Nicolette Tedesco, who in 1970 founded Hermosa Beach’s “Thanksgiving at the Pier” to feed those in need, has died. She was 93.
Tedesco died of old age Saturday, Jan. 18, at a Torrance nursing care facility, according to Sunny Bray, a pastor at Breakwater Church, in Redondo Beach, where Tedesco worshiped.
“She was amazingly faithful, honest and kind,” Bray said.
In 2016, Tedesco told the Southern California News Group that the inspiration for the annual Thanksgiving dinner, which first took place in her apartment with home-cooked meals for anyone in need, came from a vision where God picked her up, pulled her to her knees and told her to “feed his sheep.”
“I was so happy because I know God told me to feed my sheep,” Tedesco said at the time. “That’s what I’m here for.”
That first Thanksgiving had 10 turkeys and fed around 250 people. A few years later, the event moved from her apartment to the beach — and eventually expanded to more than 30 turkeys and a dozen hams. At its peak, the event reached 2,500 people.
“I tell people, ‘If you don’t have no place to go, I have an invitation,’” she said.
Nicolette “Nikie” Tedesco was born into a Catholic family in Chicago on Dec. 1, 1926. She turned to evangelical Christianity when she was 40 years old and attended Hope Chapel for years before eventually moving to Breakwater Church.
Bray said the “church was (Tedesco’s) family and community.” The community, Bray added, was “her commitment.”
“Her love for humanity was second to none,” Bray said. “Just her dedication, commitment, love, gentleness was remarkable. She’s definitely one of a kind.”
In the 2016 interview, Tedesco, then just a week shy of 91 years old, said instead of serving food on Thanksgiving that year, she spent the day in a chair, praying with others. Tedesco said she had a casual relationship with God, calling him “Daddy.”
“I never get tired. I never take a nap,” Tedesco said. “I say, ‘OK, Daddy, what else do you need? Let me know.”
Tedesco, Bray said, had a physical disability that stemmed from having polio when she was a child — but she persevered.
“She never let that dictate what she could and couldn’t do,” Bray said. “She would walk miles a day and share her faith for years all over the South Bay. She limped around and as she grew older. The limp became more apparent and she was in great pain, but it never stopped her.
“She would always say, ‘No pain, no gain,’” Bray added.
Tedesco’s memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, at the base of the Hermosa Beach Pier.
