Mr. Valerio served in the U.S. army during WWII from March 1941 – January 1946 and he was employed for many years as an Aircraft Mechanic General with the Naval Air Station, beginning in February of 1946 – October of 1949 (his supervisors were William Scmelzer and E. Hall) , then again from August of 1950-through the 1960s (his supervisor was Jack Blunt).
Oliver Valerio received his pilot’s license from Esteban Flying School in Oakland in the 1930’s, was a member of the American Motorcycle club, and was one of the first men to cross the Bay Bridge on his Indian motorcycle when the bridge first opened. While enlisted in the U.S. army, as 1st Sargent, he led one of the first Philippine Battalions while serving in the Pacific during WWII under his birthname, Eustaquio O. Valerio. Oliver later became a career Aircraft Mechanic and was the founding president of Rizal Post 598, a Women’s Auxiliary of the American Legion, raising twelve children on the island of Alameda (7 boys and 5 girls) with his wife, Carmen, until he passed on June 11, 1969, exactly 30 years to the day after a historical photo of him was taken at the SF Bay Airdrome on June 11, 1939. Oliver Valerio, his wife and children were featured on the front page of the Alameda Times Star in March of 1966, under the headline, “Meet a King-Sized Alameda Family” (stored on microfiche at the public library).
–provided by his daughter, Rosalie A. Valerio