Joseph DellaPietra
A Life To Remember
1913 - 1987

They called him “Peppino” or “Peppine” meaning “little Joey”.  At the time of his birth, his siblings were Nicola, age 10; Maria, 8; Paul, 7; and Teresa, age 2. He was the baby, named Giuseppe, in the family of Rosaria Sacco and Antonio DellaPietra of Lanciano and born on September 28, 1913. In talking about his childhood, Joseph spoke about the poverty of his early years. He recalled that they lived on the second floor of a very modest home and that the animals occupied the lower part. In the cold weather, the heat generated by the animals helped to warm the upstairs living quarters. It was an indelible memory he carried with him in life. He would shake his head at this remembrance of the circumstances of his childhood.

Like other children, Joseph attended the local school and walked in the company of his siblings. His schooling ended with grade five and then he joined his family in tenant farming. When Joseph was seven years old he said goodbye to his father, Antonio, and brother, Nicola, then seventeen, when they left Lanciano to immigrate to America. For twelve years, Joseph would grow up without the presence of his father and Nicola. What did the absence of his father mean to Joseph in those early years? We can only speculate.

In 1928, his brother Paul also left for the US, so at age fifteen, he became the man of the household with his mother and two older sisters. So much responsibility at such a young age.

When Joseph was eighteen years old, his father Antonio, now an American citizen, was able to send for his young son to also join him in the US. This was done at a time when Joseph could have been required to serve in the Italian Army as part of the policy of conscription. So in 1931, his brother Paul returned to Lanciano so that he could accompany his brother back to the US.

The journey to America in February, 1932 was a harrowing experience. The weather was brutal with fierce winds and battering waves. Traveling steerage emphasized the effects of being tossed about in the storm. Paul later spoke of his fear that they would not survive the voyage and felt responsible for what might happen to his brother. Fortunately, they were able to reach the Port of New York and proceed to their destination: East Rochester, NY, where they joined their father Antonio, to live with him in the home of their older brother, Nicola and his wife, Victoria.

The Conte Grande at sea

Joseph joined his brothers and father in doing any road building work they could find. It was the height of the “Great Depression” and jobs were scarce. They would often sleep outdoors on cold nights to save travel time and finish the job so that they could be paid the meager money earned by these “make work” construction jobs created by the government.

In the late 1930’s, he moved on to nighttime employment with the Lawless Paper Mills that paid him $18 a week. In 1938, Antonio returned to Italy for what was to be a visit of short duration. However, the events in Europe hinting at another world war kept Antonio in Lanciano. So the brothers again said goodbye to their father. Joseph would not see his father again. All in all, Joseph’s total years in the presence of his father added up to only thirteen years. This was too little time in a culture that valued family ties and time together as well as devotion and respect for parents. One can only wonder how this circumstance affected Joseph through his lifetime.

By the 1940’s, Joseph was working his night job while living with Paul and Josephine in their new small home on Commercial Street in East Rochester. It was a two bedroom house and the second small bedroom had beds pushed together. The arrangement was for the children, Rosalyn and Anthony, to sleep in their beds in the second bedroom at night while Joseph slept in his bed in the same room during the day. It was a crowded arrangement that ended in August, 1942, when Joseph was inducted into the US Army. Prior to his departure, Joseph and his hometown friend from Lanciano, Silvino DiFlorio, had met two sisters that they would eventually marry. While away in the Army, Joseph’s brothers and their wives worked with his fiancée in planning the wedding. So on a leave from the army in December,1942, Joseph was united in marriage to Carmella Crispo in St. Michael’s Church, Rochester. During his lifetime, Joseph would express that he was at his happiest while married to Carmella.

Joseph returned to his military duties soon after marriage. He was stationed in Alaska and was trained as a barber for the troops located there. Upon his separation from the service, he returned to East Rochester and needed to find an occupation that appealed to him. He did not want to continue barbering as a trade. In the early 1950’s, Joseph and Carmella went into the grocery business on West Commercial Street in East Rochester. At this time there were as many as 22 Mom and Pop grocery stores in the small village. Theirs was the only one at the far west side of the village, an area that was still very wooded, sparsely populated and lacking water pipes. Much of the vacant land belonged to the Piano Works.  For many years, the couple worked side by side, long hours from 6:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night, seven days a week serving their customers. They were opened on Sundays until 2 pm because other groceries were opened and they could not afford to lose the business. Carmella worked the counter and general groceries while Joseph was the butcher and worked behind the meat counter. During this time, their children Daniel and Rosemarie were born and grew up in the apartment located behind the store. It was hard work that left little time for vacations, entertainment and relaxation. But their concern in providing the best for their children kept this couple always looking for ways to better their life. Perhaps Joseph’s memories of his impoverished early years impacted on this need to provide.

As time passed, they found that it was to their advantage to also add a Laundromat to the side of the grocery store. Large grocery stores like Star Market and A&P were beginning to lure customers away from the traditional Mom and Pop stores.  Like his brothers before him, Joseph also realized that owning rental property was a means of financing his retirement and providing security. So at the same time that he was a grocer and Laundromat owner, he invested in building and maintaining rentals in East Rochester. The time eventually came, after his children were provided with college educations, that Joseph and Carmella could enjoy their later years. One favorite pastime was square dancing.  They joined a square dance group and were regulars at weekly dances. It was a form of relaxation these accomplished dancers enjoyed for a number of years. Joseph and Carmella also traveled to different parts of the US and to Italy. One can only imagine what his first reunion with his mother and sister, Teresa, meant to him. The letters and phone calls that were exchanged for the intervening years could not measure up to being in the physical presence of the mother he left behind at age 19. Joseph had left Lanciano in 1932, had visited his mother in the late 60’s with his wife and children and made his final return in 1973 to help celebrate his mother’s 90th birthday.

Joseph’s remaining years revolved around his children and grandchildren. His brother, Nick, had passed away in 1966 and his brother, Paul, in 1984. He was the DellaPietra brother who had seen life in its many forms: being poor in Italy, working hard in America to make a life for himself and family and, finally, enjoying the fruits of his labor among those he loved and who loved him back.  His passing in October, 1987, left a family with memories of a wonderful husband, father and grandfather.

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