Filippo and Filomena (nee Benedetto)Rogolino-Filippo, a miner, came to Coleman from Italy in 1906,
and was followed by bride to be in 1913. She was accompanied
by uncles Tony Chila & Demetrio Rogolino and cousin
Consolato Benedetto (who already had a brother, Saverio,
in Coleman). Filippo and Filomena had 5 children;
Charlie (b. 1914, tailor, Montreal), Grace (b.1915,
married Pietro Paviglianiti, London, Ont., 3 children),
Frances (b.1917, married Gerald Bergin, 5 children,
d.1970), Joe (b.1920, electrical contractor, married Kay
Rizzo, 2 children), and Italia (b.1923, deceased).
After much hardship - lost livestock in flood of 1923;
lost house in fire, 1927; separation of family - family
finally resettled back together in London, Ontario where
Filippo grew grape vines. He died in 1977.
Donato and Maria (nee Jioia) Rossi-Donato, born 1891 in Ortona, Chieti, Italy, arrived in New
York in 1914 and worked on farms across Canada until he
came to mine in Fernie. Later, he wroked in Hillcrest
Mine, and met &
married Maria Jioia, 1920. They moved to Nordegg to mine
at Saunders' Creek c1922, developed love of horses &
wine making. They had 6 children; Carlo (b.1922, died in
infancy), Rudolph (b.1924, married Olive Zolli, Bellevue,
2 children), Josephine (b.1925, married Len Gryschuk,
Hillcrest, 2 children), Vincent (b.1927, married Kathy,
Burnaby, 3 children), Pasquale "Pat" (b.1935,
married Sirley McCartney, Kimberley, 6 children), and
Daniel (b. 1943, married Wendy Cunningham, live in
Hillcrest family home, 2 sons). Mine closed,
returned to Hillcrest c1927, times hard, traveled to
Passburg, back to Hillcrest & even to Drumheller
(Rosedale Mine) to find work. Maria died in 1968,
Donato in 1974.
Joseph and Maria Rossi-They
came from
Italy to Blairmore in 1913 and 1921, respectively.
Joe worked for CPR, Co-op store, and at Sartoris Lumber
Co. & Blairmore Sawmills Ltd. They had 2 sons,
Charlie (also worked at Sartoris Lumber Co. &
Blairmore Sawmills Ltd., married Ellen Weltens) and Roy
(also with Sartoris Lumber Co., hauled coal for Coleman
Collieries, married Kay Johnson).
Philip and Rose (nee
Pascuzzo)Sacco-Philip came to Crowsnest in 1918,
and worked as a car-man for railway, and town barber. He married Rose Pascuzzo of
Cranbrook, and had 4
children; Theresa (Mrs. Jones, b.1926, Cranbrook), Rose
(b.1927, worked for CPR in Vancouver), Philip Jr. (b.1929,
worked for CPR, Cranbrook), and Irene (b.1934, Mrs. C.
Misurelli of Crowsnest). Philip worked 46 years for
CPR, and retired in 1957 in Cranbrook. He died in 1971.
Serafino and MariaSalustro-Serafino,
a coal miner, had settled in Coleman with his
brother Achille before being joined in 1912 by his wife
Maria and daughter Aurelia. By 1920, children Gary,
Dora & Margaret were born. In 1926 the family
moved to the Windsor-Detroit area.
JohnSalvador-John arrived in Lille from
Udine, Italy (b.1892), at the age of 13. He worked
for a time with the CPR, at the mines in Lille, Frank, and
Coleman with the International Coal and Coke Co.,
eventually going into business & construction
enterprises for himself. In Frank in 1912, married
Margherita Guglichmetu, a sister of Mrs. George Chiarovano
of Bellevue. After a stroke, John sold his strip
mining operations to Mannix Construction of Calgary and
his woods operations to brother Louis Salvadore and
Charles Roggiani. He moved to Creston with wife &
son John Jr. and bought & rebuilt Universal
Motors. This was managed by sons Elidio & John Jr.. Ha
also bought a restaurant
operated by son Oliver and son-in-law Joe Colombo (married
daughter Ines). John Sr. died in 1958, his wife in
1973.
JohnScodellaro-John
was born 1880 in Udine,
Italy, and arrived in Missoula Montana in 1908. After an
unsuccessful attempt at a restaurant business, he came to
Bellevue the following year. His wife and 2
children, Primo & Vera, joined him in 1911. Edo
(Bellevue), Duke (Trail, B.C., played goal for Trail Smoke
Eaters & won the Canadian Sr. Amateur Hockey
Championship) and Elsa (Toronto) were born in
Canada. His wife died in the flu epidemic of 1918.
John remarried and had 3 more children; Doris (Mrs. Sergo,
Lethbridge), Emma (Lethbridge) and Mario (Elkford,
B.C.). They lived in Bushtown where many homes (including
the Scodellaro's) were wiped out during the flood of
1923. They rebuilt only to face another flood in
1942. John died in 1960, his second wife in 1967.
Serra
Family-Domenic and brother,
James, Serra came first to Canmore and Bankhead Mines
before sending for their youngest brother, John, in
1897. John, being young and restless, moved from job
to job and place to place. In 1899, he had a hotel
partnership with another Italian in Hurley,
Wisconsin. While there he met Maria Nadalena
Piccanatto, a 17 year old orphan from Italy (d.1976), got
married and had their first child, Martin, in 1902
(d.1970). When business got poor, he returned to
Bankhead to work in the coal mines, sent for his family in
1903. Son, Johnny was born in 1904 (d.1974 in
Armstrong, B.C.), daughter, Mary, in 1906 (d.1926), and
Orestes in 1907. He joined his brothers again in 1908, this
time in the Crowsnest Pass. Eda was born in 1910
(married Gordon Key in 1930, had 3 daughters, died 1952 in
Creston, B.C.) and William in 1912 in Bellevue.
Brother Domenic returned to Italy in 1912 to work as an
engineer. James moved to Banff soon after;
John remained in Bellevue, gave up mining and took outside
jobs such as blacksmith & mine-car repair when he had
a large family (considered much less hazardous), and died in
1958.
Smaniotto Family-Augusto
Smaniotto was born in 1883, and arrived at Bankhead, a mining community near
Banff, in 1911, leaving wife & 4 children behind in
Italy. He worked in Lethbridge, Bellevue and
Blairmore before the 2 youngest, Floyd & Zeffira,
joined him in 1929 & 1930 respectively, from Rocca
D'Arise, Italy. After his retirement from the
West Canadian Collieries, Augusto helped son Floyd run the
Pool Room. He died in 1972.
Floyd worked for West Canadian Collieries when he first
arrived in Blairmore, but the Depression & strikes
sent him searching for work in Vancouver. He
returned
to settle in Blairmore, married Victoria Campo, raised 3
children; Gloria, Donald & Ronald. He worked in
the mines in Blairmore until they closed in 1958, then for
Blairmore Sawmills before returning to the mines for
Coleman Collieries. Served on the School Board &
Volunteer Fire Brigade.
Zeffira married Jack Peressini, a widower with 3 children;
Elizeo, Odessa & Nini. Jack was killed in a mine
accident in 1942. Zeffira & daughter Clevia
moved to Dawson Creek, B.C. in the late 1950s and later
Zeffira moved to Abbotsford, B.C. Clevia married
Bill Szoo, had 5 children, live in Fort St. John, B.C.
Anthony "Tony" and Mary (nee
Marony)Stella-Tony Stella came to Fernie, B.C. from Sicily
in 1909, to work the coal mine in Coal Creek. In
1911, he married Mary Marony, who arrived from
Calabria. Their son Joe was born in 1913, followed by Tony
Jr. a year later. The family moved to Blairmore where
Tony worked at the Cement Factory. For a time he
worked at the Alberta Hotel for Emilio Picariello.
He started own delivery business. During the depression
he worked at coal mines in Drumheller Valley and Canmore,
eventually staying with West Canadian Collieries in
Blairmore until retirement. Tony had a tremendous love
for children, having 11 of their own. In 1928, Tony
& his son saved a baby's life, persevering for many
hours with artificial respiration.
Luigi and Maria (nee Doanti) Tamborini-Luigi
was born in 1883, and married Maria Doanti in 1910. Their first
child, Ines, was born in Italy. Luigi emigrated alone to
Illinois in 1910, moved to Lille to work in coal mine in
1911, and brought wife & daughter to Bellevue in
1913. Son Bruno born in 1914, daughter Triestina in
1915. Maria & children returned to Italy in
1921, followed by Luigi 6 years later. Luigi &
son Bruno returned to Canada in 1929, first to Welland,
Ontario, then back to Bellevue. Wife and Triestina
(married Edward D'Ercole of Hillcrest, son Ronald born in
1944) came back to Bellevue in 1937, Ines had married
& remained in Italy. Luigi & Bruno (married
Mabel De Zorzi in 1945, son Luigi Anthony) were both
employed by Mohawk Collieries. Luigi died in 1942,
Maria in 1953.
Angelo
Toppano-Angelo
was born in 1898 in the
province of Udine, Italy. He emigrated to Coleman in 1913 to
be with his father. There he married Ines Molina of Blairmore
in 1924 (she was the first girl born in Blairmore to be
married in Blairmore). They had 2 daughters; Norma
(Mrs. Steve Perozak, Lethbridge) and Mary (Mrs. Graham
Atkinson, Coleman) Angelo was a "dinky
driver" at Coleman International Mine until 1941 when
he and his wife became sole owners of Toppano's
Grocery. Mrs. Toppano (d.1943) had started this
business in partnership with Mrs. Angela DeCecco on Second
Street in 1928. Angelo was active in community
affairs, during is life he served on town council, the Coleman Board of
Trade, the Elks, and the Italian Society.
Serinfino Luigi and Margaret (nee
Teppa)Trono-Serinfino was born
in 1890 in Logostera, Spain, and moved to Italy
with parents as a young child. He became a watchmaker &
jeweler. Accompanied by a cousin, he came to Canmore
in 1909 where 2 brothers (Emil & Louis) were already
living. A sister (Mrs. J. Serra, Banff) arrived some time
later. He worked at the coal mine in Canmore, until
1912 strike saw him move to Blairmore. That same
year, he married Margaret Teppa, who had emigrated from
Caselle, province of Torino, Italy, at age of 7. He
opened his own jewelry store in 1915, the same year daughter
Beatrice (Mrs. T.J. Costigan, 3 children) was born.
Mrs. Trono died in 1965, Serinfino in 1975.
Giulio and LuigiaVanoni-Giulio
was born in 1891, in Daverio, Italy. He became a
bricklayer, and came to Blairmore in 1914, followed by Luigia "Gina", whom he
married
in 1920. They had one daughter, Mrs. Rica DeLuca of
Edmonton, who had 3 children. Gina died in 1973,
Giulio in 1978.
Louis and Caterina Vendrasco-Louis came from Italy to Maple Leaf after WWI to join his
brother John, c1920, and was followed by his wife Caterina
and daughter Ada (Mrs. Mario "Puggy" Pagnucco, 3
children, widowed, remarried Vic Krzywy, Blairmore) a year
later. Their daughter Enes (Mrs. Deno De Martin, Windsor)
was born in 1923, son Bruno (Windsor) in 1924 in Maple
Leaf. In 1926 the family moved from Maple Leaf
(Louis was mining in Passburg) to Blairmore (West Canadian
Collieries). Their son Guido was born in 1931.
Louis' brother John Vendrasco and family moved to Windsor,
Ontario in the early 1940s, and over the years a number of
the Louis Vendrasco family members followed. Louis
died in London, Ontario in 1968.
EzioVenier-Ezio
wasborn in 1910 in Italy, and came
to Crowsnest in 1925 to join his father who had come in
1913. Ezio's father, a tailor, returned to his
family in Italy in 1931. Ezio, wiper &
night-foreman, returned to Italy to marry in 1938, then
returned to the Pass followed shortly after by his
bride. They had 2 sons & 1 daughter. One son,
at the age of 7, was killed by a train in a switching
yard. Ezio & family moved to Cranbrook in 1949.