Marriages & Families - Diana and Vincent Angiulli

The tenth and final child of Rocco Ambruso and Pasquarosa Corrado was born in Salandra in 1908.  She was officially named Decima Ascencione Maria Ambruso.  It was always said that they ran out of names so the eighth child was named Ottavia and the tenth was named Decima.  According to the microfilm of the original Salandra birth notice from the Mormon archives, this turns out to be true.  She never used the name Decima, but chose to use Diana instead.  We always knew of her as Aunt Tina, pronounced: “Antyna”.  She was my godmother.

Diana Ambruso remained single until she was 36 years old.  She was a talented seamstress and on the 1940 census declared an income that was pretty impressive for a woman at that time.  She made fancy women’s dresses and wedding gowns.  She married Vincent Angiulli in Long Island City, Queens New York in June of 1944.  Vince came to America from Gravina in Puglia, a commune in the province of Bari, right on the border of Basilicata, just north of Salandra.  He worked for an ice and coal delivery company.  They had one child, John, born in 1945, named after Vincent's father.

Bonelli Family Photo

Bonelli Family photo ca. 1940. [Back Row: Patsy & Maria (Ambruso) Bonelli, Rose (Bonelli) Melfi with baby (Mike?), Esther Ambruso (Casteline), Felicia (Ambruso) Mancini. Front Row: Rocky Bonelli, Tina (Ambruso) Angiulli, and Tessie Bonelli.].  

Sunday Family Dinners at Nick Ambruso's

This video clip is from an 8mm movie, shot by Roxy Ambruso ca. 1954 at Nick and Mary Ambruso's home in Queens, NY.  It was typical for the Ambruso brothers and sisters and their families to gather weekly for Sunday dinners in the early afternoon.  The various branches of the family would travel by car or bus from different parts of NY and NJ to Queens each week which forged family bonds out through the extended relations.  A makeshift banquet table on horses accommodated everyone in the basement where huge pots of pasta and sauce were lowered from the upstairs apartment on a dumbwaiter.

On this particular Sunday Nick, Mary, son Rocco, daughter Esther and sister Helen Ambruso were joined by Tina (Ambruso), husband Vincent Angiulli and young son Johnny; Justine (Ambruso), husband Tony Graziadei with daughters Isabella and Rose and Rose's husband Mark Trail; as well as Michael Ambruso, daughter Millie, son Roxy (mostly filming) and wife Eleanor.

This film was one of our favorites when I was growing up.  We found it hilariously funny to see the family emerge from basement bulkhead and paraded for the camera.  It enabled me to get a sense of relatives, many of whom I never actually got to meet.  I could tell this was a family that knew how to have fun and really enjoyed each other's company.  I can recall my mom narrating the film, saying things like "that was your Aunt Helen.  She never left the house, that was the only time I ever saw her outside".  Now in hindsight she thinks that Helen may possibly have been suffering from something like Chronic Fatigue, Crohn's Disease or the like, but in those days a lot of those conditions were unknown and uncommon.  Helen remained unmarried and lived with brother Nick her whole life — first in Garfield, NJ then Queens, as he eventually married and had a family.

The tradition of extended family dinners depicted here was likely a continuation of a custom carried over from Salandra.  It continued throughout my childhood, not every week but in holiday family gatherings which alternated among my mom's siblings.  I recall numerous additional gatherings especially those in my Aunt Esher (Ambruso) and Uncle John Casteline's basement in Wallington, NJ.  This tradition lives on today in the form of holiday get-togethers, reenforcing those extended family bonds for generations to come.

Editor's Note:  I dated this film ca. 1954 based on where it fell among other footage in Roxy and Eleanor's Home Movies as well as the apparent age of Johnny Angiulli and and others.  Music:  Percussion Storm by Manu Dibango.

Children of Rocco and Pasquarosa

Standing: Ottavia, Diana and Mary. Seated: Helen and Pasquarosa 

In this blog, I will eventually post the factual information I have on all the Ambruso descendants.  Today I will start with my own branch of the family, the children of Rocco Vincenzo Ambruso and Pasquarosa Corrado. 

Rocco and Pasquarosa were married in 1885 in Salandra.  They had ten children, two sons and eight daughters, all born in Salandra.  They conformed to traditional naming customs for the first few, but then began to run out of names, so according to family legend, the eighth child was named Ottavia, the ninth was Novelina, and the tenth was Diecina.  This legend is questionable since the eighth child used the name Lucia on the ship’s manifest, and the ninth child always used the name Elena (Helen).  The tenth child, however, is actually listed on the ship’s manifest in 1922 as “Decina”.  She always called herself "Diana".  She was my mother's aunt and I always called her something that slurred into "Antyna".  It seems like almost everyone in this family had multiple names. 

Their first child, Maria Giuseppa, was born in 1887.  She married Pasquale Bonelli in Salandra in 1907.  Patsy came to America first; then Mary followed with her 11 month old daughter Teresa in 1909. 

Rocco’s next child was a son.  He was named Michele after his grandfather.  They then had two daughters, Felicia and Sylvia.  These three siblings, Michele, Felicia and Silvia, came to America together in 1913.  They went directly to their sister Mary in Garfield, NJ.

Michele Antonio Ambruso was my grandfather. He was born in 1889. He married Vincenza “Jennie” Lammardo in Garfield in 1920.

Felicia Ambruso was born in 1891.  She married Lorenzo Mancini in Garfield, also in 1920.

Silvia Ambruso was born in 1893.  She married Antonio Saraco in Garfield in 1923.

In August 1921 two more of Rocco’s daughters, Giustina and Lucia (Ottavia), came to the USA.  They were traveling with another man from Salandra, Francesco Maremonti, probably a good friend or cousin.  Giustina and Lucia were heading to the Bonelli house and their siblings in Garfield.

Giustina “Justina” Ambruso was born in 1901.  She married Antonio “Tony” Graziadei in New York about 1929.

Lucia “Ottavia” Ambruso was born in 1903.  She married Nicola “Nicholas” Sassano in Garfield in 1925.

Rocco Vincenzo never came to America.  He died in Salandra in 1922.  The rest of his children left Salandra a few months later with Rocco’s widow, Pasquarosa Corrado.  Rocco’s second son, Nicola, led the group which included his three sisters: Angela, Elena and Diecina.  They were all heading to the Bonelli house in Garfield.  By the end of 1922, the entire family was in America, in Garfield, New Jersey.

Angela Ambruso was born in 1900.  She married Giovanni “John” Iula in Garfield in 1925.

Nicola “Nick” Ambruso was born in 1895.  He married Mary Valentino in New York City in 1931.

Diecina “Diana” Ambruso was born in 1908.  She married Vincent Angiulli in Queens, NY in 1944.

Elena “Helen” Ambruso was born in 1906.  She never married. 

These are the first facts for each of the children of Rocco and Pasquarosa.  Now it’s your turn.  I need you to provide me with more facts, photos and interesting family stories for each of these people.  Once I have enough facts, I will publish a separate post on the family of each of these children.