Jennie Cassara Masi

Jennie Cassara Masi

Jennie Cassara Masi was born April 10, 1910 in the village of Piana de Greci, Sicily. Her paternal grandparents had brought their family to Louisiana to work on the sugar plantations and then returned to Sicily with their younger children. Their son, Giuseppe Cassara, married Sarina Guidera, and Jennie Cassara was their second child. He came alone to Los Angeles to earn money to send home to his wife. He worked in the freight department of the Southern Pacific Railroad. After ten years his wife and children joined him.

In 1937, Jennie Cassara married Sebastian Masi, who was from her village in Sicily. He worked for an owner of a prosperous grape-growing business in the Coachella Valley. The Masis moved into a small house he and his uncle, Matteo Masi, owned on Rochester Avenue in Cucamonga. They had two children: Jack Mathew (Giachino Matteo) and Constance Mary.

During World War II the Masis bought what had been the John B. Lafourcade property on the southwest corner of Rochester and Foothill Boulevard. They operated a successful winery and grocery store business at that site. Sebastian Masi became very active in fraternal and community organizations in the Cucamonga area. He was instrumental in the founding of the the Sacred Heart Catholic Church and school on Foothill Boulevard.

In the early 1960s Sebastian Masi leased the Rochester corner property for twenty years (with two possible five-year options) to RoVal's Restaurant. RoVal's later subleased the site. In 1982, the holder of the sublease filed a lawsuit against Sebastian Masi, who died later that year, over the option question. It was not until 1991 that the lawsuit was settled in favor of the Masi family, who regained physical control of the property.

In 1990, Masi Commerce Center Partners was formed to develop this site in what is now the city of Rancho Cucamonga. The project plan has progressed through the city planning process. It includes the concept of a Vintners' Walk to highlight the history of the local winemaking business. Jennie Masi now lives in a home she and her husband built in the Red Hill area of Rancho Cucamonga.