Reno Joseph Morra

Reno grew up in Guasti, Ontario and lived in Alta Loma throughout his life. He attended Piedmont School Guasti, St. George’s Catholic School Ontario, and graduated Chaffey High School in 1950. He served honorably in the Korean Conflict as an Army Staff Seargent Combat Engineer in the 65th Combat Engineering Battalion.

Reno worked in the Aerospace industry after returning from his army service in Korea. Soon thereafter, he changed careers and partnered with his close friend Joe DiCarlo as the co-owner of Matino’s Pizza in Fontana. In the 1970s, Reno joined Thomas Brothers Winery in Cucamonga where he served as a valued manager for 30 years.

Reno was an avid baseball enthusiast and greatly enjoyed watching games with friends and family. His other hobbies included bowling, cars, golf, and fishing. Most of all, Reno loved spending time with his family and friends. Among Reno’s closest friends was Joe DiCarlo of Upland, with whom he shared a lifetime of friendship. Anyone who knew Reno knows that he was quite the jokester. He especially loved kidding around with his nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews and, late in life, with his step-granddaughter, Linnaea. Nothing brought Reno more joy than joking around with the people he loved.

Reno often shared fond memories of growing up with his Italian relatives and friends in the community of Guasti, where he enjoyed his friends, baseball, and hunting. He was often found working in the Guasti winery shop after school, repairing cellar and vineyard equipment.

Among Reno’s most memorable experiences was a flight he took with an Army Air Corps pilot over the vast vineyards and citrus groves of Cucamonga Valley one summer in the 1940s in a training plane when Ontario Airport served as a military base. “As we flew above,” Reno recalled; “thousands of acres of lush green vines filled the valley floor. It was the most beautiful sight my eyes had ever seen. We followed the foothills from east to west and circled around south of the airport. My only wish was for others to have seen the view. If only I’d had a camera.”

Reno was predeceased by his wife Betty Lou Morra (1997), sister Matilda “Mattie” Roppolo (2002), and brother-in-law Frank Roppolo (2021). He is survived by nephew Michael Roppolo and wife Anna of El Dorado Hills, niece Vikki Davis and husband Trent of Park City, UT, and stepson David Tomkins and wife Natania Meeker of Los Angeles.

The family thanks Ralph Gallardo of Alta Loma and Gino L. Filippi of Upland for years of friendship and assistance. A light-hearted sidenote, Reno made it 92 years without ever being on the internet and was proud of it!

Services will be on Tuesday, December 17th at 11:30 am at the West Chapel at Bellevue Memorial Park in Ontario. In lieu of flowers, San Secondo d’Asti Catholic Church can accept donations in name of Reno J. Morra.