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Biagio Amodeo 1883-1969
Biagio was born on June 10, 1883 in Termini Imerese, Sicily to Francesco & Maria (Graziano) Amodeo. He had 2 brothers and 2 sisters--Salvatora (1881), Mariano (1887), Mary (1889) and Diego (1894). At the age of 25 he married Maria Coniglio, on February 9, 1909 in the Termini Imerese, Sicily (their marriage certificate is on his "Memories" page). They had 1 son & 4 daughters--Frank in 1909, Mary in 1913, Santreena in 1915, Salvatora (Vicky) in 1919 and Josephine in 1922. They had celebrated 16 years of marriage before Maria died at the age of 39, on January 3, 1926 and she was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Toronto. He returned to Termini Imerese and on September 6, 1927 he married Rose Bova. Together they had one more child, a daughter, Rose in 1929. This except is from a letter his daughter Rose wrote: As you will see from visiting his "Memories" page (or clicking on this link) it fell on him at a very early age to be the leading breadwinner and head of his family. He took on this task at such an early age he had very little, if any schooling. However, his daughter Rose tells of how he taught himself how to read & write and took great pleasure in reading. His favourite book was Count of Monte Christo, in Italian. This pursuit never seemed to stop, for she recalls as they were driving he was continually sounding the words on street signs phonetically. He was a strong man from an early age. And a quiet man. He started what later became his life long business in Toronto with a basket of fruit, peddling from door to door. The story of his life could not be told any better than what Rose has written of him. He was an ancestor you can be proud of. Biagio & Rose had celebrated 42 years of marriage before Biagio died at the age of 86, on November 18, 1969 and he was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Toronto. Maria Coniglio 1887-1926
Maria was born on March 23, 1886 in Termini Imerese, Sicily to Francesco & Santo (Coniglio) Coniglio. She had 2 brothers and 3 sisters--Antonino (1881), Sebastiana (1894), Cosimo (1896), Andrea (1898) and Giuseppa (1900). One of her sisters, Sebastiana, also moved to Toronto and was married to Tony Fasciano and mother of Lya, Santina, Rose and Anthony. The Fasciano's ran Biagio's store for a time when he moved back to Italy, but on his return they set up their own fruit business further down Queen St. They had celebrated 16 years of marriage before Maria died at the age of 39 on January 3, 1926 in Toronto, apparently having contracted pneumonia when she had just returned from the warm weather of Sicily. She left behind 5 children when she died--Frank (16), Mary (12), Santreena (10), Salvatora (6) and Josephine (3). She was buried in in Mount Hope Cemetery, Toronto. This excerpt was taken from a letter written by Rose, his daughter: I'm not sure what year he bought 564 Queen St., but as far as I know that was the only store he bought. The whole family worked in it, and when Uncle Frank grew, he took over the wholesale, hotels, restaurants, etc.--and sold more than lemons & limes. They must have prospered and retired for 2 years back to Termini, leasing the store to the Faciano's. Zia Pepina was Maria Coniglio's sister. They went to Termini, stayed with Maria's mother, and he became lazy and didn't like it. Also, Uncle Frank was a teenager and he wanted him to work. So, they came back. Then Tragedy occurred. Business was booming. It was the Christmas season and they sold Christmas trees. Uncle Frank would tell the story of how his mother just loved to stay outside selling trees, and chalking up another sale. He said that he and his father would tell her to go inside but she persisted and caught pneumonia. There were no antibiotics or cure, and she died. Here was a widower with 5 children. His brother & sister-in-law were still living there and he couldn't cope alone. Rose Bova 1900-1983
Rose was born on September 8, 1900 in Termini Imerese, Sicily to Pietro & Rosa (Coniglio) Bova. She had 2 brothers and 3 sisters--Anthony, Pietro, Josephine, Celestine and Anna. After the death of his first wife, Biago returned to Termini Imerese and on September 6, 1927 he & Rose, at the age of 27, were married. They returned to Toronto where they had 1 child, a daughter, Rose in 1929. This excerpt was taken from a letter written by Rose, her daughter: He went back to Italy to his mother-in-law and told her he wanted to find a wife. He remembered meeting Rosa Bova when he was there with his wife and wondered why she had reached the ripe old age of 27 without getting married. Rosa was Maria Coniglio's first cousin. Rosa's mother & Maria's father were brother & sister. Truth being, that Rosa's mother married Pietro Bova against her father's will (I think she eloped, but I'm not sure), and she was disowned by her father and family. Except for her oldest brother Francesco Coniglio, who would feel so sorry for his sister that he would send her food. Rosa Coniglio Bova paid dearly for her mistake. She had to work all her life, after being used to living with plenty (the Coniglio's were landowners & comparatively wealthy). Her only concern was that she wanted her last daughter to marry well, and to a good worker. So, when she was asked for the hand of her daughter in marriage (after having seen the whole family living in the lap of luxury in Italy), she quickly said "yes"--and talked my mother into marrying him. In the meantime, my father made it quite clear that his children came first. He told her she could buy anything she wanted, but "look after his children first". When he told her this, my mother wanted to back down but my grandmother insisted that "money covered a multitude of sins". So they were married in Termini in September 1927. Biagio & Rose had celebrated 42 years of marriage before Biagio died at the age of 86, on November 18, 1969. Rose died at the age of 83 on September 29, 1983 and was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Toronto.
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