A Friend, a Funeral, and a Famous Cowboy

December 2008 I buried the oldest member of our church. Nick Sibilio died at the age of 93. He had been married to his wife for 67 years. We buried him at Pacific View Cemetery in Corona Del Mar.

Nick had the milk route until 1953, at which time he decided that he wanted to start his own creamery. Nick and a partner sold their milk routes and started San Fernando Valley Creamery with the intent of making cultured dairy products for drive-in dairy stores in the San Fernando Valley, putting his customers’ labels on his product. This process is now commonly known as private-labeling, of which Nick was one of the pioneers. It was during this time that Maria became actively involved in the business. Nick and Maria dedicated themselves and struggled through many challenges that inherently come with starting a new business and raising four children at the same time. The original creamery location was located on Keswick Street in Van Nuys, California. The business was rapidly growing and there was a need for additional manufacturing space. Nick expanded the business by moving production to Sunland Dairy in Burbank and as growth continued he moved the business to a larger facility in Sun Valley, California called Silver Shield Dairy.

The Sibilio family continued to live in Van Nuys until the demand for their product expanded outside the San Fernando Valley and the need for a larger plant and a more centralized location became necessary. Nick moved the creamery and his family to Downey, California in the early 1960’s. Nick’s partner decided to retire and Nick and Maria became the sole owners of the creamery.

In Downey, he opened the new plant on Firestone Boulevard and kept the San Fernando name. It was slightly refined however, and would now be known as San Fernando Creamery. Maria, Nicky, Anne, and Vincent worked right alongside Nick. Florence’s husband Norm also worked at the creamery. It truly was a family affair. To say that Nick and Maria were partners would be an understatement. Nick and Maria partnered on everything from parenting, business, and all other things life brought their way. They were at each other’s side always. The children learned about dedication, hard work, and the vision that was brought to the company by Nick’s entrepreneurial spirit. These early lessons have certainly contributed to the longevity and success of the business that we have all enjoyed.

The creamery continued to grow and again there was a need to expand production. In 1979, Nick and Maria were looking toward retirement and began succession planning to the family. Nick and Maria knew that another manufacturing facility was necessary to facilitate production growth as well as the transfer of ownership to the second generation. Farmdale Creamery was founded. Both the Downey and San Bernardino plants operated until Nick’s retirement in 1986. It was at this time that the Downey plant was shut down and all operations were moved to the San Bernardino plant.

Nick will be missed by his wife and family and his church.

By the way, to our surprise, when we got to the graveside we discovered that Nick was being buried only a few feet away from John Wayne. After the funeral I took my kids my look at John Wayne’s grave. Sadly they did not know who The Duke was. (Note to self: buy some old John Wayne DVD’s for my kids to watch.)