Raffaele Albi Mr. and Mrs. Enrico Butti Mr. & Mrs. Domenico Chiarello (Nella Anselmo) Gus & Assunta Dotto (Emilia Raffin)  Attilio & Stella Gatto Gus Lavorato Giovanni Paron Louie Protti Mr. & Mrs. Sartor Sam Scrivano Silvio Tona Paolo Veltri

  
Attilio and Stella Gatto were both born in Grimaldi, Cosenza, Italy. Attilio on December 10, 1911, and Stella on September 10, 1921. Attilio was the the youngest of four brothers and three sisters, while Stella was the youngest of one brother and three sisters. They met and married in Italy and shortly after, emigrated to Vancouver, Canada. After 10 months in Vancouver, Attilio left for Edmonton where he found work with Raffaele Albi at the New West Construction Company, later working for Imperial Oil. Three months later he was joined by Stella and the children Emilio and Pasqualino. In Edmonton they met and became friends with several Italian families, making life a little more bearable. Stella ended up taking the children back to Italy for six years before realizing that Attilio was not going to leave Canada. She returned to Edmonton with the children and was happy when they attended university and got good jobs.

The Gatto Family Photo Album

The interview was conducted in Italian 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. 

Listen to Oral History  |  Read Summary of Transcript

[back] [top]