Luigia was born in the small village of Mornano di Milano,
in the northern province of Varese in 1907.
she was the only daughter and had two brothers. Her father was already in Canada.
Her mother had remarried after the death of her first husband.
her life was simple, she helped as much she could in the house and in the field.
When she was 12 she went to help a few families in their
homes.
Emigration
with her mother and her brothers decided to go to Canada, where
her father was working as a miner.
the trip was long. Once in Brule, Luigia was
disappointed because her young mind imagined a grand
Canada, but the village in front of her was smaller than the one she
had left in Italy.
The oldest brother started working in the mines with
his Father. After he made some money he left to
further his education at Alberta College in
Edmonton. Here he met a policeman, Mr. Lesley, who
wanted to learn Italian. Every night they met and
exchanged language lessons.
Luigia's younger brother was too young to work, so went to school.
Meeting future husband / family life
in 1927 met Antonio in Edmonton.
in 1934 they were secretly engaged in Vancouver, where the family had moved.
the wedding was small but unforgettable for Antonio and Luigia.
they came back in Edmonton where Antonio was working.
they lived for few days in a house that Luigia did not like,
then moved to a larger house where they still live.
they had two children, a daughter and a son.
the daughter became a nurse and the son a doctor,
working in Phoenix, Arizona.
Employment
Antonio worked at the MacDonald Hotel until his
retirement in 1963.
then he continued to work during the summers at Jasper Lodge.
Luigia started to work when the children went to school.
She worked first at GWG, then in a coffee concessionaire
at Clarke Stadium, and later at the
Storyland Valley Zoo.
it was as the Zoo that they named an elephant,
"Lucy", after her.
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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