April 2024

Frank Di Piero - Italian American Moment

Frank Di Piero was born in Chicago and is 100% Italian origin. He has traveled to Italy many times and attended two study abroad programs in Italy, one in Roma and one in Firenze. He is the former President of The Harlem Avenue Italian & American Business Association and was on the committee to start an Italian American Studies Program at Loyola University Chicago. He is a Director of Casa Italia, and LITTLE ITALY Cenetta. He is a volunteer at Casa Italia Library and the Italian Cultural Center.

The iceman patrolled the neighborhood for those who had not yet converted. In the windows of their tenements were signs that read ICE with the number of pounds requested. We no longer needed ice as our icebox, replaced by the Kelvinator, sat in the cellar as a storage place for Mason jars.

The iceman was of average height with rounded shoulders and eyebrows long enough to drift over the tops of his wire-rimmed glasses. Gray hair sprouted from his ears and nose. His chicklet-sized teeth were yellowed from an ever-present cigar. The brim of his fedora sported the stain of hard work.

His flatbed, smelling of oil and cold and with canvas sides cascading from metal hoops, rumbled and hissed to a stop. He descended, slammed the door, spun on the thick sole of his boot, walked to the rear, looked up, and saw a sign. “OK, they need twenty,” he mumbled. He flipped open the canvas, looked into the deep, dark end of the truck, placed his cigar on the edge of the bed, rubbed his palms on his trousers and pulled on his gloves.

Toward the front of the truck were blocks of ice covered with a heavy leather tarpaulin. He slid the tarp, spotted the cake that he wanted and with a long-handled stick, hooked it. Looking over the top of his glasses, he surveyed his catch, and with the skill of a diamond cutter, harvested a piece with a pick that initiated a shockwave that peeled apart a smaller block. He peered over his glasses and droned, “Yup. 20. Jes right.”

With the speed of a gunslinger, he replaced the pick in the hip holster on his belt. I loved to watch him drive that pick through the ice; carving just the right size with small slivers left over for us. “Can I try that?” The pick looked like it might be fun and easy.

“Nope, sorry, son. Jes a bit too dangj-a-rus.” He flipped me a piece of ice.

He draped a rubber cover over his right shoulder, grabbed the tongs that hung on the side of the truck, pierced the sides of the block, paused, grunted and swung it around to his shoulder. Bent to the ground, with beads of melting ice dripping down the rubber cover and hitting the back of his pants and then the heel of his leather boot, he methodically climbed the stairs to the door and knocked. “Ice here.”

He returned to his truck, hooked the tongs, took off his gloves, put them in his back pocket, wiped his hands on his pants, grabbed the cigar, replanted it, and tapped the canvas. “See ya, kids.”

He entered the cab, sat, pushed in the clutch with his left foot, turned the key, tapped the gas with his right, and off he went, his engine rumbling, splashes of water tumbling in his wake.

Our cool neighborhood iceman was soon to be out of a job when everyone converted to the Kelvinator. I doubt that he was disappointed.

The Photo Angel - Kate Kelley

Meet Mary (DiGenis) D’Acci (1921-2001) born in South Braintree, Massachusetts to Italian immigrant Louigi and his wife Celia (Pisano) DiGenis.

The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts): D’Acci—Mary D. (DiGenis). Of Braintree. Unexpectedly. January 25, 2001. Beloved wife of the late Vito M. D’Acci. Loving mother of Rosina D’Acci of Braintree, and Vita Newman of Portland, Oregon. Dear grandmother of R. Michelle Pamir of the Framingham and Jason J. Newman of Braintree, sister of Louise Mitchell of San Diego, California, and the late Nancy Frye. Also survived are many nieces and nephews.

Funeral from the Leo J. McMaster & Son Funeral Home, 86 Franklin St., (Rte 37) Braintree, Monday January 29 at 9:00 AM followed by a Funeral Mass in Saint Francis of Assisi Church, South Braintree Sq. at 10:00 AM. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to visit the Funeral Home Sunday 2-4 & 7-9 PM. Donations in Mary’s name may be sent to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, P.O. Box 50, Memphis, TN, 38101–0050.

Mary’s surprise birthday party invitation and her beautiful portrait, taken at a studio in Boston, have been in my Challenges File for TWO YEARS! I’m happy to report that these treasures will soon be in the hands of her grandchild!

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