Doug’s Sonoma Journey
This is the second of three stories about Doug’s relationship with Sonoma - I Never Found Another Place Quite Like Sonoma
🟩 Rafts, Parades, and Growing Up in Sonoma — Chapter 1
🟨 I Never Found Another Place Quite Like Sonoma — Chapter 2 (You are reading this story.)
Click on “Giving Back to the Town That Raised Me” to learn how Doug’s connections grew through civic service, sports, and Meals on Wheels.
🟥 Giving Back to the Town That Raised Me — Chapter 3
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A nearly 50-year career with Safeway took Doug Lobsinger to different places, but Sonoma remained home. He and his wife raised their children here, kept their home through work relocations, and built a family life that now stretches across generations.
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I Never Found Another Place Quite Like Sonoma
When people ask why I stayed in Sonoma, my answer is pretty simple: I had no desire to leave.
My folks were here, and most of my family was here. I loved the area. You could get to San Francisco, the coast, or the Sierra in a couple of hours. The climate was wonderful, and the community was great. I just didn’t want to live anywhere else.
After high school, I attended junior college for a couple of years. Then I was hired by Safeway, and that became my career for close to 50 years.
I started at the local store in Sonoma. It was in front of the Safeway people know today. They eventually tore that building down and built the store behind it.
Working in the store, you met a lot of people. Some of those are people I’ve now known for many, many years.
Over time, I worked in different capacities, including district manager and vice president of operations. Those jobs meant I had to relocate at different times, but my wife and I always kept our home in Sonoma.
We raised all our children here. They made a lot of friends, and much of our family is still close by. My youngest son and his family live in Sonoma, as do my daughter and son-in-law. My oldest son and his family live in Nevada.
I have seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren now. It’s pretty amazing.
I’ve traveled to a lot of different places in the United States, and I’ve never found another location quite as special as Sonoma.
The Plaza has changed. There are different retailers and more wine-tasting shops than there were when I was a kid. But to me, it still has the same look and feel.
Our family home was beside Prestwood School. I purchased it from the family after my mother passed away. We love living by the school. It’s a great neighbor, and we love the sound of the kids.
When I was growing up, and when my children were growing up, there were kids all over the east side of town. You don’t see that in quite the same way now. But I recently spent several weekends watching my granddaughters play soccer between the high school and Prestwood, and there were a lot of children out there.
To me, that’s a wonderful thing to see.
Sonoma is where we raised our family, where so many of our friendships are, and where we’ve wanted to be. Even when work took me elsewhere, this was home.
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Doug’s decision to stay was reinforced over decades by family, friendships, and familiar surroundings. Keeping a home in Sonoma during career relocations gave his family continuity. His affection for the sounds of the neighboring school shows that his attachment includes the town’s everyday life as well as his own memories.
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This story was created from an interview with Doug Lobsinger conducted by Don Lundgren. Doug’s words have been edited for length and clarity while preserving his voice, experiences and meaning.
