart and was always giving to those in need.

     Emil John Lencioni was born circa 1952. He married Teresa Frances Spiteri, daughter of Joseph Spiteri and Carmela Raphela Josephine Gajetana Spiteri, on 11 July 1976 at San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.¹
     Emil John Lencioni was a member of the Maltese American Social Club between 1991 and 2009 at San Francisco, CA, USA. He was living in 2018 in Clovis, CA, USA.

     Mary Spiteri was born on 1 February 1929 in Hamrun, Malta.¹ She married Charles Galdes, son of Anthony Galdes and Carmela Bonavia, on 23 June 1951 at San Francisco, CA, USA.¹
     Mary Spiteri emigrated from Malta age 19, on ship Sobieski on 12 March 1948 to San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.¹ She was listed in the 1940 US Census of Francisco Spiteri and Giuseppa "Josephine" Gaetana Angiolina Bajada in 1950 at San Francisco, CA, USA; age 57, no occupation. As of 1951,her married name was Galdes.¹ Mary Spiteri was naturalized in 1948 at Palo Alto, CA, USA. She was living in 2020.

     Charles Galdes was born on 28 July 1923 in Naxxar, Malta. He married Mary Spiteri, daughter of Francisco Spiteri and Giuseppa "Josephine" Gaetana Angiolina Bajada, on 23 June 1951 at San Francisco, CA, USA.¹ Charles Galdes died on 8 October 2005 at Menlo Park, CA, USA, at age 82. He was buried at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Menlo Park, CA, USA.
     Charles Galdes was also known as Carmel Galdes. Charles Galdes was also known as Carmel Galdes. He emigrated from Malta on 20 July 1947 to New York, NY, USA. He was naturalized on 27 September 1955 at East Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Obituary: on 10 October 2005: GALDES, Charles - Was born July 28th, 1923 in Naxxar, Malta. He immigrated to San Francisco in 1947 and has resided in Menlo Park since 1961. Charles is survived by his wife of 53 years Mary Galdes; his three sons: Sam, Frank and Anthony, their wives, and seven grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother Emanuel Galdes; and sisters, Rose Galdes, Theresa Galdes, and Josephine Fenech; nieces and nephews; and a large extended family and a community of friends. Charles was an amazing man with a broad range of interests and skills. He was fond of saying he was a "jack of all trades," but unlike many, he was a master of most. He was passionate about music, especially playing the trumpet. He loved fishing, cooking, gardening, painting and helping others. In his long retirement, he was active in his parish, the church choir, and spent many hours volunteering at St. Anthony's kitchen. But most of all he loved his family, friends and his Catholic faith. Charles will be missed by many, but his love will live on.

     Paul G. Spiteri was born in 1933 in Hamrun, Malta.¹ He died on 3 November 1990 at Menlo Park, CA, USA. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, San Mateo Co., CA, USA; Buried with mother Josephine.
     He emigrated from Malta age 15, on ship Sobieski on 12 March 1948 to San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.¹ He was listed in the 1940 US Census of Francisco Spiteri and Giuseppa "Josephine" Gaetana Angiolina Bajada in 1950 at San Francisco, CA, USA; age 57, no occupation.
Obituary: on 8 November 1990: SPITERI, Paul G— Died Sat. Nov. 3,1990 at his home in Menlo Park; survived by his brothers Charles. Frank, Joseph Anthony, Sam, Gaétan & Spiro Spiteri & his sisters Mary & Margie Galdes; a native of Malta, Europe; age 57 years; worked at I. Magnin Beauty-Salon for 27 years; volunteer at St. Anthony's of Padua Dining Room. ’.

     Spiridione Spiteri was born on 9 January 1932 in Hamrun, Malta.¹ He married Ruth Fisher on 4 October 1958 at San Francisco, CA, USA.
     Spiridione Spiteri emigrated from Malta age 16, shoemaker, on ship Sobieski on 12 March 1948 to San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.¹ He was listed in the 1940 US Census of Francisco Spiteri and Giuseppa "Josephine" Gaetana Angiolina Bajada in 1950 at San Francisco, CA, USA; age 57, no occupation. Spiridione Spiteri served in the military between November 1951 and November 1955 Korean War veteran; US Air Force; Airman 1st class; served in Greenland, North Africa; serial number 19436848. As of 2015, Spiridione Spiteri lived at Orlando, FL, USA; sspiteri@bellsouth.net. Spiridione Spiteri was also known as Spiro Spiteri.

     Margaret Spiteri was born on 13 August 1940 in Hamrun, Malta.¹ She married Emanuel George Galdes, son of Anthony Galdes and Carmela Bonavia, on 8 July 1961 at San Francisco, CA, USA.¹
     Margaret Spiteri emigrated from Malta age 8, on ship Sobieski on 12 March 1948 to San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.¹ She was listed in the 1940 US Census of Francisco Spiteri and Giuseppa "Josephine" Gaetana Angiolina Bajada in 1950 at San Francisco, CA, USA; age 57, no occupation. Her married name was Galdes.¹ Margaret Spiteri was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 2011.

     Emanuel George Galdes was born on 10 April 1925 in Naxxar, Malta. He married Margaret Spiteri, daughter of Francisco Spiteri and Giuseppa "Josephine" Gaetana Angiolina Bajada, on 8 July 1961 at San Francisco, CA, USA.¹ Emanuel George Galdes died on 2 June 2020 at Palo Alto, CA, USA, at age 95.
     He emigrated from Malta in November 1957 to East Palo Alto, CA, USA. He was naturalized on 14 March 1967 at Palo Alto, CA, USA. He was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 2011.
Obituary: on 26 June 2020: Emanuel George Galdes April 10, 1925 - June 2, 2020
Emanuel (Manny) Galdes, 95 years young, died peacefully of natural causes on June 2, 2020 while surrounded by his loving family. Emanuel was born on April 10, 1925 in Naxxar, Malta to Anthony and Carmela (Bonavia) Galdes. Emanuel was a shy but active child who loved the sea. He spent as much time as he could swimming and fishing when he wasn't helping his father out at the family bakery. After World War II, Emanuel ventured out to London for a couple of years before immigrating to East Palo Alto, California in November 1957, where his older brother, Charles, had already settled. Upon arriving in California, he met the love of his life, a Maltese beauty named Margie Spiteri. Emanuel and Margie were married in San Francisco on July 8, 1961.
Once married, they moved to a small apartment in Palo Alto at the corner of Lytton Avenue and Waverly Street (still standing to this day). After three years of apartment life, Emanuel was anxious to take on the pride of ownership. They would purchase what would become their lifelong home on Channing Avenue in Palo Alto in July 1964. Emanuel didn't waste any time on making the home their own. He was literally tearing out the closets on the day they moved in. Emanuel and Margie always worked side by side with whatever project they tackled. They raised two children, Diane (born in December, 1962) and Jeff (born in November, 1965), and worked hard, saved and sacrificed to provide them with the best possible examples, guidance and a strong foundation.
Emanuel was a "jack of all trades" and a master of many. In 1958, he built a breathtaking all-wood Glen-L Audeen ski boat. The boat would become the centerpiece of many wonderful trips where Emanuel would teach so many to waterski, always patiently waiting in the sun and providing guidance and encouragement. His beautiful boat was passed down to his son, Jeff, who has lovingly restored it over the years and has always kept it in pristine condition. It has been a source of family fun for generations and his legacy will live on through it for many future generations to come. Emanuel had many talents besides boat building. Although he only had limited formal education, he could cook, bake, garden, sew, fix absolutely anything with a motor and remodel an entire house from the ground up. He was also an absolutely fabulous dancer. Emanuel was always quick to build and configure a solution to any problem. In fact, he held two patents - one for a flexible boat hitch and another for a collapsible barbecue.
Emanuel was a proud member of Sheet Metal Workers' Local No. 104 and spent 30 years in the sheet metal profession. Whether he was building a clean room at Fairchild Semiconductor or Hewlett Packard in the early days of the computer industry or a kitchen ventilation system for one of the local restaurants, Emanuel was always recognized as the best at what he did.
In 1982, Emanuel retired and he and Margie embarked on the next phase of their life. They loved to travel and they criss-crossed the US in their motorhome, went on several cruises, and traveled to many parts of the world. Emanuel loved fishing and they would spend several weeks each summer in Canada catching salmon. He would often travel back to his beloved Malta to spend time with his sisters, family and friends. In June of 2019, at the age of 94, he travelled one last time to Malta with Margie, his daughter, Diane, and granddaughter, Olivia. The memories of this trip will be treasured forever.
Over almost 60 years of living in Palo Alto, Emanuel and Margie made many lasting friendships through the community of the St. Albert the Great church and Companions on the Journey. Those who knew Emanuel, loved his kind smile, gentle nature and curious mind. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Margie (Spiteri) Galdes; children Diane Baum (Andrew) and Jeff Galdes (Laurie); five grandchildren Megan Galdes, Sarah Galdes, Andrew Galdes, Benjamin Galdes, Olivia Baum; sister Josephine (Galdes) Fenech; sister-in-law Mary (Spiteri) Galdes, brother-in-law Spiro Spiteri and nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews both in the US and in Malta. Preceded in death by his parents, brother Charles Galdes and sisters Salvina Galdes, Rose Galdes, and Tereza Galdes. A virtual memorial service was held on Friday, June 6, 2020.

     Gina Marie Lencioni was born on 23 March 1983 in San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.¹ She married Joseph Hughes.¹
     Her married name was Hughes.¹ Gina Marie Lencioni was a Gina Lencioni --- Elementary school teacher; co-founder (with Laura Lencioni) of "One Box for Hope, Inc." She and Joseph Hughes were living in 2023 in Fresno, CA, USA.

     Dr. Laura Ann Lencioni PsyD was born on 4 February 1978 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA.¹ She married Santiago Velasquez.¹
     Her married name was Santiago. Dr. Laura Ann Lencioni PsyD graduated in 1996 at Mercy High School, Burlingame, CA, USA. She graduated between 1996 and 1999; University of San Francisco, Bachelor of Arts (BA), Psychology. She graduated between 2000 and 2003; California School of Professional Psychology, PsyD, Clinical Psychology. She was living between 2000 and 2023 in Fresno, CA, USA. Her married name was Velasquez.¹ She was a Clinical Psychologist; and Co-founder (with her sister Gina) of "One Box for Hope, Inc." in 2023 at Kaiser Hospital, Fresno, CA, USA.
Dr. Laura Ann Lencioni PsyD One Box for Hope Laura Lencioni, PsyD '96 and Gina Lencioni '00
When psychologist Laura Lencioni, PsyD '96 and her sister Gina '00 (a teacher), travel to La Concepcion, Nicaragua, they don't pack lightly. That's because Laura and her family are traveling with bags — most recently with 15 green military-style bags to be exact — filled with donations of socks, underwear, shoes, clothes, school supplies, and wellness items for children in rural areas of Nicaragua. Because her husband's family lives there, Laura has been making the trip for about 13 years. About five years ago, she and her husband brought some of their son’s toys for the local children. "It was a very eye-opening experience," she said. "The schools didn’t have books; there wasn’t a blackboard on the wall — just a table in the middle of the room. I came home and told my sister and my co-workers about the experience, and people started giving me things to bring on my next trip."
After visiting a school in Temua, Nicaragua and distributing a small amount of toys and clothing, Laura and Gina realized the severity of poverty in parts of the country. The school they visited had bare walls, no electricity, and very little supplies. Knowing what schools are like in America, it was shocking to see the children of this country attempting to educate themselves without the proper materials. In addition, these children had no means of transportation and have to walk several miles on dirt roads, most of them barefoot, to get to their school and collect fresh drinking water. We saw how happy the kids were with just the one box of items we were able to bring on our own. When we got in the car to leave the school, we were both crying. With that one box we were able to give 45 children hope. We thought about the impact that larger donations could have on this area. The desire to do more brought about the inception of this organization.
Since that first trip in February 2010, we have made several other trips with multiple boxes of clothing and school supplies. On our last visit we personally distributed items to over 120 children. Our plan is to continue this work in bringing more hope to the kids in this area.
We personally deliver and distribute all donations to the children in these rural areas of Nicaragua. 100% of your donation goes directly to the children in need. We pay our own airfare and stay with relatives and friends in Nicaragua. We take time from our vacation to help those in need. In fact, our vacations have now become our work which we love!
Our new project is to try to collect Barbie’s and action figures to bring to the children the next time we go. While we want to make sure they have necessities like shoes and clothing, we also like to bring some fun extras to the kids each time we go. To learn more about their work, visit their website at www.oneboxforhooe.ora Alumna Sootliahts.

     Patricia L. Brown was born circa 1951. She married George Frank Spiteri, son of Joseph Spiteri and Carmela Raphela Josephine Gajetana Spiteri.¹ Patricia L. Brown and George Frank Spiteri were divorced in March 1972 at San Francisco, CA, USA.
     Her married name was Spiteri.¹ Patricia L. Brown was living in 2022 in San Francisco, CA, USA.

     Aaron Spiteri was born on 6 July 1975 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA.¹
     He and George Frank Spiteri were a Owner of A and G skate shop that he and his son, Aaron ( A and G = Aaron and George) run. Aaron Spiteri and George Frank Spiteri were a In 2018 decided to sell the manufacturing assets of SP-Teri Co. Inc. Now SP-Teri LLC, the manufacturing operations have moved to Tennessee under new president Bill Fauver. George has been traveling to the new site to aid in the transition and will continue as a consultant for the company. In addition, the formerly SP-Teri Co. Inc. here will be renamed as the A & G Skate Shop, run by George and his son, Aaron. in 2018. Aaron Spiteri was living in 2023 in San Francisco, CA, USA.

     Bryan Michael Spiteri was born on 8 June 1978 in San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.^1,2 He married Blaise Bamberger.¹

     Joseph Charles Spiteri was born in April 1974 in WA, USA.¹ He married Heather Kaye Johnston on 19 June 1993.²
     Joseph Charles Spiteri and Heather Kaye Johnston were living in 2023 in 101 Greenfield Way # 173, Carey, ID, USA.

     Barbara Jean Dolores Fenech was born on 28 August 1933 in San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA; age 6 in 1940 census.^1,2 Biography Barbara Fenech has been a parishioner of St. Paul of the Shipwreck and an active member of several committees since the church opened in its current location as well as the previous locations for over 70 years. She worked professionally for over 26 years as Casualty Underwriter for an Insurance Company. She is a travel agent for over 40 years. She volunteered for managing the gift shop, maintenance of the church, and food pantry from the inception until it closed. She is a strong advocate of St. Paul of the Shipwreck and nver hesitates to fund replacement of equipment. She volunteered every Saturday morning after the 8:30 am mass caring for the upkeep of the church for over 10 years. She is a Eucharistic Minister for the church. She also volunteers for the counting of Mass collections and love offerings. She is currently a member of the Finance Council committee of St. Paul. She is a member of the Maltese American Social Club, the Matlese Club Grievance committee, and of the Maltese Historical Society. She is on the San Francisco/Valletta Sister City Committee. on 28 March 2022.
     She was listed in the 1940 US Census of Thomas Charles Fenech and Jeanette Mary Aquilina in 1940 at San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA; Thomas Fenech, age 36, wholesale furniture comp. unpholsterer.³ Barbara Jean Dolores Fenech lived at 1766 Fitzgerald Ave, San Francisco, CA, USA; When I was very young, our family lived 1766 Fitzgerald Av. off Bay Shore Blvd. (before the freeway came). We had bread delivered to the house. She was a She worked professionally for over 26 years as Casualty Underwriter for an Insurance company. She was a Travel Agent for over 40 years. She was listed in the 1940 US Census of Thomas Charles Fenech and Jeanette Mary Aquilina in 1950 at San Francisco, CA, USA; age 45, no occupation. Barbara Jean Dolores Fenech was a member of the Maltese American Social Club and was recieved contribution recognition by Maltese Club; Grievance Committee member in 2022 between 1995 and 2009.
Maltese Cross Foundation was a member of Maltese Cross Foundation Award in 2005. Research: in 2013. As of 2014, Barbara Jean Dolores Fenech lived at 320 Silliman St., San Francisco, San Francisco Co., CA, USA.

Barbara Jean Dolores Fenech was interviewed for a radio program in May 2017: If you walk down San Bruno Avenue in the Portola neighborhood, you’ll notice an orange building sitting in the shadow of the Avenue Theater. Right now it’s a Round Table Pizza. However, more than 60 years ago, this building was the Melita Furniture Store.

Barbara Fenech, the daughter of one of the co-owners of the store explains, “Melita was the Phoenician name for Malta. It drew about 100 or 80 percent of the Maltese community [and] was going really well.” Barbara and her sister Margie worked at the store for more than 30 years. Their dad, a first generation Maltese, owned it along with his business partner Joseph Tonna.

They started small and grew the store over time. Barbara remembers that they made money by “selling radios, toaster, irons-just small appliances.” They’d make enough money selling smaller goods, and then they’d take the proceeds and buy larger items like stoves and refrigerators. “Business, I think was pretty good,” Barbara recalls, because so many people were immigrating to the area.

The Fenech sisters’ parents immigrated to The Portola from Malta in the early 1900s with hundreds of other families who came to San Francisco around the time of World War I. Many of them settled in the Portola and opened businesses, like Fenech’s furniture store and the Sp-Teri Ice skate boot factory. To this day the sisters maintain strong friendships with many of the people they grew up with.

Barbara and Margie Fenech and their friends like to gather to reminisce about this time - ‘the good old days’ growing up and working on San Bruno Ave, what they used to call ‘The Boulevard.’ Through most of their youth and young adulthoods, Barbara and Margie worked five days a week.

“I would answer the phone, do the billing, dust the furniture, wash the bathrooms, sweep the floors. You name it, I did it,” Margie says.

The tightknit community of Maltese immigrants built a thriving neighborhood that endured two world wars. But things weren’t always great. Like any other ethnic group migrating to America, the Maltese experienced feeling like outsiders in their new country.

“I think at the time that my parents came there wasn't this problem of immigrants coming in. But when they got here to San Francisco they were taunted to a point,” Barbara says. She recalls her dad telling her a story about how some people would mock him because he was Maltese.

“They would pass him [on the street] and they'd go meow, meow, meow, like a Maltese Cat.”

People immigrated from Malta for many of the same reasons they’d migrate from anywhere. They were looking for opportunity, connecting with family, and wanted to share in the American dream. The transition was eased somewhat for Maltese people in the Portola community in large part because the Maltese-American Social Club was there to help. These days, president Brian Ciappara works tirelessly to support all the members of the club and new immigrants.

“Especially after the second world war, even in the early 1900s, there weren’t too many jobs in Malta, so they were migrating out of Malta. So a lot of people came to the US,” Ciappara says. “In those days coming to America wasn’t that difficult and fitting in was quite easy for the Maltese because they had a community eager to embrace them. We are a people who help each other as much as we can,” he adds.

There was, and still is support from the Maltese Honorary Consulate, one of only 15 in the country. Louis Vella, the current Maltese Consul General, describes how the consulate was established in 1967 after the Maltese Prime minister visited the Portola and met with the community.

“The Prime Minister… he kind of noticed that there was a very nice Maltese community here. They needed a lot of help, at the time even more so than today because many of them remained Maltese citizens...They needed passports…and papers.”

When the Prime Minister went back to Malta, he suggested they form a consulate in the Portola. The consulate has been helping people find living arrangements and jobs, and helping with their passports and immigration ever since.

A highway runs through it

In the late 1950s, the Bayshore Freeway was built linking San Francisco to Highway 101. That changed everything. It made getting to the San Francisco Airport easier and linked the city with the South Bay, but the highway cut right through the middle of the Portola.

“The freeway sort of divided San Bruno Avenue,” Barbara Fenech remembers. It cut off business in the small town that relied on the traffic which had previously made stops in town for gas, lunch and other commercial needs. Additionally it separated San Bruno Avenue from Bayshore Avenue, creating two distinct communities.

“People would just zoom by and forget all about San Bruno Avenue. It was kind of a trauma for us. Businesses closed. The neighborhood got boarded up,” Margie Fenech says.

A changing community

As a result, many of the locals from the Maltese community moved south for new opportunities. Families like the Fenech’s stayed and reinvented themselves. Now, all these years later, Barbara Fenech continues to focus her attention on improving the neighborhood for everybody. She’s been active in the Portola Neighborhood Association for 15 years.

“We were able to get underground lighting...we have a new public library,” Barbara says. The Association has been instrumental in a long string of improvement and beautification projects in the neighborhood. They’ve put new lights on San Bruno Avenue and are currently renovating the old Avenue Theatre. With neighborhood preservation moving forward, Barbara can now add Maltese preservation back onto her agenda.

“Little by little we are gradually getting back in,” she says. “Our consul general has started a Maltese heritage organization. Our job the last two or three years is to contact the immigrants that came to the Bay Area after the second World War and find out what village they came from? Why did they come to the Portola District? Why did they come to San Francisco?”

The group is compiling the data into books and storing these archives of Maltese history for future generations. They’re also helping seniors in the neighborhood.

“There's a lot of older Maltese people whose husbands have passed away or they don't know how to drive, so we're forming an organization where somebody can pick them up, take them shopping, take them to the Maltese Club for whatever function we have or to church,” Barbara says.

This is the type of support that Maltese have always been known for. Barbara noted that there’s another imperative that drives their work: they do work to preserve the culture because they are worried it won’t be a part of the Portola for much longer.

I ask her if she feels confident that 20 years from now the Maltese club or association will still be around.

“I don’t really think so, no,” she says. She chalks that prediction up to the lack of involvement by the youngest generation of Maltese, the children and grandchildren of Barbara and her lifelong friends. “We’re moving so fast…I just think there are so many activities and ventures that these young people can come into.” However, keeping the younger generation engaged is what drives so much of their work. They won’t give up. As of 2021, Barbara Jean Dolores Fenech lived at an unknown place ; Barbara Fenech. She contributed their family genealogy and some of the history of the Portola District to Maltese Immigration Project in June 2021. Research: 1st cousins.

     Mary Anne (?) lived at an unknown place ; Mary Anne.<nunnafaz@aol.com>

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