I never realized until I was a teenager that I supposed to have two sets of grandparents. I suppose it
never occurred to me because my father never mentioned his family. My brother and I were fascinated when
we finally found out my dad had been born in Italy, but we were never able to get very much information about his
family other than he had "a bunch" of brothers and sisters in Massachusetts, that they occasionally ate dandelion greens for
supper, and that one Halloween he and his brothers put a horse-drawn wagon on top of someone's barn as a prank.
My dad wasn't much interested in the past, although he was proud of the time he spent in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. Although he had been born in Italy, he considered himself pure American. He spent most of the war in England, where he and other mechanics kept the bombers operational for their long trips to Germany. When he returned to the States he spent only a brief time in his hometown of Agawam, and then he seems to have traveled around the country working at various jobs - at a rubber plant in Dayton, Ohio; helping some bootlegger friends in South Carolina; as a cook in the Baker Hotel in Dallas, Texas. He finally landed a job as a tool-and-die maker for Boeing Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas, married my mom, and that's where my brother and I were born. My dad used to say we were "gypsies" because we seemed to keep moving. We lived in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Dallas, Texas.
I didn't have much to go on when I started this genealogical quest to learn more about the grandparents and aunts and uncles I never met. I want to thank Dick Cirillo (Joe's son) for the few photos of the family he was able to send me. I hope I will meet more of the family and maybe even make it to Reggio Calabria to see the country our ancestors left behind.
This site is dedicated to Emilo M. Angelo "Nick" "M.M." "Mike", or as I knew him, "Daddy".
Lary and Rose
I only have 3 photos of my grandparents. I was stumped for the longest time trying to find any information about the family because all I knew was that my grandfather's name was "Larry". I searched high and low for "Lawrence", "Lorenzo", anything that seemed related to the name, until I finally found his name was "Ilario Antonio". He went by "Lary" for most of his time in the U.S. He was born January 20, 1876, probably in Caulonia in Reggio Calabria, the son of Vincenzo Cirillo and Angela Simonetta. He had a sister, Immacolata, who married Ilario Tassone and lived in Detroit, Michigan about 1930. There may have been another sister who was emigrating to Australia, but died en route and was buried at sea. It's believed that only one of Ilario's siblings, a brother, remained in Italy. Ilario lived to be 77 and died in Springfield February 17,1964. He is buried in St. Michael's Cemetery there.
Rosa may have been born in San Nicola, a mountainous village just north of Caulonia, where her family, the Cavallaros apparently owned land. She was born November 11, 1886 to Vincenzo Cavallaro and Maria Mercuri. Vincenzo seems to have been the first member of the family to successfully establish himself in America and was instrumental in getting the rest of his family successfully settled. In 1907 Lary escorted Rosa's mother and Rosa's younger sister, Caterina across the ocean and safely to Springfield, where Vincenzo was already living. Rosa did not live so long as Lary. She died on Mother's Day, May 14,1939, at the age of 52, from what was listed as "pernicious anemia" on her death certificate. It is probable that she had Thalassemia, a blood condition similar to sickle cell anemia, and that she had a sudden crisis which led to her death. The consensus seems to be that the family "fell apart" after her death. Lary was very strict with his children and Rosa was the loving presence that kept them together. She is also buried at St. Michael's in Springfield.
The Cirillos landed in Boston on 1912, on board the S.S. Cretic. My dad was only about six months old, and he was the last of our little clan to be born in the old country.
Fiorenza Maria Cirillo - Florence Stanton
1906-1990?
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Raimundo - James Raymond Cirillo
1910 - 1961
died in Springfield, MA
married Evelyn Tierney
children: Barbara, James
Emilio M. Angelo - "Nick" - "Melio Michael "Mike" Cirillo
1912 - 1989
died in Temple, Texas
married Della Houston
children: Marcia Cirillo, John Cirillo
Gioconnino - Jack "Jocko" Cirillo
1914 - 1989
died in Springfield, MA
married Nest Pugh
children: Larry Cirillo, Janet Bombard, ?
Joseph "Joe" Cirillo
1916 - 1986
died in Phoenix, Arizona
married Leoda S.
children: Richard Cirillo, Jeanne Hewitt
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John BatIste Cirillo
1918 - 1982
died in Westfield, Massachusetts
married Rita Boucher
children ???
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Lorraine
1921 - 1994
died in Springfield, MA
married Harold A. Fisher
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