February 19th, 1939 - December 7th, 2019
Retired Fire Chief Douglas Ratto, 80, passed away on December 7th, 2019.
He was born February 19th, 1939 in Stockton to the late John and Bernice Ratto. After graduation in Stockton, California, Douglas joined the Marine Corps in 1956 and was honorably discharged in 1960 as Corporal E-4. He became a firefighter with the Lincoln Fire Department until 1965, when he then joined the Stockton Fire Department and retired as fire chief in 2002. In his 17 years of retirement, Douglas continued to be a strong member of his community, serving as President of Stockton Professional Firefighters Local #1229 for several years. He was also a member of the Metro Fire Chiefs, the Elks Lodge #218, Stockton Rotary, the Sierra Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the San Joaquin Golf and Country Club.
He was a devoted and loving husband, father and grandfather to his wife, Kathy Ratto; his children, Brian Ratto, Christi Perez (Mario), and Julie Montagna (Ray); his brother Robert Ratto (Rod); and his grandchildren Jonathan Gatto, Ryan Ratto, Sara Bissani (Michael), Kelsee Montagna, Anthony Ratto, Tyler Johnson and Rylee Montagna. He was predeceased by his father John Ratto, his mother Bernice Ratto, his brother Gregory Ratto and his stepson Jimmy Johnson.
SERVICE
A service will be held 11:00am on Monday, December 16th, 2019 at The Vineyard Chapel at Cherokee Memorial in Lodi, CA. Those wishing, in lieu of flowers, may make a charitable contribution in Douglas’ memory to Stockton Firefighters Memorial P.O. box 69-2201 Stockton, California 95269.