Dear Readers,
Mario Avignone, Fra Noi Columnist, U.S. Army Air Force veteran and spiritual son of St. Padre Pio whom he met while stationed in Foggia, near San Giovanni Rotondo during WWII, will be celebrating “Buon Compleanno numero 90”. Mario was born in Chicago, Illinois, September 9, 1918 in the Chicago area dubbed “Roseland” by the neighborhood locals, hence, the delightful name of Mario’s News from the Neighborhood column “petals from Roseland”.
Mario Avignone’s Italian roots were planted in Piemonte. During the Depression his mother died. Shortly after his father lost his job and there was no employment anywhere, as great numbers of Americans were unemployed. Once out of high school, Mario couldn’t get a job, so he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The C.C.C. put unemployed young men into camps all over the country, where they worked to improve rivers, forests and farms. Mario worked in C.C.C. for two years. Six months at Jacksonville, Ill. and 18 months in Green River, Wyoming. He also wrote a column about C.C.C. camp activities for the local newspapers. He finally got a job with Sherwin Williams Paint Company doing minor labor work in the paint lab. In December 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
Mario asked his boss for permission to enlist in the Army. His boss was a good man and a wonderful boss. Mario served four years. The two years in Italy he especially liked because of his meeting Padre Pio. You could not get near Padre Pio because the crowds were so big. However, because of Mario’s friendship with a priest, who was head of local churches, Mario became a friend of the Saint to be (2002).
Thanks to his friend, Padre Polino, Mario got to dine with the monks when he visited San Giovanni Rotondo and was seated right next to Padre Pio. After the war, Mario Avignone returned to his home in Chicago and with his wife Peggy raised two fine boys. He was welcomed back to work at Sherwin Williams Paint Company and became active in St. Anthony’s Parish, where he was encouraged to give talks about his friendship with Padre Pio to interested audiences.
Mario was also very active in helping to form the “Historic Pullman Civic Association” which worked hard to have the nearby Pullman area designated as a “Historic Landmark,” thereby upgrading the area and encouraging longtime residents to stay put in Pullman, rather than moving to the suburbs. In the last 50 years, hundreds of former Roseland residents have moved to other states, many of them toCalifornia and it is to Fra Noi and Mario’s “Petals from Roseland” column that they turn to for news from the old neighborhood.
Here are a few of Mario’s U.S.A. and California connections: - Rev. Alessandro Ranieri, presently pastor of St. Peter’s Parish in Los Angeles, sends his greetings and thanks all for the best wishes he received when he became pastor. Yes, he says he misses St. Anthony Italian Parish. Also he received a letter from the Rev. Florian Girometta, retired and living in Rivergaro, Piacenza, Italy. He is 90 years old and kiddingly says he is waiting in Italy for an airplane to take him to Heaven when his time comes. - In St. Peter’s Parish in Los Angeles is Father Peter, who was pastor of our parish here. His mother is 95 years old and living in a Catholic retirement home in Rome.
Every time his name or picture appears in newspapers I cut them out and mail them to his mother who just treasures them. - Tears were shed on June 1 when they locked Holy Rosary Irish Catholic Church at 113th and South Park (now King Drive). The parishioners were transferred to St. Anthony Church, which will no longer be designated as an Italian parish. Former Holy Rosary parishioners should get along well with St. Anthony’s Italian and Mexican parishioners. - Julia Lobbia, jetted in from California for a Chicago breakfast.
The alumni of the St. Anthony School have maintained a wonderful tradition (even though the school is now owned by the city of Chicago) and hold a reunion each year in the church hall. This year, about 100 former graduates gathered for breakfast after morning Mass. It was nice to see so many graduates, some of whom came from great distances. - California’s “Piemontesi nel Mondo” also has a Chicago Chapter.
At a recent dinner dance several hundred people, most of them former Roselandites, assembled for an evening of renewed friendship. - The St. Anthony Senior Citizen Club, founded by Mario Avignone 40 years ago, still meets every Monday at noon in the church hall. Best wishes and Buona Salute per cent’anni, caro Mario! If you want to send Mario Avignone a 90th birthday card, drop him a line at 11229 Forestville Ave., Chicago, IL 60628. He has a hearing problem caused by a German bomb in 1944 when he landed in Naples, Italy, with the 15th Air Force, so please no phone calls.
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Mario Avignone and Italian American Veterans throughout the Midwest recently donated World War II memorabilia and money to the newly opened Italian American Museum and Library, honoring Italian American bravery from the Revolutionary War to the present. The Museum and Library is housed on the third floor of the Casa Italiana office Center, 3800 Division Street, Stone Park, Illinois (tel. 312-829-24600.)
The Office Center at Casa Italiana is an Italian American community center nestled on 16 landscaped acres two blocks east of Mannheim Road between North Avenue and Lake Street in Stone Park, Illinois. The museum is open from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Tours are available by appointment. Because admission is free, the Italian American Veterans Museum and Library relies on the generosity of benefactors to fulfill its mission. Please support this worthy cause by making a donation to the Italian American Veterans Museum and Library and mail it to the above address today!
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Did you know that Italian Americans: - Signed the Declaration of Independence - Inspired the phrase “all men are created equal” - Rode through the night to cast a critical vote in favor of the American Revolution - Comprised the first Marine Corps Band - Turned the tide in the war against the Barbary pirates of Tripoli - Made up the largest ethnic fighting force during World War II - Earned two dozen Congressional Medals of Honor - Hold the top three spots on the Joint Chiefs of Staff?
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