Salvatore and Florence (Biollo) Giacobbo- Salvatore
Giacobbo was born June 29, 1901 in the town of San Zenone
degli Ezzelini, Province of Treviso, Italy. He left Italy
in August 1923. He first arrived in North America via New
York. From there he came to Canada and continued to
Edmonton. His first job was working in the coal mines in
Cadomin, in 1923 and 1924. Salvatore then moved to Venice
where he worked in tie camps and at the sawmill that was
owned by
O.J. Biollo. This is where he first met Florence Biollo, born February 12, 1910 in Winnipeg, daughter of
O.J. Biollo. She would later become his wife. On
November 19, 1925, Salvatore applied for a homestead for
the fee of $10 (NE¼ 1-66-15-W4). After working the
sawmill and clearing the land, he finally planted
his first 15 acres in 1928. On November 16, 1929, Salvatore Giacobbo married Florence Biollo in Lac La Biche
and they moved onto his farm. After numerous attempts at
digging wells and having them come up dry, Salvatore
applied for another homestead (NE¼ 36-65-15-W4)
just south of their original homestead in 1931. Their nine
children are Angelo, Doreen, Salvatore Jr., Joanne,
Lawrence, Gregory, Valerio, Delphine and Celestine.
Celeste and
Irma (nee Tedesco) Giacobbo-Celeste Giacobbo was born in Italy and joined his brother
Salvatore in Venice, Alberta. He married Irma Tedesco and
worked on the railroad and eventually homesteaded in
Venice. He continued to work on the railway and
farm. The couple had 8 children: Mary,
Gino, Lucy, Romeo, Christina, Angelina, Donnie and Joe.
Salvatore and Lottie (nee Stevens) Grandinetti-Salvatore
Grandinetti was born in Rovito, Cosenza, Italy, and
emigrated to North America in approximately 1910. In
Sudbury, Ontario he worked in a nickel mine -
it was here he met Lottie Stevens. They married and
moved to Fort Frances, Ontario, where son, Michael, was
born on December 2, 1920.
The family moved to Edmonton in
1924 where they operated the Blue Bird Cafe, the P.K.
Rooms and Confectionery, and the Western Hotel. Salvatore had an opportunity to invest in a homestead in
Hylo, and he purchased the NE¼ 28-65-15-W4 from Mr.
Morelli in 1928. On March 30, 1930, Salvatore, Lottie and
Michael moved to the homestead in Hylo. In October of 1933
a daughter, Madonna, was born. In the
spring of 1934, the family home burned to the ground.
They
moved into a little granary until Michael finished his
school year, then they moved into Edmonton. In December of
1935 the family moved back to Hylo, where Salvatore farmed
grain and cattle, and in the winter continued to make
railroad ties. In 1944, Lottie Grandinetti was diagnosed
with breast cancer. Lottie died on October 2, 1949.
In
1956, Salvatore sold his farm to Mr. and Mrs. Pankiw and
moved to Edmonton, where he started an import/export
business. After his retirement, he made two trips to
Italy, then made his residence at the Kiwanis Place for
Seniors. At the age of 87 years, Salvatore died on
September 16, 1979.
Michael and Sylvia (nee Michetti) Grandinetti-Micheal was
born in Fort Frances, Ontario in 1920 and married Sylvia
Michetti in 1941. In 1942,
he worked at the Abasand Oil in
Fort McMurray and then went into the Army briefly until
his discharge due to ill health. He returned to
Abasand (the pilot plant for the Great Canadian Oil Sands/Suncor. When the plant was destroyed by fire, he returned to
farming. In 1962, he began to work with Alberta Government
Transportation in the area as a road construction
foreman. In 1978, he and Sylvia moved to Edmonton
where he worked at various road construction jobs until
retirement. The couple had three children:
Howard Raymond, Diana Lynn and Jeffrey Rock.
Pietro, Francesco, Attilio and Gildo Macor-The
brothers were born in Grions, a small village in the
province of Udine in northern Italy. At the age of 10, Frank went to work in Germany,
stacking bricks in a brick fabricating plant. They left
Italy in 1911 when Pietro was 25, Frank, 23, Attilio, 21
and Gildo (Guido) was 16. They worked in the coal
mines in Nordegg, Luscar and Cadomin. Two of the brothers
registered homesteads in 1914: T65 R14 NW30 (Peter) and
SW30 (Attilio). The first house the brothers built
was on Peter's homestead; Frank, Attilio, and Gildo came
to Venice about one year later. Gildo did not like farming
and left to work for the CPR in the Crow's Nest Pass and
worked in BC until his retirement. Frank and Attilio lived
in Pietro's house until they built a house on the
SW¼ 30-65-14-W4. Frank started corresponding with
Anna Bizzaro, a girl he had met once in the village of
Flaibano, Udine, Italy, and after a few letters of
response to Frank, she was to become a mail order bride.
In May
1922 (at the age of 24), she emigrated to Canada.
Frank
met her in Edmonton when she arrived and they were married on May 26, 1922 in St. Joachim's
Church. They spent the next seven years living
in a small log house with Attilio and his wife Erminia
(nee Vinti). In
1929 Frank and Attilio built a three-room, log house on
the northeast corner of section 24, and during the late
summer of 1929, Frank and his family moved to their own
farm. In 1932, the family built a larger and more
comfortable house. Frank and Anna had four children over
the years (Marie, Lydia, Rina, and Louis).
1962, Frank,
Anna and Lydia left the farm and moved to an apartment in
the city. Frank passed away in 1961, and Anna followed in
1977. Their daughter Rina Macor married
Tony Bonifacio in 1949 and moved to Edmonton. Louis Macor married
Elizabeth in 1958 and they moved out to the family farm
and had seven children (Colleen, Linda, Sharon, Lorraine,
Catherine, Marilyn and Frank). Louis raised cattle
and also did vet work in the area until a vet came.
Albert
Macor was the son of Attilio Macor and Erminia Vinti
and was born in Venice, Alberta in 1924. He went to school in
Venice and helped his Father on the farm. He served
in the Army but was released because of his Father's ill
health. He worked at the Lac La Biche airport and
also landscaped with
Joe Bonifacio. He then worked
for the railroad from 1947-58 as foreman of a brushing
crew. He then did went back to construction work and
worked seasonally for Alberta Transportation in the
summer. He married Violet Bakay and they had five
children: Brian, Kenneth, Elaine, Bobby and
Darlene.
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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