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Raffaele Albi was born on September 14, 1913, in the town
of Grimaldi, in the province of Cosenza, region of Calabria,
Italy. His Father, Francesco Albi, was one of six brothers and was the last to
emigrate to Spokane, Washington. Francesco emigrated in 1913
before the birth of his second son, Raffaele (his older son
Giuseppe was born in 1911). He worked in the Crow's
Nest Pass and died in 1916 in Revelstoke, BC, of
pneumonia. In Italy,
Raffaele attended school up until grade five (which was the
norm) and was apprenticed and became a master carpenter. He
was also an excellent amateur musician, playing the mandolin
and clarinet. When he was 21 he joined the military and was
stationed in Ethiopia, Bologna, and Cosenza. In 1938, he
married Estera Potestio and they had three children:
Rosa, Adriana and Giuseppe. Raffaele came
to Canada in 1949 by boat from Paris (he had been recruited
by a labour agent, Ottavio Iachetta, from Winnipeg). He landed in
Quebec, and then took the train to Winnipeg. He worked there
on a farm until he made his way to Edmonton in 1949 where he
worked initially for New West Construction and, later, for
Imperial Oil. His
wife and three children joined him in 1951. Mrs. Albi
worked at the GWG plant in Edmonton as well as at Toni Lynn and
White Stag.
The interview was conducted by Carmela Marino and Rita
Cavaliere 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.
The Albi Family Photo Album
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