L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, M e m o r i a l Day, originally called Decora- tion Day, is a day of Remembrance for those who have died in our Nation's Service. Inaugurated in 1868 by General John Logan for the purpose of decorating the graves of Civil War veter- ans, it has since become a day when service men and women and all dead are commemorated... *** During this Worldwide Corona Virus pandemic, the families of too many of our friends or relatives who have p a s s e d a w a y h a v e b e e n unable to give their loved o n e s t h e f u n e r a l m a s s o r send off they would have wanted. *** G a y l e M i l l e r L e n c i p a s s e d a w a y e x a c t l y t w o months before what was to be the 55th wedding anniver- sary celebration of her mar- riage to Ivaldo Lenci. Gayle a n d I v a l d o h a d h o p e d t o r e n e w t h e i r v o w s a t S t . Mary's Catholic Church in S a c r a m e n t o , C a l i f o r n i a where they were married in a double ring ceremony, April 20 1965. Ivaldo hails from San Vito,in the province of Lucca. He met and married Gayle shortly after his Bay Area arrival in 1963. Ivaldo, who c u r r e n t l y r e s i d e s i n S a n Rafael, California, and Gayle were the proud parents of Ivaldo Lenci Jr, Mario Lenci and daughter Valencia. Gayle was also the grandmother of 4 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. *** Tomie DePaola, beloved children's book author and illustrator passed away on March 30, 2020. Tomie de Paola was indeed beloved by t h o u s a n d s o f c l a s s r o o m teachers and by children who l o v e d t h e m o r e t h a n 2 0 0 children's books he created through the years. Many of h i s c h i l d r e n ' s b o o k s h a d Italian related themes which made them a double joy for Italian-American teachers to read to the "bambini" in their classrooms. Among them were Strega Nona, Tony's Bread, Francis: the Poor Man of Assisi, the Legend of the Old Befana, The Mysterious Gian of Barletta (the statue i n f r o n t o f S a n S e p o l c r o Church in the Adriatic town of Barletta, Italy), The Clown o f G o d , M e r r y C h r i s t m a s Strega Nona and so many more. *** T h o m a s A n t h o n y "Tomie" DePaola was born S e p t e m b e r 1 5 , 1 9 3 4 i n Meriden, Connecticut, to a family of Irish and Italian heritage. He was the son of Joseph and Florence May (Downey) DePaola. He had one brother, Joseph (nicknamed Buddy), and two sisters, Judie and Maureen. His grandparents originated from Calabria, where he set his well-known book Strega Nona. His book T h e B a b y S i s t e r i s a b o u t Maureen being born. DePaola was attracted to art at the age of four and c r e d i t e d h i s f a m i l y w i t h encouraging his development as an artist and influencing the themes of his works. After high school, DePaola s t u d i e d a r t a t t h e P r a t t Institute in Brooklyn and g r a d u a t e d i n 1 9 5 6 w i t h a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. The first book he wrote a n d i l l u s t r a t e d w a s T h e Wonderful Dragon of Timlin, published by Bobbs-Merrill in 1966. His writing career spanned over 50 years during which he worked on more than 270 books. Close to 25 million copies of his books were sold worldwide, and were translated into over 20 languages. His most well- known work, Strega Nona, was first published in 1975. *** Frank Sinatra's passing on May 14, 1998 (of a hearth attack at age 82) was a real heartbreaker for his longtime f a n s , m a n y o f w h o m h a d been Frank Sinatra fans since his 1944 appearances at New York Paramount theatre of Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. San Francisco's Golden Gate when they were teenagers and now were grandparents. My friend the late Isabel Mazzullo, Secretary of the Bay Area Frank Sinatra Fan Club, was always contacting me to attend Sinatra events like the a f t e r c o n c e r t s u p e r p a r t y Frank hosted to benefit the M e n t a l H e a l t h a n d C h i l d A b u s e F o u n d a t i o n o f S a n F r a n c i s c o a t t h e E l e g a n t L ' E t o i l e , a c r o s s f r o m t h e F a i r m o n t H o t e l . I n S u n Valley, California, in memory of his mother Dolly (who was born Natalina Garaventa in Lumarzo near Genoa before coming to New Jersey as a child), who was tragically killed in a plane crash, Frank Sinatra pledged half a million dollars to Villa Scalabrini to build its chapel. Proceeds from concerts and royalties went to fulfill that pledge, and in 1982, a benefit concert in Chicago produced the last sum needed to make Sinatra's dream a reality. Frank Sinatra's controver- sies made the press far more often than his many charita- ble acts often done anony- mously. When Frank Sinatra passed away in 1998, Isabel Mazzella then 71 years of age, w h o h a d a t t e n d e d e v e r y S i n a t r a s h o w i n N o r t h e r n C a l i f o r n i a s i n c e 1 9 4 4 w a s glued to CNBC's nonstop trib- ute to the legendary singer. "I had a good cry at about 2a.m. when I heard the news of Frank's passing. He was such a major part of my life, he felt like a family member. Nobody could sing like that - the clarity, the phrasing, the feeling. You could be in an arena with 15,000 people, but w h e n F r a n k s a n g h e w a s singing only to you". Frank did it his way... ***

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