Gobby, Rocco S.

Rocco S. Gobby, born in Switzerland in 1866, immigrated to California in 1886 to join his older brothers in the dairy industry. Despite facing severe financial devastation early on when an outbreak of Texas fever destroyed their newly purchased herd, he persevered by returning to wage labor and eventually rebuilding his business. Operating independently, he acquired and highly improved over one hundred and forty acres of choice land near Riverdale, transforming it into a highly prosperous dairy ranch.

Beyond his personal agricultural success, Gobby became a central figure in local financial and civic organizations by helping secure regional railroad infrastructure. He served as a director of the Riverdale Cooperative Creamery following the death of his brother Peter and invested as a foundational stockholder in the First National Bank of Riverdale. Raising three surviving children alongside his wife, Amelia Leon, who tragically passed away at age thirty, he remains widely respected as a premier builder of Central California’s modern community.