Yolanda ‘Lindy’ Dunn dies at 99

Dunn was the last surviving member of the founding generation of the Stagnaro fishing family. She died Saturday, Dec. 27 at her home in Santa Cruz just five months from her 100th birthday.

Quoting an article by Wallace Baine in the Santa Cruz Sentinel;

“She was known as the ‘Beauty of the Santa Cruz Waterfront,’” said her son, Santa Cruz journalist and filmmaker Geoffrey Dunn. He noted his mother was named “Lindy” in honor of Charles “Lucky Lindy” Lindbergh who flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean the year she turned 12. “One of her older brothers gave her that nickname,” Dunn said. “She was part of a big Italian family where nicknames prevailed.”

Lindy Dunn was the fifth of 11 children of Italian natives Cottardo and Batistina Stagnaro. Her siblings dominated the fishing industry at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, the names of which graced popular restaurants on the wharf including Malio’s and Gilda’s.

Lindy sold tickets and welcomed the people for the family’s speedboat rides from the 1930s to the 1950s, which were at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s no-longer-existing Pleasure Pier. She also served as a hostess at Malio’s, her brothers’ restaurant, in addition to working at her sister Gilda’s restaurant.

Tragedy struck when During World War II, she was engaged to a serviceman who was killed in action.

She later married Frank Dunn, who was born and raised in Pennsylvania. Dunn died in 2005.

Another tragedy in her life was the loss of her siblings, some of whom died in the 40s and 50, and that she as the middle child was the last survivor.”

Yolanda “Lindy” Stagnaro Dunn. Born: May 28, 1915 – Died: December 27, 2014

The fifth of 11 children of Cottardo and Batistina Stagnaro, she was raised on the West Side of Santa Cruz and was part of the generation of Stagnaros central to the fishing community at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf.

Education: Santa Cruz High School Class of 1934.

She is survived by her son Geoffrey and his wife Siri Vaeth Dunn, and her daughter Marguerite “Peggy” Dunn Heil and her husband Joseph Heil, as well as grandchildren Tess and Dylan Dunn, Cameryn Judd and Sierra Heil. She also survived another son, Norman James Dunn.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, January 3 2015 at the Pacific Garden Chapel, 1050 Cayuga St., Santa Cruz. Memorial contributions may be made to Cystic Fibrosis Research Inc. (CFRI), 2672 Bayshore Parkway, Suite 520, Mountain View, CA 94043.