My Italian Family

I began this blog over a year ago and have let it fall by the wayside. I hope to be better about posting more often in this new year of 2010.


My first post told about my ancestors' ocean journey into a new world. A world where they didn't speak the language, didn't know the customs, and had limited family support - only from those who also made the transatlantic journey.

Today I will tell the story about my grandmother, whom we called "Nunny" a close variation of the Italian word for grandmother, Nonna or Nonni. Her name was Emelia BRUNO and she was born in the little mountain village of Torrioni in the hills near Avellino in the Campania Region of Italy. She was the fourth of seven children of Gennaro BRUNO and Brigida ZARRELLA.

The children were as follows:

1) Antonette/Antonia BRUNO; born 12 Aug 1877 in Torrioni; she married Michele GENNERAZZO on 16 Oct 1899 in Torrioni and she died 6 Dec 1935 in Saugus, Essex, MA.
2) Pasquale BRUNO; born 27 Sept 1880 and died 19 Nov 1882 in Torrioni.
3) Carmine BRUNO; born Nov 1882 and died 3 Dec 1882 in Torrioni.
4) Maria Louise BRUNO; born 15 Dec 1885 in Torrioni; married Augustino BONITO about 1915 and died 4 May 1971 in Dedham, Norfolk, MA
5) Giuseppe BRUNO; born 17 Mar 1888 in Torrioni; died in 1904 in Boston, MA.
6) Emelia BRUNO, my grandmother. She was born 28 Dec 1889 in Torrioni; married first Benjamin PORCARO in 1906 in Saugus, Essex, MA; she married 2nd Bruno Cosimo IANNIZZI on 11 June 1911 in Boston, MA; She died in Everett, Middlesex, MA on 27 March 1973.
7) Gennaro "John" BRUNO; born 14 Aug 1892 in Torrioni; married Victoria "Mary" PETEZZA on 16 June 1912 in Saugus, Essex, MA and died 5 Oct 1966 in Saugus, Essex, MA.

My grandmother, Emelia (BRUNO) (PORCARO) IANNIZZI had 5 children, 2 with her first husband and three with my grandfather. She also raised my grandfather's children from his previous marriage along with her own. Her life was never an easy one. My grandfather could be a very difficult person to live with. He drank often and was known to hit both his wife and his children regularly. My father, Giuseppe Giovanni "Joseph John" IANNIZZI was born in 1912, the first of Emelia and Bruno's 3 children. His two sisters followed in 1915 (Rose Ann) and in 1921 (Mary Elizabeth). My aunt Mary remained single all of her life and I spent many hours with her in her last years listening to stories about her life and my father as a child. These stories will always be my treasured memories. She often told that when their father was in a particularly agressive mood he would yell a lot and often hit the children. My father would step in and push him away from the girls, even hitting his father to distract him, and take the beating meant for his little sisters. Mary said that my dad always protected them from their Dad's wrath. My father grew up to be a very gentle man. I don't recall him ever hitting anyone out of anger. That's not to say that we didn't get a spanking now and then. In those days spanking children was not viewed as it is today. We usually deserved a punishment as we could be mischeivous children and there were 5 of us all together! Sometimes I don't know how he stayed sane with all of us children. There were 5 of us, all born within 7 years, and included 3 boys.

My father only had a 6th grade education and left home at the age of 14 years to work and bring money into the family. He worked putting up tents for the circus in Kittery, Maine and many other jobs before he established his own auto mechanic business. He ran his own gas stations and repair shops in many locations around the Everett/Malden, MA area. He had one in Boston and Somerville at one time. They were all called Joe's Esso and I still remember the smell of oil and gas - it always reminds me of my father and I love that smell. He managed to raise his two children from his first marriage and the 5 of us, own a house, and provide a great life for his family. He was a very hard worker and taught us to have a strong job ethic of working hard and doing our best. He taught us well.

Unfortunately my father only lived to be 61 years old. He died of cancer just 2 weeks after his 61st birthday. I was only 22 years old at the time and it was a hard time for all of us. He was our rock and our compass. We always knew he would watch out for us wherever we went and correct us when we needed corrections. He never knew my children, as I married just 1 year after his death. He only lived to see one of his 14 grandchildren, my sister's oldest daughter. He loved little Erin so much and just glowed when she reached up to hold his hand. I'll never forget the smile on his face when he held her little hand in his. My oldest daughter, Diana, and Dad would have been hard and fast friends. She is so much like him - a sports nut (actually a jock at times) and my Dad's passions, like Diana's, were baseball and ice hockey. He would also be proud as she was his first grandchild to graduate college and go on to persue a post-graduate law degree. She earned her J.D. and her Masters in tax law. He would have been so proud of her!

My Dad and Mom met while my Dad was in the Coast Guard Reserves during and after World War II. My mother was a Cadet Nurse and Dad was her patient at Malden Hospital in Malden, MA after having hernia surgery. She was his night nurse. When I asked her about their first meeting she said "I brought him his supper tray and put it on the table. I had a bandaid on my little finger and he asked me what happened to my finger. I told him that I cut it off and put it in his soup! and then I walked out!" I can only imagine the look on Dad's face. I guess he liked her spunk because they courted and married after that.

I will continue this blog about my grandmother and my family later. Watch for the next installment....