http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/p...341/1052/OBITS

Obituary of Peter Manetti published today in the Santa Rosa Press
Democrat

OBITUARIES

Peter Manetti

Peter Manetti, a Guerneville artist and local chess master, was 66
when he died March 10 of prostate cancer at a convalescent center in
Sebastopol.

While working as a landscaper, he also was an artist who often sold
his woodcarvings and sketches in San Francisco.

Having taken up chess at a young age, he played in California's first
international tournament in Lone Pine in 1972. He was an acclaimed
chess master who tutored many schoolchildren in the game and often
could be found in Sonoma County coffeehouses giving chess lessons.

He was born in Germany, and his father died in World War II. His
mother brought him to New York at age 12.

He served in the Marine Corps and became fluent in several languages
through his international travels.

He attended art school in New York and came to California in the
mid-1960s in search of rural and alternative lifestyles. Still
searching for country atmosphere, he moved from Berkeley to the
Russian River area in the mid-1970s, according to his family.

Separated from his wife, Generosa Manetti of Santa Rosa, he raised
three daughters in the Guerneville and Pocket Canyon area.

"He was a great father who could love the Three Stooges, the works of
Dutch painter Vermeer, Hitchcock's movie 'Vertigo' and anything to do
with world history and share it all with his girls," said daughter
Barbara Schilling.

In addition to his former wife and daughter Barbara Schilling of Santa
Rosa, he is survived by his daughters Diana Manetti of Colorado and
Xhana Manetti of Sonoma County, and four grandchildren.

At his request, services for family and friends will be private.

- Bleys W. Rose