WNC gets $1.25 million scholarship endowment

With an extended family history of grandparents, parents and a sibling embracing learning, it isn’t surprising that Gloria Pieretti helped educate many people during her lifetime.

Now, thanks to Pieretti, many future Western Nevada College students will be educated through a $1.25 million endowment in her name as part of the existing Testolin Pieretti Family Scholarship.

The importance of education wasn’t lost on the Testolins and Pierettis, even though it took extra effort to access it and a willingness of their father to leave the country to receive specific training.

Pieretti and Norma Frey’s family spent time in two cities where Western Nevada College has campuses — Carson City and Fallon. All four of their grandparents immigrated from Italy to Northern Nevada in the late 19th century and into the early 20th century.

Their mother Ida’s family, the Testolins, were enticed to homestead in Fallon around 1907 after the construction of the Lahontan Dam by the Bureau of Reclamation.

Ida became the only child of Antonio Testolin and Italia Binotto Testolin’s seven children to attend college. She attended the University of Nevada, Reno, earning her teaching credential to help educate children of the region’s early settlers in one-room schoolhouses in Washoe Valley and near Dayton.

Their father, Frank, traveled between two countries for his education. Frank spent 13 years in Italy before returning to the U.S. in 1932 to avoid being drafted by Benito Mussolini’s Army. Like his eventual wife, Ida, Frank set the family standard by attending UNR to earn certification as a civil engineer in Nevada.

Pieretti was born in 1940 in Carson City and the family lived there briefly before moving to Sacramento, where Frank became employed by the Army Corps of Engineers prior to the U.S. entering World War II. Pieretti became well-educated, attending Holy Angels Parochial School, All Hallows Parochial School, St. Francis High School, and Bishop Armstrong High School.

After graduation, she followed her parents into higher education, attending Sacramento State College. She graduated with honors and a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962.

She continued at SSC to earn her secondary teaching credential, then started teaching students home economics and art at Roseville High School. Eventually, a desire to teach students of all ages persuaded Pieretti to impart the basics of cooking as part of outreach programs offered by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and Pacific Gas & Electric Company.

For PG&E, she educated students at junior and senior high schools, as well as community groups and migrant farm workers stretching from Salinas to Solvang.

PG&E promoted Pieretti to a new role in Oakland after discontinuing their education outreach program. Even after being diagnosed with MS in 1987, she continued working for PG&E, supervising employees testing home appliances to improve their energy efficiency.

Pieretti died in November 2021, but her legacy is being carried on through her devotion to educate others through the Testolin Pieretti Family Scholarship.

Lauren Olson, a recent recipient of the scholarship, benefitted from the scholarship as she completed nursing school in 2022. Five WNC students annually have their tuition and fees paid for through the Testolin Pieretti Family Scholarship.

For information, visit www.wnc.edu.