Giovanni, known in Perth as John, trained as a stonemason as a young man, working in the granite quarries in North Italy, cutting slabs of granite and granite kerb stones, as well as cutting through tunnels in the Alps. His training included blacksmithing skills used for repairing tools of his trade. At the end of his working day, he helped on the family farm where they bred cows, herded, fed and milked them and made cheese. He had a one-year break from his trade in 1937 when he carried out his mandatory one year of national service.
Subsequently, when an opportunity arose, he embarked from Genoa on 5 October 1938 for Fremantle, on the Lloyd Triestino ship, the Viminale, a year before the outbreak of WWII on 1 September 1939.
On arrival at Fremantle, he travelled south and worked on farms in the Lake Grace area, where he worked for board and lodgings, clearing virgin land, splitting logs and putting-up miles of farm fences. He burnt the remaining timber to make charcoal for sale in Perth, to power cars during the war time petrol shortage. He relocated to Perth in 1949 where he later married.
He built his 1st house in Tuart Hill in the early 1950s and his second home in 1957, in Mount Hawthorn, where he lived the rest of his life with his family.
They had four children, 13 grandchildren and, at the time of his death, one great-grandchild. One of his special loves were his grandchildren. In the 1970s he was able to return to one of his childhood activities, breeding cattle, as a hobby with which he continued for some decades.
On relocating to Perth, he returned to his stonemason trade, soon forming the stonemason company John Tarca & Co in the 1950s. He energetically plied his stonemason trade and soon built up a business managing three teams, stone quarries and trucks delivering stone supplies, whilst building long relationships with some of Perth’s leading builders. As well as the laying of thousands of limestone foundations for brick and tile houses across Perth's suburbs, he was responsible for several of the larger retaining walls for residential properties with river views in Perth's western suburbs. One of his largest limestone jobs was the construction of the UWA bookshop, located just inside the main UWA entrance.
He devoted his working life to that company and industry. In the late 1970s, with his second son, he formed the family building company Tarca Homes, with his youngest son joining later.
On 23 July 2015, on turning 100 years old, he received cards and greetings from Queen Elizabeth, the Prime Minister, the Governor General, the Premier of WA, the Italian Consul & other dignitaries. John passed away peacefully on 1 April 2016 and is buried at the Karrakatta cemetery, Perth, Western Australia.

Wed 6 Dec 2023