The Greatest Italiano-American Hero

Last Sunday 15 October 2006 would have been the 110th birthday of the person who, more than anyone else, was (& still is) my #1 hero. This person is my Grandfather John (Giovanni) Stasi. He came to the USA from Longobucco, IT with his brother, Joe (Guiseppe). At the time Italia was facing another war & they had already lost an older brother in a previous war. The family raised sheep & were better off then some. But, they also knew that America offered better hope financially for them & the rest of the family.

They left from the port of Napoli on the Adriatic. The passage cost 100 Lire. Like so many they landed at Ellis Island. They arrived on 18 Feb 1914. Like so many records at Ellis Island his had its mistakes. It shows him as 18 even though he had only turned 17 4 months earlier. They eventually arrived in Oelwein, IA where they knew Francisco Aiello. He had arrived in 1909 & was working for the Chicago Great Western Railroad (CGW) in Oelwein. Grandpa himself eventually got a job at the CGW. After he got his US citizenship he was drafted in the army for WWI. He never went overseas like his brother. Instead he trained soldiers for the Calvary.

After the war he married Racheal Aiello. They had 3 children 2 daughters & a son. He worked at a variety of jobs. For a while they lived in Council Bluffs where he worked for Nabisco. But after the Missouri flooded my Nonna insisted they move back to Oelwein. There he worked again for the CGW until back problems forced him to retire. Nonna died in 1952 so I never met her. But Great Grandpa Frank lived to be 94 & was still getting arround pretty well until his last injury.

All that should make him a hero. But there is more. Fr the 1st 10 yrs of my life my Dad was away in the Air force serving our country & doing what he needed to do to provide for his family. He only came home for 2 weeks at Christmas. We lived with Grandpa. So, all the things that a father was supposed to do, my Grandpa stepped in & did. The memory that summarizes his love is when he tried to show me how to ride a bike without training wheels. I was 5 yrs old. He had taken the training wheels off & got on the bike to show me how easy it was. Easy yes, if the bike is the right size. But it was obviously too small for him he fell & broke his left arm. That showed me the kind of sacrifice you make for someone you love.

In his later years Grandpa was known for his garden & his roses. He would often go downtown & bring a rose for the waitress at the coffee shop where he would meet his friends. Grandpa was also a great story teller. My 1 regret is that I didn't record those stories. Fortunately, in 1878 a UNI graduate student, Thomas M. Shaw, was working on his masters thesis. His area of study was Italian immigration. So, he interviewed the Italian immigrants of the Oelwein, IA area. The resultant opus was titled Oelwein's Italian neighborhoods : Italian-Americans of Oelwein, Iowa, 1901 to the present. Many of Grandpa's true stories are preserved in it, along with pictures of the Italian neighborhood & people that I knew growing up.

The proudest moment of my life was when I graduated from college. Not because of what I accomplished, but because of what he accomplished. I was his 1st grandchild to graduate from college. He could barely sign his name, I had a college degree. I was there because of the hard work & sacrifices he made in coming to America & building the life he did. That degree was as much his as it was mine, if not more so.

Grandpa died on 29 Sept 1984. It was hard to let go. But, I told God that I wouldn't hold on. I knew he was ready to go to his reward. & I know that he is in heaven. As I was sitting at his bedside holding his hand, I remembered the bicycle incident. I literally saw his soul leave him as he was dying. There were 3 things I was able to do after his death that were my final thanks. The 1st was planning the funeral Mass. For that I chose a different 1st reading than used at most funerals. It was Genesis 12:1-8, the story of Abraham's journey from Haran to Canaan. I felt it exactly caught why Grandpa did what he did in coming to Oelwein, & Fr. Blocklinger caught it perfectly in his homily. The 2nd was buying the memorial flag for the Avenue of Flags at the cemetary. The 3rd was a memorial Mass 5 yrs later.

I still miss him. There are times when I wish I had him here to talk to, to look to for encouragement & guidance. I don't. He is in heaven. But, he is still taking care of me. I know he is praying for me. & for that I will ever thank God.

Ciao Nonno. Ti voglio bene.