Long Live Anthony Francis Brongo

In this first photo is Anthony Francis Brongo standing next to his wife, Maria Alexandria Colaruotolo. To the right is a younger picture of them at their wedding... incase you couldn't tell.

Anthony is my great-grandfather and grandfather to my mother.  He was born on June 4th, 1887 in Gaeta, Italy (one of the most beautiful places).  He came to the US in November of 1907 to Boston, Massachusetts.  Mainly because finding work in Italy is much harder than it is in the US.  He then moved to Rochester, New York and met his wife, Maria.  They got married on July 27, 1912 at St. Anthonys Church in Rochester, New York.  

His parents names are Francesco Brongo and Maria Rose.  Interesting that he married someone with the same name as his mother.  Anthony and Maria were married for 61 years!  And in just 21 years, they had 12 children together!  One being my grandfather.  How many people do you know that have 12 children?!  I can't say I personally know of any.  

Anthony was a simple laborer, feeding coal into the basement furnace of a factory everyday.  It is known amongst our family that he never missed a single day of work.  He also worked as a farmer of 32 acres for most of his life.  Although Anthony soon lived in America, he only spoke Italian with limited broken English.  He never attended school or learned how to read and write.  

He died on June 23, 1979 at the age of 92.  The Brongo family tends to live long lives (you can see now how my title for this post is catchy).  Most of our other ancestors that have died lived to their late 80s or 90s.  He was buried in Rochester, New York at the Holy Sepulchre Church.  This church is shared by 6 Christian denominations; some including, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Roman Catholic, and Ethiopian. 

You must be wondering how I know all of this information on my great grandfather.  My mother, helped me learn about him.  She is trying to become a citizen in Italy and had to learn about her ancestors that lived there to do so.  She also gave me his citing record ID for where he was buried.  I then began to research!  

I went on the website find a grave and typed in all his information.  Although there are no photos of his grave, the site told me where he was buried.  I found the Holy Sepulchre Church website and at the bottom of it was a section that said "locate a loved one" with a search bar and a map.  I simply typed in his last name and what do you know, the name Anthony Francis Brongo popped up.  I learned that he was buried next to his wife Maria who apparently goes by the name "Mary" and his brother Raffaele Brongo.  His wife Mary died just a few years before Anthony in 1974 at the age of 80.  Although I was unable to find a direct photo of Anthony's grave, I found where it was located on the map and clicked on "ground view".  I was able to find what I believe is his grave, as pictured below.  

Anthony Francis Brongo; what a remarkable, interesting man. I wish I had the chance to meet him.  Though, I doubt we'd be able to talk all that much.

This (the left photo) is the best photograph I could get of Anthony's grave.  I placed an arrow above the grave I believe to be his.  His gravestone looks as if it is a die on socket.  Pictured to the right is Anthony's whole family.  In the front is himself and his wife and then his 12 children standing around them.  Now that's a big family. 

This is Gaeta, Italy where my great-grandfather lived.  I think it is just absolutely beautiful.  Two summers ago I visited Gaeta and it was an amazing trip.  All of the houses are close together with narrow streets.  I remember seeing clothing lines with laundry hung up to dry, connected to the house right across from them.  So that'll help you picture what I mean when I say they were close together.