L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 36 L'Italo-Americano Tracing the family tree from Everett to Gorfigliano W hen Bev- e r l y Paladen i Riter r e t i r e d from a career in public health in 1995, there were no rocking chairs or fuzzy slippers await- ing her. Instead, the mother of three put her nursing tal- ents to use, volunteering with the American Red Cross and other organizations to provide disaster relief in the US and abroad. There was plenty to do. In 2001, Riter coordinated vol- unteers in support of those who lost family members d u r i n g t h e a t t a c k o n t h e World Trade Center in New York. The work was not only heart-breaking but danger- o u s , t o o . T o x i c d u s t a n d smoke swirled around the site for weeks. I n 2 0 0 5 , s h e p r o v i d e d r e l i e f e f f o r t s d u r i n g Hurricane Katrina. '"I flew t o T e x a s a h e a d o f t h e storm," Riter recalled, "then drove to Baton Rouge, arriv- ing after Katrina hit. My job was to set up and manage health care services at the convention center for 6,000 people." Years earlier, in Albania, she provided mental health support to those escaping the war in Kosovo. Many of the refugees had been hiding for months in the cold snowy m o u n t a i n s , f r e e z i n g a n d with little to eat. F r o m h e r r e s u m e , i t ' s clear that Riter can handle just about any challenge that comes her way. Throughout her life, she's relied on her incredible stamina and per- severance. These skills came in handy during her 50-year quest to track down her fam- ily roots in Italy. R i t e r ' s g r a n d f a t h e r Michele Paladini (the family n a m e w a s c h a n g e d l a t e r ) was from the small Tuscan village of Gorfigliano on the slopes of Mt. Pisanino; his w i f e O t t a v i a h a i l e d f r o m R o g g i o , a f e w k i l o m e t e r s away. The couple settled in Portland, Ore., in the early 1 9 0 0 s , t h e n m o v e d t o Y a c o l t , W a s h . , a b o u t 5 0 miles north. Michele worked i n a s a w m i l l a n d l a t e r bought 160 acres for a dairy f a r m . A s w i t h a l l i m m i - g r a n t s , t h e c o u p l e f a c e d m a n y h a r d s h i p s , f r o m homesickness and illness to t h e t h r e a t o f i n t e r n m e n t during World War II. R i t e r g r e w u p o n a n adjoining farm and loved h e a r i n g t h e s t o r i e s h e r g r a n d p a r e n t s s h a r e d , i n their broken English, about their lives in Italy. After she graduated from college, she set off for Europe for the summer. One of her goals: to visit the villages where her grandparents were born. There was just one small hitch: no one knew how to spell the names of her ances- tral towns. Her grandmother said they were from a moun- tain village north of Lucca known for its marble mines. Figuring Lucca was a good place to start. She quickly discovered that the phonetic spellings of the town names were not much help. Thanks to the kindness of strangers, Riter got a lead and was soon on her way to G o r f i g l i a n o , a t o w n o f a b o u t 2 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e . A t H o t e l P a n c e t t i , t h e o n l y hotel in town, Riter inquired about the Paladeni family. She was told to go around the corner –and there she found her cousin's house. In subsequent visits – she estimates about 11 in all – s h e l o c a t e d o t h e r f a m i l y m e m b e r s a n d w a l k e d t h e same paths that her grand- parents had likely traversed. She spent much of her time researching documents in c h u r c h e s a n d t o w n h a l l s , t a k i n g p h o t o g r a p h s , a n d tape-recording endless sto- r i e s h e r I t a l i a n r e l a t i v e s shared. In Roggio, accom- panied by her grandmother's youngest sister Angelina, she visited the house where her grandmother and her siblings had been born. Y e a r a f t e r y e a r , R i t e r added to her rich treasure trove of memories. In the early 1990s, she decided to produce a written record, using the journals she kept during her travels, family documents she uncovered, a n d t h e p h o t o s s h e h a d taken. For four years, she s p e n t m a n y n i g h t s a n d weekends working on the manuscript. T o t e l l t h e s t o r y o f t h e P a l a d e n i f a m i l y i n t h e Pacific Northwest, Riter vis- ited the National Archives in Washington, DC, and New York City, along with the C l a r k C o u n t y ( W a s h . ) Historical Museum, Seattle's Regional Archives, and the L D S F a m i l y L i b r a r y i n Bellevue and Everett, Wash. Books, pamphlets and news- paper articles provided addi- tional details. In 1997, Riter finished her manuscript and made copies for family members. Then s o m e 2 0 y e a r s l a t e r , s h e decided to self-publish. By this time, she had amassed s u c h a n i n t r i c a t e a n d detailed story that she split her material into two books. The first book, Horses, C o w s a n d K e r o s e n e Lamps: Country Living near Yakult in the 1940's and 1950's, tells the story o f t h e f a m i l y f a r m i n Washington state. The sec- o n d , P a t h o f t h e Paladeni Family: From G o r f i g l i a n o t o Y a c o l t a n d B a c k , r e c o u n t s h e r search for her family roots in I t a l y . B o t h b o o k s w e r e issued in 2020 and are avail- able on Amazon. With so many documents in hand, Riter and two of her adult children applied for I t a l i a n c i t i z e n s h i p ; t w o g r a n d c h i l d r e n a n d t w o n i e c e s f o l l o w e d s u i t . Citizenship was granted and r e c o r d e d l a s t s p r i n g i n Minucciano, the locality in w h i c h t h e v i l l a g e o f Gorfigliano is located. R i t e r , w h o l i v e s i n Everett, Wash., continues her ties with Italy. An avid hiker, she has been presi- d e n t o f t h e P a c i f i c Northwest chapter of Club Alpino Italiano for the past four years. "In addition to local activities, we organize hiking trips and exchanges to Italy," she said. "We also sponsor and host groups of hikers from Italy and show them our beautiful Pacific Northwest." Last fall, Riter was sched- uled to lead a group from Seattle to the Garfagnana in the province of Lucca to help dedicate the newly refur- bished trail #181 near Pizzo d ' U c c e l l o , b u t C O V I D - 1 9 i n t e r v e n e d . N o w o r r i e s . Relying on her ever-present supply of positive thinking, R i t e r i s r e a d y t o r e s u m e traveling to Italy as soon it is safe. Path of the Paladeni Family was published last year (Photo: Beverly Riter) RITA CIPALLA SEATTLE ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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