Paolo Veltri was born in 1902 in Grimaldi,
Italy. He wanted to move to the United States in 1919 but
his father told him no and would not help him. In 1929 he
finally arrived in Canada but took a train to the US to find
work. Eventually, he was spotted by the American
immigration authorities and deported to Italy in
1933. Paolo emigrated to Canada for a second time in 1949,
sponsored by Ottavio Iachetta, to work in Winnipeg briefly
before coming to Edmonton. His wife Teresa joined
him in 1952 and they ran a boarding house for other Italians
for a time. They also briefly ran a restaurant. Paolo has always thought that he made the right
decision in coming to Canada.
The interview was conducted by Carmela Marino and Anna Bruni
and Adriana Albi Davies 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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