Gabriel Riva, 102, who fought in the Italian Army during World War I and later ran a landscaping business in the Chicago area, died Friday in his Northbrook home. Mr. Riva was born in Norma, Italy, and earned recognition as a soldier in the Alps. He moved to Ohio when he was 24, where he took a job galvanizing pails. He later moved to Illinois. He started his own landscaping business because it was a job he could do without speaking much English, said his daughter Modesta Carpenter. In his later life, Mr. Riva told people that the secret to his long life was his daily Manhattan cocktail holding one ice cube. Other survivors include his wife, Olga; a son, John; a daughter, Terri Burns; 12 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. Private services will be held Monday in Libertyville. A memorial mass will be scheduled.
