Battista "Battie" Castellano

With a heavy heart, we share that Battista "Battie" Castellano, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and co-owner/operator of Mellano & Company, passed away on Nov. 2, 2022. He was 86 years old.

Battista Castellano was born on Feb. 1, 1936, in the tiny Italian village of Entracque, the youngest of four children. He served in the Alpini branch of the Italian military and then joined the Fiat corporation in Turin. Always the entrepreneur, he left factory life to return to Entracque where he started his own taxi business.

In 1967, he moved to Artesia, California to marry his sweetheart, RoseMarie Mellano. In 1971, the family moved Mellano & Company's growing division to Oceanside, California and Battie built their family home on 2.5 acres in the middle of the farm – the place he called his "paradise" and is where he passed away.

Battie was a true family man and a passionate farmer. He loved the fields of Mellano & Company and knew the farm like the back of his hand. He treasured his relationships with the field employees with whom he worked side by side on a daily basis.

His love of farming extended to their home with his numerous projects such as breeding orchids, raising koi, growing rare bananas and other tropical fruits, caring for his menagerie of animals (including birds, cats, dogs, fish, rabbits & turtles), and a garden that was the envy of everyone who came to visit.

Battie was a devoted father and grandfather, but the true love of his life was his wife of 54 years.

He is survived by his wife RoseMarie Castellano; daughters AnnMarie Castellano and Michelle Castellano Keeler; three grandchildren Julia, Amelia, and John Battista; his sister Orsolina Castellano Grosso, many nieces and nephews here and in Italy, as well as over 200 members of the Mellano & Company family.

The Rosary, Funeral Mass, and Burial will be held Nov. 17, 2022, at the Mission San Luis Rey's Serra Center beginning at 1 p.m.