Dolph and Etta
Dolph was the oldest of the brothers. He was
rather spoiled. He was very brilliant
and handsome and well liked by all the girls, so he had many girl friends. He had his own thoroughbred horses, the best
horses and the best carriages in Vallejo. He married a beautiful young lady, Loretta
(Etta) Kelleher, who was an only child. She
was born and raised in San Francisco. Right
after the earthquake, her mother and father came to Vallejo. I understand the mother never forgave the
father from taking her out of San Francisco – she loved San Francisco. What a wonderful father she had. He was maitre d' at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco
– a perfect gentleman and very handsome. ... I never knew the mother very well.
She was an expert seamstress.
The only work Etta ever did was at a
candy store in Vallejo, where she dipped chocolates. That was her profession, she dipped
chocolates. Her mother made all of these
beautiful dresses for her. She was the
best dressed young lady in Vallejo. She
was Miss Vallejo at one time – a beautiful girl. But she wanted to learn how to sew. One day she bought some beautiful material,
what she thought was beautiful. She
brought it home and she thought her mother would teach her how to sew. Well I guess her mother was a little bit
offended at this. She just took that
beautiful material and tore it to shreds. Well Etta lost hope then. She never learned to sew or cook.
Eventually Dolph married her and they
had two girls, Lillian and Dorothy – very special young ladies. Lillian was beautiful. She inherited the coloring that my mother had,
which none of the rest of us had - high color in the cheeks, which just does not
rub off. My mother would tell us that
when she was tiny, the kids would get her on the ground and try to rub the
rouge off her face, but it was natural. ...Lillian was plump and Dorothy was
dark – had dark hair, olive skin, like her Dad.
The mother, Etta or Loretta was my
godmother. My middle name is Loretta,
Cecelia Loretta. Loretta died before she
was fifty, and her daughters, Lillian and Dorothy, also died before they were
fifty.
It
was a difficult life for Etta. She was
such a good person. But she only knew
happy times. It was difficult for her to
cook and never could sew. Both the girls
became very good at both. ... Frankie was her little chauffeur. He lived with them for a while and he
chauffeured Etta around and the girls. There
was one party after another, picnics, parties, and all good times. Dolph was busy at work at the garage. He had the original Coronado Garage in
Vallejo. Later Frank had the Coronado
Garage, and brother Paul worked for him.
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| Dolph Coronado driving his new 1912 Overland on the Old Napa Road bordering the Coronado property in Vallejo. His father, Mariano Coronado, planted the eucalyptus trees along the road. |
