Progress!!
Mike the third
with some good stuff I'll post as time permits. I found what I was
looking for, the three-page letter Dad (Michael Jr.) sent his siblings
after his 1983 visit to Castelvetere. Even better, I think, I found
photocopies of a handwritten letter Michelangelo send a cousin
regarding the sale of some family property in Italy, and of the typed
translation. It was sent on April 20, 1950, and explained why he would
not be able to join his sister(s) on an upcoming trip back to Naples.
His daughter, Norma, was to be married on July 15. I also found a Mass
card Dad carried in his wallet. Papa died on July 13. I was almost
three, and have some faint memory of the events around the funeral, and
it being at a difficult time, although I doubt I attended either the
funeral or the wedding.
I've also had a reply from Uncle Dick, who promises more. I'll copy
the relevant portions of his email below.
"I hope you have not given up on receiving some information from me.
Since receiving your e-mail, I've done some research in my "Nostalgia"
file and have enjoyed it so much, I haven't had time to reply. No bribe
is necessary. I will send you some of the correspondence I filed, but
I'll do it through the mail because you might enjoy seeing the
originals.
The information you reference is not very accurate. When I was in
the USAF, my job required my being cleared to handle material up to and
including "SECRET." This required my being investigated and cleared by
the FBI, and in the process, I learned more than I had previously
known. What appears on the forms they gave me is that my father,
Michael (the first) arrived in the USA aboard the ship San Giorgio on
January 24, 1910 (the birthday dates of Linda and Janice.) He married
Josephine DeNunzio in 1919. (The FBI check said "DiNunzio" but I think
J. Edgar was its leader at that time, so it could be wrong.) He
arrived at Ellis Island. He was sponsored by his sister (Olympia
Gradone LaCentra.) He went to work for Olympia's husband, Robert, who
had one of the largest mechanical contracting (plumbing, heating
businesses in Boston. In the late 1920's he took and passed the
examinations to become a master plumber and decided to open his own
business in East Boston (409 Chelsea Street.) He had a few sisters and
two brothers, Arthur, who located in the Orient Heights section of
Boston, and Raphaele, a Monsignor and pastor of the church in his home
town of Castelvertere in Italy. Pat could probably tell you the name of
the church, because she and your father visited there. (Bunny is
calling me to dinner, so I must stop for now. I'll continue later
either by e-mail or snail mail.) Love to all, Dick"
I may not get back to this until Wednesday evening, when Claire has
another baseball meeting (one of my buddies callled me a "baseball
widower" - my mother would love it!). Somebody else's turn?
Mike III