Ernani Bernardi

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Ernani Bernardi (October 29, 1911-January 4, 2006) was a politician in Los Angeles, California. He represented District 7 on the Los Angeles City Council from 1961 to 1993, a district that covered the east San Fernando Valley.

Before his position as councilman, he had two other successful careers; as a musician and then as a contractor. He was a loving husband, father of four, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend.

He was born on October 29, 1911 in Standard, Ill., at that time a coal mining town, above a grocery store his family owned. Son of a musician, Alfonso Bernardi and mother Nerina (Biagini), his parents were immigrants that came over by way of Ellis Island, from a small town in the province of Modena in the Emilia Romagna region of Northern Italy. His mother died due to complications during child birth. She was only sixteen.

Bernardi grew up on a farm with his Grandmothers, Aunt, Uncle and cousins while his father, who played the clarinet, worked as a travelling musician. From a young age his father taught him how to play woodwind instruments, which would later serve him well. His father eventually remarried and had one more child, a daughter, Yolanda. Bernardi left home at seventeen and went on to become a musician, like his father, on the road playing alto sax for several of the classic Big Bands of the era such as Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Kay Kaiser.

He married his wife Lucille May Sawasky in 1935 in Detroit, Mich. while he was on the road. They settled in Los Angeles after the second World War where Bernardi began his second career as a contractor. In 1961 he was elected City Councilman where he served eight terms until he retired in 1993. Lucille passed that year due to Alzetimers. He was later remarried in November 2001, to Eve Troutman.

As a politician, Bernardi was known for being the voice of the common person and working taxpayer. Other successes included receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his success in music during the Big Band era, specifically for his arrangements on "Smile and the Angels Sing", and "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You." He died January 4, 2006 at age ninety-four, from heart failure. He is survived by two sons, John and James Bernardi, two daughters, Joanne Kent and Judith McRae, as well as seven grandchildren and one great-grand child.