Alessandro Baccari Jr. was not an ordained priest, but that was just a technicality. He was ministerial in welcoming the flock to the annual Blessing of the Fleet at the Fisherman’s and Seaman’s Memorial Chapel on Pier 45, and he was priestly on a daily basis as he walked the streets of North Beach, visiting shopkeepers and all keepers of the village spirit he’d grown up with.

Baccari patterned his life after the Italian Renaissance, and his resume reflected it. He spent time as a city planner, research economist, radio broadcaster, political speechwriter, associate dean of the business school at San Francisco State, poet, painter, photographer, historian, and author of two books.