With an extended family history of grandparents, parents and a sibling embracing learning, it isn’t surprising that Gloria Pieretti helped educate many people during her lifetime.

Now, thanks to Gloria, many future Western Nevada College students will be educated through a $1.25 million endowment in her name as part of the existing Testolin Pieretti Family Scholarship.

“My sister has been the most generous of family donors for all these years,” Norma P. Frey said. “It is her way of honoring our mother and our father and our family and cultural heritage. They saw education as a way to a better life not just for financial gain but as a way of making this a better world.”

Norma described her sister as a dedicated, hardworking individual, astute financial manager, an avid reader, a traveler, a supporter of the arts, a good neighbor, a loyal friend and a devoted extended family member.

“She maintained a positive attitude her whole life, even when she became increasingly frail. Gloria was my older sister and only sibling, and I am grateful that she was a part of my life for 74 years,” Norma said.

The importance of education wasn’t lost on the Testolins and Pierettis, even though it took extra effort to access it and a willingness of their father to leave the country to receive specific training.

Gloria and Norma’s family spent time in two cities where Western Nevada College has campuses — Carson City and Fallon. All four of their grandparents immigrated from Italy to Northern Nevada in the late 19th century and into the early 20th century. Their mother Ida’s family, the Testolins, were enticed to homestead in Fallon around 1907 after the construction of the Lahontan Dam by the Bureau of Reclamation. Ida became the only child of Antonio Testolin and Italia Binotto Testolin’s seven children to attend college. She attended the University of Nevada, Reno, earning her teaching credential to help educate children of the region’s early settlers in one-room school houses in Washoe Valley and near Dayton.

Their father, Frank, traveled between two countries for his education. Frank’s mother, Angelina, took him and his brother from Dayton to Lucca, Italy, so they could receive a better education. Frank spent 13 years in Italy before returning to the U.S. in 1932 to avoid being drafted by Benito Mussolini’s Army. Like his eventual wife, Ida, Frank set the family standard by attending UNR to earn certification as a civil engineer in Nevada. They became acquainted because Ida was teaching and living on the Quilici Ranch, which wasn’t far from the Pieretti family’s ranch along the Carson River. Their relationship blossomed and they were married in 1939.

Gloria Pieretti circa 1942 trying to ride a turkey at Testolin farmhouse.

Gloria was born in 1940 in Carson City and the family lived there briefly before moving to Sacramento, where Frank became employed by the Army Corps of Engineers prior to the U.S. entering World War II. Gloria became well-educated, attending Holy Angels Parochial School, All Hallows Parochial School, St. Francis High School and Bishop Armstrong High School.

After graduation, Gloria followed her parents into higher education, attending Sacramento State College. She graduated with honors and a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962. She continued at SSC to earn her secondary teaching credential, then started teaching students home economics and art at Roseville High School.

Eventually, a desire to teach students of all ages, Norma said, persuaded Gloria to impart the basics of cooking as part of outreach programs offered by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and Pacific Gas & Electric Company. For PG&E, she educated students at junior and senior high schools, as well as community groups and migrant farm workers stretching from Salinas to Solvang, Calif.

“It was a big territory to cover, but she seemed to relish the challenge,” Norma said.

PG&E promoted Gloria to a new role in Oakland after discontinuing their education outreach program.  

“She conducted energy audits, informing big businesses on how they might save energy and cut down the electric bills. She was still teaching!” Norma said.

 

Gloria Pieretti circa 1980.

Even after being diagnosed with MS in 1987, she continued working for PG&E, supervising employees testing home appliances to improve their energy efficiency.

“As her illness progressed, she was unable to continue the commute and daily workload,” Norma said. “She ‘retired,’ but worked as a consultant for PG&E for a couple of years, running their East Bay United Way campaign, yet another way of helping her community.”

Gloria died in November 2021, but her legacy is being carried on through her devotion to educate others through the Testolin Pieretti Family Scholarship.

Lauren Olson, a recent recipient of the scholarship, benefitted from the scholarship as she completed nursing school in 2022.

 “I’m so eternally grateful to them,” Olson said. “I was actually able to do my schooling and not be super-stressed out about finances. I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to people like you for making my dreams come true.”

Norma said that the scholarship in the two families' names was a way to honor them for emphasizing the importance of education in their children’s lives so they would make it a priority indefinitely.

“She also helped my husband and I give our 5 grandchildren a college education. She gave generously to help family, friends and others throughout her life,” Norma said.

That access to higher education lifts a major barrier for students who didn’t think going to college was possible.

“Gloria truly believed that it was important to support those who wanted to pursue education, whether it be in the trades, in nursing school or to complete a college degree — those who needed a ‘hand up,’” Norma said. 

Five WNC students annually have their tuition and fees paid for through the Testolin Pieretti Family Scholarship. It’s a gift that Gloria knew was well worth extending indefinitely.

Gloria Pieretti in Morocco in 2008.