Funeral, procession set for Vic Pozzi

A grand procession of fire trucks will snake through much of the Windsor area on Monday at it transports dairyman, fire-service advocate and mini-zoo keeper Vic Pozzi to his last rites.

The funeral for Pozzi, who died Saturday at 83 from complications of a stroke, is set to begin at 11 a.m. Monday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church on Old Redwood Highway.

Firefighters are expected to be there in force to salute Pozzi, who grew up in Sonoma Valley and as a young man served with the Schell-Vista Fire Department. He started working at a dairy on Shiloh Road in the Windsor area in the early 1960s and in 1965 co-founded the all-volunteer precursor to the Windsor Fire Protection District. He then served decades as a firefighter and leader of the district board.

At about 9:15 a.m. Monday, Pozzi’s casket will be placed in a vintage Schell-Vista chief’s pickup at the Lafferty & Smith Colonial Chapel funeral home on Sonoma Highway in Santa Rosa. Members of the retired rancher’s family will ride in a small procession from there to the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts north of Santa Rosa, the staging area for fire vehicles that will fall in behind the pickup.

The full procession is expected to leave the Wells Fargo Center at about 9:45 a.m. It will take Old Redwood Highway north to Shiloh Road, then turn west and pass by Pozzi’s ranch, home to his extended family of emus, Brahman cattle, sheep, geese, ducks and chickens.

There, the crews of two ladder trucks will have raised a large American flag.

Friends of Pozzi, most notable Windsor Fire Capt. Dean Crothers, are in the process of finding new homes for the animals, which delighted generations of local kids and passersby.

From the Pozzi ranch, the procession will turn north on Windsor Road, then take Windsor River Road through the heart of Pozzi’s town, then follow Old Redwood Highway to the church. It should arrive there by about 10:15 a.m.

Following the 11 a.m. service will be a church-hall reception at which admirers of Vic Pozzi will be able to eat something and share stories about a remarkable man who served his community, loved his animals, delighted children and surprised grown men with his vise-grip of a handshake.

Visitation for Pozzi will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Lafferty & Smith. Burial will be in Sonoma Valley.

Memorial donations are suggested to the Windsor Fire Foundation, the Schell-Vista Fire Protection District or Hospice by the Bay.

Anyone wishing to get a condolence card to Pozzi’s family can mail it to Windsor Fire, P.O, Box 530, Windsor, 95492-0530.