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552: Re: Donatelli, D'Ascenzo, LeDonneHeritage Forums - May 2001 |
Posted by kdivita- AT - everestkc  -- NAME: Karen Dixon DiVita-Johnson
on 04/26/03 at 1:58 AM
In Reply to: Re: Donatelli, D'Ascenzo, LeDonne posted by Karen Dixon DiVita-Johnson on 04/26/03 at 12:59 AM: Hi Liz and other readers, I was just playing around on the computer and found your website. I'm sure there is a connection between the Donatelli family you described in Pgh and mine. My grandmother was Davina Maria Donatelli DiCocco; she came to Pittsburgh, Pa in 1911 from Ateleta, Italy at the age of sixteen with her mother, a young widow, named Ascenza Del Monico Donatelli. Ascenza's young deceased husband was Angelo Donatelli, who was buried in or near Ateleta. Ascenza was one of five sisters in the DelMonico family. According to my mother's recollections,the Donatelli and DelMonico families lived in Ateleta. One of them was in the wool/cloth making business. They kept a sheep farm in the hills which the family maintained after my great-grandmother, Ascenza left Italy for America. (Ascenza's mother was Maria Ricci, also from Ateleta) My grandmother had a younger brother, Vincent, who did not come to America until he was older (about sixteen). He was raised by other Donatelli family members in Ateleta until that time. After settling in Pittsburgh, my great-grandmother was introduced to a family friend, already living in Pittsburgh, named Seraphine (sp?) D'Ascenzo. They married and he became the only grandfather my mother knew (even though he was really her step-grandfather). My grandmother married my grandfather, Nazareno DiCocco in Pgh and moved to Chicago to start an icecream cone business. According to my mother, my grandfather was blindfolded and kidnapped by the mob in an attempt to gain information about the payroll. It became a frightening situation in Chicago and my grandparents and children were wisked away under police protection and placed on a train to Pgh.late one night when my Mom was about five years old. My mother, Anna DiCocco Dixon, is now quite old and her memory about specific details is not as sharp as it used to be, but over the years she has told me that she has Donatelli cousins who lived in the Bloomfield neighborhood, a well known Italian neighborhood. Back in the early 1980's she also told me that a Donatelli cousin owned a mortuary business in the South (or North) Hills, but I don't recall his first name and I don't know if the business still exists. My mother grew up in the Homewood neighborhood which was a very nice Italian neighborhood in the twenties through the mid-fifties. Eventually, my grandparents sold their home in Homewood and moved to Penn Hills. In addition to my mother,one of my brothers, Greg Dixon, and three cousins, Mark, Steve, and Drew DiCocco still live in the Pgh area. My Mother's cousins through her uncle Vincent Donatelli ("Jimmy")were born and raised in Chicago and some of them may still live in that area:Richard, Louis, and Rosemary Donatelli. In remembering back to my childhood, I remember that my grandmother, Davina, had a good friend (perhaps a cousin) named Philomina. She came to visit often and they would enjoy "Italian coffee" - very strong black coffee with a spoon of anisette liquor, and pizelles (sp?). I recently learned of another family that immigrated to America from Ateleta, the Ranallo family. There is a connection between the D'Ascenzo family and the Ranallo's. In 1835 Pasquale Ranallo married Maria D'Ascenzo and they had four children. One of them, Bartolomeo came to America on 4/8/1881 and settled in the Kansas City area. I hope this information reaches you, Liz. If you or any other readers have any other information to share about the Donatelli, D'Ascenzo, Del Monico, Ricci, or Ranallo families, I hope you'll post it and try to get in touch with me. Best of luck to all.
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