[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 15 (Friday, January 24, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E68]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING THE LIFE OF KATHLEEN WEBER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JARED HUFFMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 24, 2020

  Mr. HUFFMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in memory of Kathleen Weber, 
who passed away on January 18, 2020, at the age of 75 after a lifetime 
of public service to her community.
  Born in Santa Rosa on August 27, 1944, Kathleen was raised by her 
father who worked in the insurance industry and her mother who designed 
costumes for the Santa Rosa Junior College theater program. She met and 
fell in love with Ed Weber at in the theater program at Santa Rosa 
Junior College and married him in 1964. Kathleen worked in the medical 
field and the former Mattei Brothers clothing store, before embarking 
on what became an outstanding and renowned baking career.
  Kathleen's father-in-law introduced her to baking bread on his 
personal wood-burning oven. This quickly became a full-time hobby for 
Kathleen, which blossomed into a profession through study under 
renowned brick-oven baker Alan Scott. The Webers fashioned their own 
oven based on Mr. Scott's design, and proceeded to launch a business 
that has since been credited with renewing the appeal of slow-rise 
bread regionally. Their biggest break came when they became the bread 
supplier to Thomas Keller, world famous chef and owner of French 
Laundry restaurant. Mr. Keller later became a close friend and 
collaborator with the Webers.
  In 2004, the Webers opened Della Fattoria as a breakfast, lunch, and 
weekend brunch restaurant where Kathleen worked tirelessly to welcome 
patrons and give back to her hometown community. Around 2016, the 
Webers' son, Chef Aaron, started a prix-fixe dinner menu focusing on 
the farm-to-table method Kathleen had started with Della Breads, and in 
2018, added to it a full dinner menu. In 2019, Della Fattoria undertook 
a large dining hall expansion onto two adjacent properties, and their 
daughter, Elisa, oversaw the interior design and fabrication of the 
furniture, making the business venture another full family effort.
  One of the first on the West Coast to commercially produce bread 
using the brick oven process, Kathleen and her family took local door-
to-door offerings into a regional and high demand delicacy. She became 
a published author with ``Della Fattoria Bread,'' a recipe book seeking 
to make high-quality baking more accessible to the home cook. In 
addition to her culinary contributions to the community and support of 
the local food movement and local business chamber, Kathleen's public 
service expanded to include providing meals to first responders in 
Petaluma during the Sonoma County wildfires. She is credited for always 
looking for new ways to get Petaluma on the map.
  Kathleen is survived by her husband Ed, her two children Aaron and 
Elisa, and her two grandsons Jakob and Samuel. While she will be 
greatly missed by many, Kathleen Weber's legacy will live on through 
the indelible positive impact she had on this community and beyond.

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