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| 1947 Benilda "Betty"Frazzini and
Pasquale
"Patsy" DiVecchio - Photo taken before
they were married. |
Mothers of the happy couple, Lucia diGiovine DiVecchio on the left, Lucrezia Carlini Frazzini in the middle. On the right is Angelina Buzzelli, a cousin from Cleveland, OH. For more about Angelina, look at my Giuseppe Buzzelli page. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| 9 Nov 1947, St. Mary's Catholic Church, Beaver Falls, PA |
Click here for an enlarged view of the words. (262Kb) |
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1947 Wedding Photo
Patsy
DiVecchio
Anthony DiVecchio (Paty's brother)
Paul
Frazzini (Benilda's brother)
Benilda "Betty" (Frazzini) DiVecchio Betty Jane (Elizabeth Ross) Devens Pauline (Biscella) Petrella (Pauline attended the wedding reception for me and my wife, Sally, in 2004. She died 28 Dec 2012. My uncle Tony died in 1993 and my uncle Paul died in 1989. Betty Jane died in an auto accident. Hit by a truck.) My uncle Paul and Betty Jane Ross were my baptism godparents. |
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| 1947 - Betty Frazzini and Luigi Iasella. Since my mother's father had died several years earlier, Uncle Louie gave away her hand at her wedding. | 9 Nov 1947 Marriage License. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1942-49 My Dad built most of the
house
that I grew
up in on 1811 Van Buren St in Aliquippa, PA. My father and his brother,
Tony, originally bought the property on 5 Jul 1940. He got the building
permit for $1.00 from the borough of Aliquippa on 16 June 1942.
Building stopped during the War only to restart when my parents got
married. |
1949 Here is the outside just
getting finished.  My dad kept detailed records of all the material cost. The house was built with $8,509.47 worth of material, including:
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  1949 My father laying bricks. |
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 1949 A neighbor, Ed Fibbi (on left) and my father, Patsy, laying the final brick.I got this email in Jan of 2011:
From: "John Fibbi" <johnfibbi
 comcast.net>Subject: Aliquippa Connection Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 20:42:25 -0500 Hello Mark, I stumbled upon your website in an attempt to find some of the members of "my group" from the lower streets of New Sheffield Terrace. One I was hoping to find David Demshur, Paul's younger brother and that was the path that led me to your site. I found the site interesting and it brought back many memories, I too had Mrs. Carey for Kindergarten it was her last year of teaching (60-61). And I enjoyed Mrs. Aynardi for 5th grade. Our family moved in 1969 for the Mid-Mon Valley, Monongahela, Charleroi, and Donora I was going to 9th grade that year and I never was able to build the kind of connections that are formed with friends from first grade. Leaving Aliquippa in August of 1969 was like leaving a major metropolis compared to the "valley." I still live in the same neighborhood not but 10 houses from my parents and the house that they purchased for the move. Your family history and photos from West Aliquippa were great; my mom's family was from West Aliquippa and operated Zahorsky's Hardware store there. I was racking my brain, trying to connect DiVecchio to my memory, wondering if you had younger siblings with whom I may have been acquainted, but I just could not put it together. It was not until I viewed the link for your trip to Pittsburgh 1999 that brought things full circle. It was the picture of your parent's house. I know that house. I picked up the phone calling my dad to ask, if DiVecchio's lived on Van Buren Street? Dad, 83, began to describe the house; I confirmed his description. Then he told me your dad's name Patsy, (which I confirmed for myself elsewhere on your site) he then stated your house was his first brick job, the year was 1949. He was a young 22 year old starting his own construction business. Your neighbor (can't recall the name my dad to me said) according to dad was a brick foreman in the mill who "jabbed" my dad at the end of his first day of laying bricks at the house saying he would never get the job done. My dad said confidently 29 more days. My dad also said that your grandfather mixed all of the mortar for the house and he was a bit of an older man at that time. We lived at 1818 Van Buren and my brother currently owns our grandfather's house at 1816 which was the newer of the two houses-my dad built it for my grandfather in 1958. The house at 1818 was the original house that my grandfather had built in the late 1930's. My name is John Fibbi; my dad is Edward. I have a son Christopher who is graduating this Spring from Penn State as a Computer Engineer, which added to my interest in reading your work history. He interned this summer for the department of defense at Aberdeen Proving Grounds and is awaiting a job offer. Would you have any advice for him? Thanks for your website, it made for a great evening for me. I would love to get a look at a 1973 Quippian Yearbook, and or a 1973 Quigley Yearbook, (if you have any connections on that end) I heard a good number of students left the Aliquippa District for Quigley during the early 70's I would love to have a graduation look at my lost classmates. ps. I still tinker with my Lionel Trains, if you ever consider parting with your treasure keep me in mind. |
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| John, Can you confirm that that is your dad on the scaffold with my dad? It looks like they are laying the last brick. I photo is a little out of focus. My dad was very proud that he built the house I grew up in. Of course, he had help, like the brick laying help from your father. When we would look at the photo album even up to a few months before he died, he would point out the two of them on the scaffolding and remind me that it was Fibbi up there with him. Let your dad know that the brick laying job was perfect. Over 60 plus years, we never had any cracks or problem with the bricks or the mortar work. My youngest sister, Diane, still lives in the house. Diane graduated from Aliquippa High School in 1970. My middle sister, Patricia, graduated in 1968. So we were a few years older than you. Though you must have lived there when I still lived there, I don't remember you maybe because of the age difference. I left for college in 1966 and that was the last time I actually lived on the street although I got back to visit my parents regularly. I remember the Rivetti's (their daughter Jeanne still lives on the street). Yardic's were at the end house. Anderson was on the other side of your family's houses. Then there was Gornick and Stevens. I remember Ricky Yardic, Billie Anderson and Chuckie Stevens. Did John Kish rent from your family at one time? I seem to remember that. His parents lived on our side of Van Buren. They built a house right next door to our house about 1955. John died just a few months ago. They had moved to Hopewell Township. The neighbor that your dad remembed as giving him a hard time was probably Steve Ladika. The Ladika's lived next door to us. Steve, his wife, Louise, and their children, John and Margaret are all dead. Your dad's story about my grandfather, Camillo, mixing all the mortar was new to me. I don't have any memory of him as he died in 1950 (at the age of 76 years) when I was 2 years old. I'll probably think of more to write later. I've copied my sisters on this email and I forwarded them your first email. Mark |
Mark, That is my dad up on the scaffold, and it does appear to be the "last brick". I only wish the photo was a little more in focus. My dad said that the scaffolding they use in China constructed from bamboo is most likely better than what he had used for bricking your dad's house. When I saw the photos I had to agree. I printed the photos at work on Friday and stopped to show dad on my way home. He remembers it like it was yesterday. I questioned him about the wooden mortar box in one of the photos. He said yes it was constructed from wood. Then said that after your dad paid him, he bought a new metal mortar box and a new wheelbarrow. Amazing enough, we still have them both. Dad said that he might have some photos of the house, he kept a fairly good photo record of the work that he did from 49 through the early sixties. He did eventually get totally out of the construction remodeling business in 1968, he taught wood shop at Aliquippa Jr High from 60 to 63, then Hopewell Jr. High wood shop and mechanical drawing until 68 when he took the job as director of the mon valley area vocational technical school. He still has the hand and eye for doing that type of work, while he likes working with wood, we kids have kept him busy with some brick and plaster work over the years. I believe that the differences in age played a large role in the lack of association. As you said you left in 1966 and I was just finishing 6th grade, and we moved in August of 1969. I remember Rickey Yardic, not that I knew him, but had a perception of him (may be way off the mark) that he was -black leather jacket, cigarette smoker a tough or troubled youth. Rivetti's of course being next door, Anderson/Wadding - next to my grandparent's house - do not know what the story was there, soon after my grandparents house was built Andersons fenced in their yard. John (Sonny) Kish and wife Sally did rent from my grandparents, but I believe their move was latter than 1955, as I have some recollection of it. Sonny's house was built on the lot between your house and Sonny's mom and dad's place (John and Mary) I believe as I thought it odd that people living across the street from my grandparents had the same first names they did. I know of only two of Sonny and Sally's children, Johnny and Susie, she was younger close in age to my brother, as they were friends as children to age six when we moved. It is a shame that Van Buren street was level but never paved well back in the days of prosperity - like it is now, all of those kickball games could have been played there instead of on Tyler Street. The best place on the street though was DeCeders bakery. Your sister Patricia, graduated with my uncle, Michael Zahorsky and his cousin Jan Mock, and Joy Janosik daughter of the basketball Coach Frank Janosik who was recruited by my Grandfather John Zahorsky when he was on the Aliquippa school board to leave Monessen and come to Aliquippa to coach. My small circle of friends consisted of Demshur's, Pettibon's, George Zeljack, and the Kawolic's of Tyler Street, and Mike Varosky from Van Buren on the other side of Grand Ave. Small world note: Sobons, lived next to Demshur, their son, who was the paper boy for the Pittsburgh Press at one time (I did not know him, maybe you did) became a priest - He conducted the funeral mass this past week for the father of one of my wife's childhood girlfriends from McDonald PA, who happens to be married to Mike Grahovac, I believe a 69 or 70 Aliquippa grad, who went on to play college football for PITT. I have attached photos of sections of my last two train layouts, I lost the space to living room furniture. Thanks for forwarding my note on to Dave, totaly amazing where he landed. A long way from the kid that kept building dams across the creek. I have to digitize some old 8mm film, of the two of us digging a ditch for a new gas line and cutting down the trunk of a mulberry tree with a two-man saw to share with him. John |
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| John, If your dad taught wood shop at the Junior High from 60 to 63, I must have had him for 7th grade wood shop. If I recall, over the year, we had a quarter of wood shop, a quarter of metal shop, a quarter of electrical shop and a quarter of plastic shop. I've also been collecting Lionel trains since I was a kid. I'm a member of TTOS and TCA if you know of those groups. I have a small layout that I bring to train shows so the kids have some buttons to press. My wife and I moved out into the country in '09 and I've converted part of the garage into a train room. I need to get busy and build a layout now. Attached is a photo of the trainroom taken about a month ago. The layout table is just the one that I moved from the bedroom in our old house. Mark |
Mark Dad was at the junior high for the first few years that it was open, I believe that you are correct regarding the rotation, Nick Halama was the metal shop teacher. I think that Electric, Plastic and Mechanical Drawing was all taught by the same teacher; you got wood and metal all three years for 7th, 8th and 9th and the others were one each of the years. The train layout looks like you are off to a good start. I would love to have the room to build a permanent layout. My last seasonal layout had 21 trains running on the living room floor. If we stay in the house where we are now, I have two options for a train room, one to excavate under a two stall garage or build a room over the garage. Getting older makes the cold weather a little tougher to deal with each year, it would be nice to move a little to the south to retire in a home with space for the trains. Who knows, maybe one day. I continue buying more trains every year and they keep stacking up. I was keeping track of the inventory in excel for a while, but have not enetered any information for a number of years now. I am a member of TCA and LOTS, I was at York last April, been there about eight times since joining TCA in 1990. It is nice that you bring an interactive layout to the shows, I learned quite a bit about electricity and mechanics through play and repair of the trains. I have a number of pieces of American Flyer trains and accessories that I have to get up for sale on ebay, did the local TCA show in Pittsburgh right before Christmas, had the prices low to sell, but did not move much of it, have since been tracking ebay prices and need to get into that market. David copied me on his reply to you on Saturday afternoon before the game and added a few lines addressed to me. I know that we bumped into each other momentarily once or twice while at Penn State, and have not seen each other since then. I will have to put together a few lines to get some email conversation going with him, if he has the time to get into that. Had I began my search a few years earlier, maybe I could have met him in Houston, I was traveling there a few times a year for work with Reliant Energy - RRI Energy, now merged as GenOn. However, because of the merger, I am scheduled to be severed in March after transitioning the pre-employment testing component of my work to the HR department there, so Houston as a travel destination has limited posibilities. Thanks John |
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| John, When your family lived in Aliquippa, I think that your family had two houses on Van Buren. Is that right? Who lived where? Which house does your brother live in now? Mark |
Mark, The white wood sided house (1818) is the house my grandparents had built in the late 30's and lived there until 57-58, when they moved into the brick house (1816) that my dad built for them. I lived at 1818. My brother owned both houses at one time, but his work had him renting in Erie for 10 years, and he came home every weekend, then he was in Wisconsin for number of years and it was too hard to be a landlord and it was getting tough for my dad to fill-in for him, so he sold the "wooden" house 1818 and apartment 1818R. The brick house is the one that my brother now owns, but again is not there very often, as he now works in Selmer TN. Take Care John |
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| John sent me an email in December 2015 that his father, Ed, passed way on the 22nd. In his obituary, I learned that Ed constructed Deceder’s Bakery, The Flamingo, Zahorsky’s Hardware, Dr. Eger’s and Miller and Sons Chevrolet. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1950 ca - Looks like we are
actually living in
it. I recall that initially, only the first floor was finished. We
slept
in the dining room. Notice the upstairs window on the right, you can
see
right through the other window. |
1951 - Not to sit idle, once the
house was
done, my Dad started work on a two car garage. He got a
building permit from Aliquippa for $1.00 on 1 Sep 1951. Dad's detailed records showed that he spent $670.22 for materials and put in 386 hours of his time. |
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 I found this in 2009 in my dad's basement. I can't tell when was published. I'm sure my dad saved it because he built his own house. |
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About
1955 Bowling
Banquet - Dad was really into bowling. Left to Right:
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| June 11,1959 DiVecchio Family in kitchen of Lucrezia Frazzini's 11th Street, Beaver Falls house. | 1961 left to right: Diane Lynn DiVecchio Patricia Ann DiVecchio Benilda "Betty" Frazzini DiVecchio Patsy DiVecchio Mark Camillo DiVecchio |
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| 1961 - in the early sixties, a new
four lane
road was planned to be built through the neighborhood. There were 2
houses in the way that had to be torn down. My Dad bought one
of
them for (I think) $100 and tore it down. Then........ |
In 1962 he used the lumber to build
a second
floor apartment over the garage. They have been renting it out ever
since. There are still remnants and pieces of that old house lying
around
the garage and basement. The new road, by the way, finally
opened in 1964 and was named Kennedy Boulevard. Dad's detailed records showed that he spent $2596.59 on materials.
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| 1969 The men who worked in the Pipe
Shop at the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation plant in Aliquippa,
PA made a Christmas Tree out of odds and ends. Left to right John (Butch) Fredrick, Sylvester, Butch Loverich and my father. I received emails from John Fredrick and Don Polzot in Apr 2009 after my father's death. They helped me identify these men. |
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About
1970. A bowling trophy. Left to
Right:
Dino Leone Ralph "Sharky" Rubino Italo Rosati Henry Buffalini Patsy DiVecchio Unknown Marcello Alviani Unknown Most of the bowling was done at Sheffield Lanes in Aliquippa. |
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| Date: Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:33:33 -0500 (CDT) From: "Mike V." <mikecoantique verizon.net>Subject: Hi! from Mike V. My last name is Varosky, grew up @ 1715 Van Buren st. Older brother is Joe - sister's name Bernadine they are about the same age as you. I remember your Father as he was friends with my best friends' father who lived across the street Frank & Eddie - Dino Leone (That picture of Dino, Sharky & Patsy really took me back!) I delivered the Beaver County Times during the week and the (old) Pittsburgh Press newspapers from 1962 - 1971 all over the Terrace from the "crick" to Division street and on Jackson street all the way to Savin's bar! (there's a name you probably have not heard in a while.) so as a kid I had a lot of contact with people in that area, it was a GREAT place to grow up in the 60's. Another family from the street was Zima - Their youngest son's name was Richard, he & I are the same age and we hung out together until my family moved in 1972, we are still in contact and I visit him in Hookstown when I get back to Pa. I make the trip most every year as I am a BIG Pittsburgh Penguins fan so I go to games and visit people including my brother Joe who still lives in Pittsburgh with his wife. I have been in California since 1978 but I consider myself an Aliquippian for life! One of the people who had sent you an E-mail was John Fibbi, he and I were friends until he moved out of the area and we lost contact. Take care and keep up the honorable journey! Best regards, your old neighbor, Mike Varosky |
Mike, Well, I probably knew you. I hung around with your brother Joe more. I think he was a year younger than me, I graduated in 1966. If I recall, he was in the band. Was he a chess player? I have a very fuzzy memory of playing chess with him - but I might be wrong. Dino Leone cut my father's hair up until my father died in 2009. They were good friends. Yes, I did get an email from John Fibbi. He remembered you and mentioned you in one of his emails. My sister, Diane, (class of 1970) still lives in my parents house at 1811 Van Buren. She is also a rabid Penquins fan. We get back there every year or two to visit. I recall Crissy Bucalous who lived at the corner of Van Buren and Grand Ave. Paul Demshur, who lived on Tyler St, was a good friend. May I use your email on my web page? Mark Mark, Joe played Trombone (graduated 1968) & he did play chess. Dino was
character from my childhood that I remember quite well, stopped by and saw him
and the Leone family a few trips back, it has been a while, is he still with
us?
I have an E-mail from John Fibbi in my in box I will read after I send this
to you.
I graduated in 1973 (finished High School in Tempe Arizona) I remember Anna
Bucalous (went to grade school, Jr. High & High school with her) that was
her Grandmother (I think) that lived in the corner house that faced Grand ave.
(used to be the BIGGEST street in the world back then) My Dad's Grandparents
lived in the red brick 2 story that was on the corner of Van Buren and the alley
behind the Bucalous house. Also remember you & Paul were into short wave
radio in the early 60's as I recall hanging out with David in the Demshur's
basement. There was a trash can that had a sign that said "Please do not throw
any more heads in here, there are already too many" or something to that effect,
funny what we remember.
I am glad to hear your sister is a Pens fan! Say Hi to her when you talk to
her.
Yes good to use my E-mail, always enjoy connecting with people from the
area, interesting to see what others have done in their lives.
Best regards, Mike V.
P.S. the smell of fresh bread wafting from Deceder's bakery! Now there's a
memory.
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| 1976 Sant'Eufemia a Maiella. That's my father standing
in
front of his childhood home. |
The DiVecchios in 1977. I'm standing, then from left to right, my father, Patsy, my mother, Benilda, and my two sisters Diane and Patricia. Taken at my parents home in Aliquippa, PA | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1980 Patsy and Benilda DiVecchio.
Taken by me
on
one of their visits to San Diego. |
1999 My mother's flower garden. |
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| 1999
Patsy in front of his garden with a giant sunflower. He planted
vegatables including tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, squash, onions and
peppers. This garden came from his childhood in Italy where almost
everyone was a farmer. |
2001 Benilda Frazzini DiVecchio | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2002 Christmas. Patsy and Benilda Frazzini DiVecchio and Mark and Sally Clarno DiVecchio, my wife. | 2003 The DiVecchio home in
Aliquippa, PA |
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| 2003
Patsy DiVecchio at
the graves of this parents, Camillo DiVecchio and Lucia diGiovine and
his
brother,
Anthony DiVecchio. |
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