In the year 2000, I received an email from
Teresa Valentini Eccher. Sal Romano had told her about me.
Teresa and her husband Marino live in Aurora, Illinois and she came
to this country in 1958. Teresa discovered that we are cousins!
She found that our great grandfathers on my mother's paternal side were
brothers. Recently Teresa and Marino visited Rallo and she brought
back a copy of some writings that my mama had written in her best friend's
Maria de Michaeli's book before she left Rallo for the U. S.
to marry my papa in the early 1920. Teresa was kind enough to translate
it and it was very exciting to read something written by my mama when she
was a young girl. UPDATE!!! In September of the
year 2000, I got to meet and hug my cugina for the first time. It
was very exciting! Teresa made polenta for Art and me while she and
her husband, Marino were visiting with his cousin,
Ann Sitiko of Murrietta, California.
I was very surprised to receive an email from a Riccardo Pinamonti in 1998. He found my website with a search on the Internet using Alta Vista. Riccardo is directly related to my family, as is his niece, Monica Menapace, daughter of Fernanda Menapace of Rallo. Riccardo and his family live in Tuscany, Italia.
My cousin, Olga (Cortesi) Graham, is 90 and is sending and receiving email with her webtv. She has become very proficient at writing email! Olga is related to me through my nonna, Carolina Odorizzi. Olga's nonna was a sister to my Nonna. Olga lives up in northern California in Gilroy the garlic capital of the world!!
Vince Migliazzo aand his sister Bena Reinig and I trade frequent emails. Their parents and our parents were best of friends in Colorado, and lived side by side in a duplex in Florence, CO. and continued there friendship here in California. We grew up visiting them often as children.
Betty (Gltozbach) Gleason and I have been friends since we were 14 yrs old & we both joined the church choir at St. Anselm's Catholic Church in Los Angeles. Our friendship has lasted for many years. Betty's husband Jack Gleason spent 33 years with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. He is retired now.
Last year in September we went to Canada to
visit Art's cousin, Barbara (Stearns) and her husband Art Miller.
They took us to meet and visit Ray and Dorothy
Gerwein on a lovely farm around 40 miles out in the country from Edmonton,
Canada. Dorothy and Ray were wonderful hosts and treated us to great
stories and delicious food.
Ray is a half brother to Ken Scott and comes
from the Stearns side of Art's family through his grandmother, Clara
(Clarissa) (Stearns) Zeigler. Since that time, I have "met" on the
internet, Lyle Gerwein who lives at the Mile Zero, Dawson Creek,
CA which is the first stop on the AL-CAN highway which will take you to
Alaska. Also have had correspondence with Sally Stearns, wife of
Ken Stearns. Sally and Ken are into old cars and live in Sunnyside,
WA.
Art's cousin Barbara (Stearns) Miller and husband, Art spend the winters in the California desert near Yuma. They live in Edmonton, Canada. Barbara is a wonderful artist. We have also visited Art's cousin Evelyn (Stearns) Durban & husband Albert, and their family in Williams Lake, Canada. Another cousin of Art's is Barbara Miller's brother, Kenny and his wife Georgina Stearns. They live in Burns Lake, BC Canada. Art did not know these cousins while growing up. A few years ago, we were given the name of Bill and Evelyn Stearns who live on a farm in Rockfield, Washington and we called him and drove up there and met him and through him, we found all the other Stearns' cousins. We have also been visited by Mary Audrey and her husband Ron Marvin. Audrey is also a cousin from the Stearns side of the family. They live in San Diego.
Two more cousins of Art's and Lloyd Zeigler have been found through the internet. One, Ken Scott, and his wife Ruth, is a double cousin. Ken's grandparents were Joe and Hattie (Zeigler) Stearns. Art's grandparents were Sam and Clarissa (Stearns) Zeigler. Sam and Hattie Zeigler were brother and sister and Joe and Clarissa Stearns were brother and sister. Ken & Ruth Scott live on North Vancouver Island, B.C. Ken Scott is a member of the Genealogical Society in his town of Campbell River. We have also visited Wes and his wife Martha Stearns who live in Willistson, North Dakota in September of 1999 and with Wes's father Gay Archibald Stearns and his wife Ynez.
updated 7-8-2001