May 2014 Newsletter

May 1, 2014 by crimi42

Then and Now -A Family Newsletter

May 2014

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Then… C:UsersLizAppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsTemporary Internet FilesContent.IE5ZGRU8NYFMC900382589[1].jpg

A Man Ahead of His Time

Tomaso Danisi was born in Palo del Colle, Bari, Italy in 1884. He was the only child of Michele Danisi and Maria Sangirardi. She died of the Spanish Flu when he was only five years of age. This left his father widowed, and he later married Maria’s sister, Pasqua Sangirardi, as was commonly done in those days. Tomaso eventually became the half- brother of six other siblings.

As a young man in Italy, he served in the Italian military during WWI. He came to America because he was unhappy with the politics of war-torn Europe. He no longer wanted to lose years of his life by fighting in the Italian military. America was the land where he came to live, work, and raise a family in peace.

He married Filomena Bozzi with whom he had nine children. In his home, he and his wife and children were “Americans” and spoke only English. He was a Roman Catholic with strong religious beliefs regarding marriage. He enjoyed reading, classical music, medicine, and was a business man. His competitors and customers described him as a very determined and hard- working family man. He came to this country not speaking the language and, nevertheless, in a short time, he owned a fuel oil business and an ice delivery business. Eventually, he purchased his own home. He encouraged Filomena to own and operate her own wedding dressmaking business. He believed that women should learn to become financially independent – a philosophy uncommon among Italian men at the time. She kept her profits in her own bank account and spent them as she pleased. His nine children became well educated with either technical training or college degrees. In addition, he insisted that they each learn to play a musical instrument, and he purchased the best instruments and instructors that he could find. In time, they became a family band.

His American dream was upset by WWII, when he felt the horrors of the Euorpean wars followed him to his adopted country. In spite of this, when his sons were eligible to join the American military during WWII, he strongly urged them to participate and fight for America.

In time, he acquired a vacation place on his half-brother’s farm in Port Jervis. He was a deep person, small and stocky in stature with a determined look that made him seem bigger than most men. His eyes always glimmered with mischief. He died in 1952.

As told by his grandson Vincent (Jimmy) Danisi

Tomaso was the son of Michele Danisi and Maria Sangirardi, grandson of Vito and Eugenia Grumo, great grandson of Michele Danisi and GiacomaSuoranno.

Now…

Is there a doctor in the house?

Frank Volpicelli grew up in Darien Connecticut and attended Darien High School where he was captain of the football team, and a member of the National Honor Society. He then attended the University of Pennsylvania (class of 2004) and graduated from Albert Einstein College of Medicine AOA in 2009. During that time he was awarded a Sarnoff Fellowship in Cardiology research for 1 year which resulted in two publications. Following his graduation from Einstein, Frank did his residency in Internal Medicine at Beth Israel Deconess Medical Center, a Harvard teaching hospital.

He is currently employed by NYU Langone in Manhattan as an Attending Physician and Instructor of medicine. Most recently, he was appointed to the Medical Board at NYU Langone. In addition to seeing patients, he works in medical education, quality improvement, patient safety, and in finance reducing unnecessary care.

Frank lives in Greenwich Connecticut with his wife, Elgida, who is the Director of Dermato-Pathology at Stamford Hospital in Stamford Connecticut. On October 26th 2012 they welcomed their first child, Frank Ermald Volpicelli, just three days ahead of Hurricane Sandy. The storm that hit the east coast three days later cannot compare to the flurry of joy that he brings to every day!

Submitted by Liz Crimi Olsson with the help of Dr. Volpicelli

Dr. Volpicelli (8/27/1982) is the son of Frank and Angela Volpicelli, grandson of Michael and Marie DeMeo, great grandson of Luigi and Angelina DeMeo, great great grandson of Franceso and DomenicaDanisi, great greatgreat grandson of Vito Danisi and Eugenia Grumo,great greatgreatgreat grandson of Michele Danisi and Giacoma Suoranna.