Theresa (Betty) Sonson Powers and Frank Leo Sonson Jr.

Theresa (Betty) Sonson Powers and Frank Leo Sonson Jr.

Sister and brother Theresa (Betty) Sonson Powers and Frank Leo Sonson Jr. (pictured here in 2017) grew up in a large, extended Italian immigrant family Washington. The Sonson surname was so ubiquitous in Washington, PA, during the early-to-late 20th century that every...
W. Bryan Pizzi II, Esq.

W. Bryan Pizzi II, Esq.

W. Bryan Pizzi, Esq. (pictured here in 2017), is the son of Bryan Wilson Bryan Pizzi, one of the first Italian American medical doctors in Washington and the grandson of Fiorendo Pizzi, a master tailor. Fiorendo Pizzi in his tailor shop,...
Silvio Passalacqua

Silvio Passalacqua

Oral historian Silvio Passalacqua (pictured here in 2019) is the youngest son of Giocomina Cirelingione Passalacqua and Angelo Passalacqua of Sicily, who founded Washington’s first Italian Restaurant in 1939. West Chestnut Spaghetti Inn, founded by Angelo Passalacqua,...
Sam Oliverio and Beth Oliverio Meeks

Sam Oliverio and Beth Oliverio Meeks

Sam Oliverio (pictured here in 2017 with niece Beth Oliverio Meeks) is the youngest son of Italian immigrants who operated a grocery store in the West End. Sam’s brother John Oliverio Sr. (Beth’s father) wrote a history of Washington’s Italian American military...
Florence Marchione Nicolella

Florence Marchione Nicolella

Marchione family 1950s Front row: Florence, Lucido, Angelina / Back row: Vera, Louise, Millie Florence Marchione Nicolella is the daughter of Italian immigrants from the province of Salerno, near Naples. Florence, who still lives in the house she grew up in and later...