| 9a | The Cester Family |
The Cester Family of Melbourne originally came from the town Pasiano in the Province of Udine, about 40 kms from Venice.
Luisa Cester, born 29/1/1916, was the 4th child and 1st girl of Ernesto and Eugenia Cester.
Her first six years were spent living quite comfortably in Pasiano, and eventually her family moved to Zoopola. The Cester family then experienced difficult times and the next eight years were a considerable struggle for the young Cester family. During this time the family home was confiscated by the bank, her father left for Australia to find work and the family moved back to Pasiano to be close to her mother’s family.
In Australia the depression had hit, her father couldn’t find work and consequently, money stopped arriving from Australia.
There was no pension or dole therefore totally no income. Her older brother Tullio had found an apprenticeship in Pordenone but was not paid to learn.
Luisa found work in Como for two years in a lotto agency and a further two years as a maid; therefore it was 4 years before she saw her family again. During this time her entire wage was sent home to sustain the family. It also supported Tullio with his apprenticeship.
She went back to Pasiano aged about 20, found work in a local café but the stay was short. Tullio had sent money from Australia for their mother and younger sister, Linda and brother Ercole, to come to Australia. Luisa and her sister Fanny then went to work in Milan for a further 2 ½ years before Tullio had the money for their passage. Luck was on their side - they left Italy on the last boat to Australia for six years. War was declared while they were en route. They even had to hide in a bay in Java for six weeks.
Arriving in Australia, Luisa remembers the lights of Port Phillip Bay and how excited they were. It was a dream come true for the family; they were together at last with their father as well, for the first time in twelve years. Luisa and Fanny helped their Ernesto and Tullio pick tobacco in Myrtleford before coming to Melbourne and finding work as seamstresses. Luisa continued this work throughout the war, pretending to be Spanish when asked if she was Italian. Fanny met her husband Nino Borsari and worked in his shop. Linda came to Melbourne to live with Luisa followed by their mother. Tullio, Ercole and their father Ernesto continued growing tobacco as share farmers until they raised the money to buy a small chicken farm in Springvale. Ercole met Maria Camillo through the friendship of Rina Camillo with Fanny and soon married her.
After the war Luisa met Alf Klimek, her husband, at a mutual friend’s place and were married within a year. They settled in Kew, then Oakleigh and then in Clayton in 1969. They had eight children, Eugenia, Lydia, Naomi, Greta, Alfons, Robert, Johnny and Jayney. From these children they have 16 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. Her husband Alf passed away in 1998, leaving Luisa with many fond memories.
She celebrated her 90th birthday in January 2006, with relatives arriving from the USA and Italy.
Business Ventures
After
the Cester's family poultry farm in Springvale suffered heavy
losses in the 70’s, courageous young Adrian Cester decided to
start afresh on his own, investing his total savings of $500 in a new
idea. He saw an opportunity in the spice-food industry, as the food sauces
currently on the market, didn't satisfy his well-trained Italian taste
buds.
So he developed his own recipies and had the sauces and seasonings
produced by third party companies, while he concentrated on selling and
distributing his products.
At
this point Adrian was making deliveries in an old dilapidated family car,
previously used for the delivery of poultry, which continually had dripped
liquids onto the floors over the years, rusting them well through, so that
now the exhaust fumes filtered into the car, risking to poison both the
driver and his precious spices.
Having no spare money or credit with the banks, Adrian carried on staunchly. It was his room-mate, Michael Foran, who volonteered to loan him the money to buy a new car. Deeply grateful and encouraged, Adrian forged on, going from success to success, as his sauces became very popular in the market, so much so, that Adrian offered Michael a share of the firm. With the added help of a partner, who turned out to be an excellent cook, and later on, with the entry of John Cester, Adrians brother, the three constantly experimented new flavours and produced new products, with the innate passion of connoisseurs of fine food.
Adrian and John Cester and
Michael
Flavourmakers Pty Ltd, has grown and grown, and is now housed in a most modern and avant-guarde factory in Braeside, Melbourne, with over 40 staff, producing directly their own tasty products and supplying them all over Australia, and are now venturing overseas.
After John Cesters untimely death in 2004, his position was taken up by his other brother Luciano.
Cester Musicians
The
Cesters are a family of many talents, including the musical ones. Fannì
Cester was a grand opera singer and her brother Tullio was
great at the piano accordion and delighted their family gatherings.
Adrian’s
elder brother Eugene, with an established law firm, also has
considerable talents as a musician, but prefers to keep a low profile
about his abilities. Whereas his nephews, brother John's sons, Nick and
Chris Cester, have gained an enormous success with their group Jet,
playing with the Rolling Stones, and taking their concerts the world over.
l-camillo.com
Copyright L. Camillo 2006