Enrico Butti was born in a small farming village on the River Piave in the province of Milan in November, 1904 and came to Canada when he was 12 years old in 1917 with his Mother and an older sister who died shortly after their arrival. Mr. Butti senior had come to Canada in 1912. He was a trained steam engineer who had worked in the silk mills in northern Italy and had been involved in electrifying them. In the Crowsnest Pass, he also was involved in mine electrification. He was senior electrician at the Bellevue Mine when the Hillcrest Mine explosion happened and was among the first to arrive at the scene and provide assistance. After being injured as a result of the collapse of a scaffold, he moved his family to Edmonton where he set up an electrical business. Enrico worked initially in the mines in the Crowsnest Pass but moved to Edmonton with his Father, owned his own electrical business as well as working for Palm Dairies throughout the Province. He was involved in the creation of several Italian societies including the Italo-Canadian Society prior to W.W. II and the Cristofero Colombo Soccer Club in the 1950s. He was also involved with the fraternal society
Fiori d'Italia [Flowers of Italy] in Trail as well as the Grand Lodge.
The interview was conducted by Tony Falcone and Tony Caria for the
Italians Settle in Edmonton Project in 1983 resulting in the commemorative booklet of the same name.
This was a 25th anniversary project of the Santa Maria Goretti
Parish. A Society was set up and a committee struck to undertake the research. The President was Frank Sdao and the research was led by Dr. Adriana Albi Davies.
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