The Alioto families of San Francisco and Milwaukee

Mayor Joseph Alioto of San Francisco had close relationships with more than one Mafia Family. Was his Uncle John one of them?

Joseph Lawrence Alioto (1916-1998) was the mayor of San Francisco from 1968 to 1976. He had multiple, deep relationships with organized crime figures, a characterization he vehemently denied. Alioto sued Look and made them pay $450,000 after they published such allegations. 

It’s widely claimed that Joseph’s father, Giuseppe Alioto, was the brother of John Alioto, who was the boss of the Milwaukee Mafia. There is a picture floating around on the internet of the Milwaukee boss John Alioto and San Francisco mayor Joseph Alioto, which calls them uncle and nephew. The claim is even made in the obituary of John Alioto’s wife. 

However, it’s not true. (Read the article on Patreon for a full explanation with sources.)

Exclusive for Patreon Members: Are the Milwaukee and SF Mafia-affiliated Aliotos related?

Both families have roots in Santa Flavia, but they are not as closely related as is claimed: perhaps not at all.

Giuseppe, Ignazio, Nunzio, Mariano, Giovanni, Salvatore, and Annetta Alioto were the children of Giuseppe Alioto and Stefana Balistreri. John Alioto of Milwaukee’s parents-in-law have similar names—Giuseppe Alioto and Antonina Balistreri. John’s wife, Catherine, was born an Alioto, the daughter of Giuseppe, who was the son of Francesco. No common ancestor has yet been found for any two of the three Alioto families: Giuseppe’s, John’s, or Catherine’s. 

Patreon Member exclusive: John Alioto’s neighbor of many years had close kin in the Mafia in Detroit Giuseppe Tocco and the Detroit/Milwaukee connection

Giuseppe Alioto (1888-1961) was born in Santa Flavia and emigrated with his brothers to San Francisco, California, where they worked as fishermen. (The date of their emigration isn’t known from a primary source. In the 1910 census they claimed to have emigrated in 1895. The brothers appear on a 1903 ship manifest, but with lines through their names, which normally indicates that they did not sail.) Their parents and younger siblings joined them in 1913. 

The San Francisco Alioto brothers, of whom Giuseppe was the eldest, founded a wholesale fish empire on Fisherman’s Wharf. In addition, Giuseppe Alioto partnered with Francesco Lanza to operate the Wharf. The San Francisco Mafia was established, in Mafia lore, when a gang led by Francesco Lanza triumphed over one led by Luigi Malvese in 1932.

But Italian organized crime was already established in San Francisco by this time. One of Giuseppe’s brothers, Mariano Alioto, was killed in 1917 in gang violence, in nearly the same spot as his father-in-law was murdered a year earlier. Another brother, Nunzio, started what would become Alioto’s restaurant on the Wharf with his wife, Rose: a business that thrived for ninety years before the pandemic shutdown of 2020 permanently closed its doors.

In 1917-18, when Giuseppe and Ignazio registered for the draft for World War I, they lived together at 575 Filbert in San Francisco, and ran the S.F. International Fish Co. together at 518-520 Clay St. John, just eighteen, was still in school, and lived with his brothers. Nunzio was part of their partnership, a wholesale concern, and lived nearby at 828 Filbert.

Giuseppe Alioto married Domenica Lazio. Three of his siblings married Domenica’s siblings. Giuseppe and Domenica had four children, three girls and a boy. 

Before becoming mayor, Joseph Alioto was an attorney. One of his clients was Anthony Lima, then-boss of the San Francisco Mafia. Authorities questioned Lima with regard to the May 1947 murder of Nick DeJohn, after which Lima promptly disappeared. Alioto promised to produce him, but failed to do so.

Anthony Lima’s underboss in 1953, Michael Abati, succeeded him that year when Lima went to prison. SF Mafia boss Francesco Lanza died in 1937. His son, James Lanza, called “Jimmy the Hat,” became the boss after Abati was deported in 1961, a position he held until 2006. Joseph Alioto enjoyed a friendship with Jimmy Lanza through his mayoral tenure. 

Joseph Alioto’s first wife, Angelina Genaro, was also from a Mafia family. Her father, Lawrence Genaro (born Lorenzo Gennaro), uncle John, and grandfather Michelangelo Gennaro were all members. The Gennaros are from Corleone, the same hometown as the Dallas Mafia’s founder, Carlo Piranio. Angelina Genaro Alioto was my fourth cousin, twice removed. 

Read more about the Piranio brothers of Dallas.

The Gennaros of Dallas were well-off and important members of the business community. Her father, Lawrence Genaro, co-founded the Texas Produce Company. He owned a hotel and other commercial property in Dallas. One of Angelina’s many obituaries calls her father a “wealthy real estate investor and beer distributor.” 

Angelina had an art education and as a public figure, she was admired for her style. She raised six children with Joseph and owned a portfolio of real estate which she personally managed.

Reportedly, Angelina detested the political scene, but the breaking point of her marriage was being ignored at one of her husband’s events. She got up to go to the bathroom and disappeared for two weeks. When she resurfaced, Angelina admitted she’d spent the time touring California missions, believing that a church would be the last place she’d be sought. During the divorce, Angelina was quoted saying “You know, they say behind every successful man is a good wife. That should be, ‘By the side of every successful man.’ Because if you stand in the shadow of a man too long, you’ll wilt. Stand by his side and you’ll get a little sunshine.”

The divorce was finalized in 1978. Joseph Alioto remarried to Kathleen Sullivan and they had two children; he died in 1998. Angela moved to Blackhawk, a wealthy community in Contra Costa County, California, with two of her sons. She remained active in the philanthropic and art worlds and enjoyed good health until her death at 95 in 2010.

Sources

Angelina Genaro Alioto – ex-wife of former S.F. mayor [Obituary]. (2010, June 18). San Francisco Chronicle (CA). P. C5. HeritageHub.

Annette Alioto – The Alioto’s Story. (2018, March 7). Somos We are Project [YouTube Channel]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJdYJ6Tyob0

Atto di nascita, Giuseppe Alioto. (1852, March 27). Record no. 63. Archivio di Stato di Palermo > Stato civile della restaurazione > Solanto (oggi Santa Flavia) > 1852 > Nati https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12657/an_ua1024454/wXplNp6 Img 64.

Atto di nascita, Giuseppe Alioto. (1852, May 27). Record no. 88. Archivio di Stato di Palermo > Stato civile della restaurazione > Solanto (oggi Santa Flavia) > 1852 > Nati https://www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it/ark:/12657/an_ua1024454/Lo6zAgm Image 89.

Atto di nascita, Giuseppe Alioto. (1855, May 24). Record no. 33. Archivio di Stato di Palermo > Stato civile della restaurazione > Solanto (oggi Santa Flavia) > 1855 > Nati https://www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it/ark:/12657/an_ua1024461/5YAnJmy Image 35.

Atto della solenne promessa di celebrare il matrimonio, Giuseppe Alioto and Anna Tarantino. (1845, May 17). Record no. 12. Archivio di Stato di Palermo > Stato civile della restaurazione > Solanto (oggi Santa Flavia) > 1845 > Matrimoni https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12657/an_ua1024202/02qPpvG Img 24 of 57

“California Divorce Index, 1966-1984,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPYC-BQN : 15 May 2014), Angelina M Genaro and Joseph L Alioto, Jan 1977; from “California Divorce Index, 1966-1984,” database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2007); citing San Francisco, California, Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento.

Castrodale, J. (2022, April 11). San Francisco’s ‘oldest family-owned restaurant’ closes after 90 years in business. Food & Wine [Website]. https://www.foodandwine.com/news/san-franciscos-oldest-family-owned-restaurant-aliotos-closes-after-90-years 

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Il barbaro delitto di ieri in Columbus avenue. (1917, November 29). L’Italia. (San Francisco, Calif.). Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066408/1917-11-29/ed-1/seq-6/&gt;

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Lapara, who shot Alioto, pleads not guilty. (1917, December 4). San Francisco Call. Vol. 102. No. 134. P. 1. Col. 8. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19171204.2.36&srpos=4&e=——-en–20–1–txt-txIN-Mario+Alioto——-1

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