A Champagne Toast to Topsy

The wedding of Topsy Hicks and Jim Agius, 1946. My father, Bob Sheehy is standing third from the right (photo courtesy of the Agius family)

While attending the funeral of my beloved godmother, Topsy Agius—a powerhouse of a woman and a Petaluma legend—I found myself reflecting on how much alike birth and death seem to be—indeed, as the writer Isabelle Allende noted, they are made of the same fabric.

A lot of that reflection was Topsy’s doing.

Her funeral was held at St. Vincent’s Catholic Church, where, on the same date 75 years before, she wed Jim Agius, the childhood best friend of my father, Robert Sheehy (he is the tall fellow standing third from the right in Jim and Topsy’s wedding photo above). Topsy was 18 at the time, having recently graduated from Petaluma High.

St. Vincent’s Church (photo courtesy of Scott Hess)

Eight years later, in that same church, I was baptized in the loving arms of Jim and Topsy as my godparents.

A few months later, Jim and Topsy went into business with Jim’s brother Frank and Frank’s wife Chick, taking over Mickelsen’s Grocery on the corner of Bodega and Eucalyptus avenues in the country, with an adjoining beer and wine tavern, and a pair of gas pumps out front. Jim and Frank operated the grocery, while Topsy and Chick oversaw the bar.

The gas pumps were handled by Jimmy Terribilini, a short, colorful man who wore bib overalls with a pocket full of pens and pencils in the top pocket. Fondly known as “The Sheriff,” Terribilini lived in a small room at the back of the store.

Blessed with the gift of gab, Topsy helped to make the mom-and-pop store a friendly crossroads for the ranching families between Petaluma and Two Rock, engaging with people stopping in to pick up a quart of milk or loaf of bread, or maybe stop off for a beer and catch up on news of the area.

The store was also a popular stop for people headed to and from Tomales Bay, Dillon’s Beach, or Bodega Bay on the Sonoma Coast. The two Agius couples operated the store until they all retired in 1992.

A week before Topsy died, I received an envelope from her in the mail. There was no note inside, merely an old newspaper clipping of a column written by Petaluma’s illustrious three-dot journalist, Bill Soberanes, who had attended St. Vincent’s High School with my father and Jim.

In the first part of the clipping, Soberanes describes himself wandering around town on a Tuesday morning between 1 and 2 a.m., in search of news for his column the next day. Among the sources he meets is Jim Agius, who advises him to “Have a glass of champagne”—a veiled reference to a large champagne party that had been underway for a good seven hours.

The second part of the clipping is what Soberanes used to fill his column the next day: an announcement of my birth at Petaluma General Hospital, and the all-night champagne celebration party that followed.

Clipping sent by Topsy of Bill Soberanes Column, December 1, 1954

This clipping was the last communication I received from Topsy. A few days later, she slipped and fell, and within two days was gone.

I am toasting the sad passing of this wonderful woman at 93 in the same manner she toasted my joyous arrival so many years ago—with a glass of champagne. RIP.

Petaluma History Session I: with Harlan Osborne, Katie Watts, John Sheehy

Onstage with Jim & Tom

Left to right: Jim Agius, Harlan Osborne, Katie Watts, John Sheehy, Tom Gaffey (back to camera)

Onstage with Jim and Tom welcomes Petaluma historians Harlan Osborne of the Argus Courier, Katie Watts of the Press Democrat, and author John Sheehy to explore and discuss Petaluma history.

This 70-minute conversation explores many moments and characters in the town’s history, including: when Petaluma tried to secede (twice), the town squatter Garrett Keller, the near civil war battle with Santa Rosa, “Mr. Petaluma” Bill Soberanes, the origins of the title “egg capital of the world” (even if it wasn’t true), Doc Naify of the California Theater, Petaluma’s response to prohibition, the Jewish chicken farmer community, and much more.

Classic Petaluma locations & characters referenced: The Spa, Gilardi’s Corner, Marios & Johns, Agius Grocery, Fannie Brown’s brothel, A & B Market, Fairwest Grocery, Volpi’s, Twin Oaks, Elks Lodge, Petaluma Hotel, Caulfield’s Meats, Andresen’s, The Hideaway, Mattei Brothers, The State (The Mystic) and the California/Showcase Theater (The Phoenix), the roost dances at Kenilworth, radio stations KAFP (“Krowing Always For Petaluma”) and KTOB, Mario Figone, Baccala’s Market, The Cordas, The Dolcinis, Judge Rollie Webb, Clem McCorkell, “Stan the Man” Greenhagen, Tom Caulfield, Lamar Lauritzen, and Bert Kerrigan.