Press Democrat typesetter Theresa Deramo dies at 84

Theresa “Terrie” Deramo didn’t always have printer’s ink in her veins. As a kid in Lake County in the 1940s and ’50s, she was a cowgirl through and through.

Deramo was born in San Francisco in 1933, the youngest of 10 children of immigrants from Malta, Joe and Mary Camilleri. It suited her fine when the entire clan moved to Lakeport to operate a cattle ranch.

Deramo’s daughter, Michelle Fox of Sebastopol, said that among her favorite memories was riding in the ranch truck with her dad on the long drive, over the Hopland Grade, to sell cattle in San Francisco.

The graduate of Lakeport High School became a printer at The Press Democrat, helping the newspaper make the transition from manual to electronic typesetting. She died Dec. 29 at the Kaiser Hospital in Santa Rosa at the age of 84.

Deramo worked in the newspaper’s composing room as a member of the Typographical Union from 1967 until her retirement in 1995.

Throughout that time, she trained many people in computerized publishing, among them Fox, of the North Bay Business Journal, a sister publication of The Press Democrat.

After she retired, Deramo savored more time with her grandchildren, the San Francisco 49ers, trips to casinos, gardening, baking, crocheting and working crossword and jigsaw puzzles.

In addition to her daughter in Sebastopol, Deramo is survived by son Charles Deramo of Cloverdale, sisters Mary Herren of Lakeport and Josephine Shaul of Ukiah and three grandchildren.