LARCO, Frank "Chico"
LARCO, Frank "Chico" Camillo (1881-1944), Santa Barbara-born youngest son of Andre and María Larco. He became a Santa Barbara merchant. In August 1924 Larco married actress, Ethel Anna Ritchie, (1890-1926). Ethel was a nurse in 1912 at Los Angeles County Hospital, and by 1916 was working in movies ~ silent pictures.
The Larcos had a son, Camillo Ritchie Carden Larco, born premature, who died at four days old on June 19, 1925. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Santa Barbara. Ethel soon followed her son in death. She died three days after Christmas on December 28, 1926. She was only 36 years old. Her death certificates lists “purpure hemorrhagica after shot of Salvarsan” as the cause of death. Salvarsan was a drug used to treat both syphilis and sleeping sickness. She is interred in the Forrest Lawn Mausoleum, Glendale, California. He son was moved to her grave site.
Chico Larco died in 1944 and is buried in a mausoleum at the Santa Barbara Cemetery.
In the News~
May 3, 1897 [LAT/SB]: “…Two hundred people attended the May Day celebration… the greased pole was climbed by Chico Larco…”
December 1, 1904 [SBMP]: “A large shipment of crawfish was made today on the steamer to San Francisco. It included 93 sacks. The Peerless came in yesterday with 66 sacks of crawfish from the islands. Of these, 41 were from the Peerless camps, 12 from C. Larco's camps, and 13 from San Pedro fishermen.”
June 14, 1933 [SBMP]: “The body of William Schultz, hermit-fisherman known to his friends as the jovial ‘Dutch,’ was brought to the mainland which he had seldom visited in his 20 years as a craw fisherman on Santa Cruz Island, last evening aboard the Larco Brothers boat, the California. It is believed that Schultz met death by accidental drowning when his skiff capsized near the south end of the island. Missing since May 23, the finding of Schultz’ body last night by fishermen on the south end of Santa Cruz Island near his small cabin on Blue Banks ended a relentless search of nearly three weeks… According to Frank Larco, operator of a fleet of fishing boats and to whom Schultz had supplied crawfish caught off Santa Cruz for 20 years, very little is known of Schultz. Larco said that his firm purchases catches from Santa Cruz fishermen during the four month season which starts October 15, and that Schultz was one of these fishermen…There are fifteen men living on Santa Cruz Island and earning their livelihood by fishing,..”
In 1995 Francis Gherini recalled: “Frank [Larco], in 1932, gave my dad two cherimoyas (a tropical fruit.) We planted them at Smugglers. One is still there.”
