Clement Elio Galante & Jane Hohfeld Galante Feb. 14, 1924 1922 - 2017Parents: Elia Galante & Signuru (Selma) Capouya Clement Galante was born on the Island of Rhodes on May 5, 1922. In 1938 at 17 he left Rhodes, then under occupation by the Italian Fascisti, and travelled to Brussels. His uncles sent him to the Belgian Congo where he lived and worked for 10 years in their clothing business and learned the trade. When Clement immigrated to the United States in 1948, he travelled to San Francisco where his brother, Maurice, was an intern at UC Medical Center. Although Clement could speak eight languages when he arrived, English wasn't one of them. He initially worked for Robert Atkins as a clothing salesman. Always a quick study and eager to get ahead, Clement partnered with a former buyer for Neiman Marcus and in 1953 they re-opened the elegant women's clothing shop, Maison Mendessolle, in the St. Francis Hotel. He expanded the business to include branches in Stonestown, the Fairmont Hotel and Bush and Kearney Streets. Clement was CEO of Maison Mendessolle for 22 years and was a fixture on Union Square. "Mr. G." as he was affectionately known, was beloved by his employees.In 1965, the Italian Commercial Attaché in San Francisco awarded Clement Italy's Star of Solidarity Medal in recognition for his contribution to the development of commercial relations between the U.S. and Italy. He was cited for his "highly successful" promotion of Italian fashions in the Bay Area. Thereafter, Clement could be addressed as Commendatore Galante. The love of Clement's life was his wife, Jane Hohfeld Galante (1924-2010). They first met at a party in 1948 and struck up a conversation because Clement couldn't speak English yet and she was the only one there who could speak French. They met on a cable car a few years later and, in better English, he asked her out to dinner and dancing at the Top of the Mark Hopkins Hotel. They married on December 26, 1956. Famed San Francisco columnist Herb Caen announced their marriage.In 1969, Clement and Jane purchased a cattle ranch in Carmel Valley and over the years turned it into an outdoor rose growing business and an award-winning vineyard. Clement was a true "gentle-man" and lived up to his name of "Galante". He had a lovely sense of humor, a charming and engaging personality and was adored by his family and friends. He spent his later years developing the "International House" at IDC Herzleya university in Israel, which he generously endowed and which promotes students from all backgrounds to live together on campus, to interact with one another and develop bonds of friendship. Clement and Jane had 2 sons: Edward "Ted" Galante of Harare, Zimbabwe, and John "Jack" Galante of Carmel Valley, California