Find A Grave
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173206808
Anne was born June 27, 1906, in the village of Chisholm, Jay, Maine the first child of her Italian immigrant parents to be born in the United States. Her older brother, Frank was born in Italy in 1899. Her family initially lived in Chisholm because workers were needed for the large paper mill in that village. Her birth was followed by that of her younger brothers: Antonio, in 1908, Henry in 1910, and Guy in 1911. Her family moved to Waterbury, Connecticut in 1912 where her father supervised a construction project while Annie was still a small child, and standing on a stool, she assisted her mother, stirring the gravy as her mother prepared delicious meals for the men who worked on the construction project in a canteen she established to serve the men. When the project was completed the family bought a home on Meridian Street in East Boston. Her little brother Antonio died at when he was 4 years old. Her brother James was born in 1914 and Anthony in 1916.
She was the second oldest child and the only female. As such, she was expected to make the beds everyday and launder all the clothing. She said when her brothers carelessly left their clothes in disarray, she threw them out the window.
She frequently shopped downtown for food and brought a bouquet of roses back to her mother. She always spoke of her mother with great love. After high school, she attended Burdett women’s college where she learned bookkeeping and later worked for her father who had acquired property in East Boston. She recalled collecting rent for him.
On August 30, 1931 she married a handsome Henry Ciarfella and, because he was employed at Sears & Roebuck, the couple rented an apartment on nearby Queensbury Street off Park Drive in Boston. She gave birth to her oldest daughter Margaret Ann on July 22, 1935 and with her husband and child, moved back to her family’s Meridian Street home to care for her mother who had diabetes. Her little family remained in East Boston until shortly after her mother’s death in 1940.
The family moved two Watertown, purchasing a two-family house, and her second child, Anita Marie was born on September 29, 1943. My grandmother prided herself on keeping a spotlessly clean house and washing her floor on her hands and knees. She ironed her sheets, pajamas and underwear and was a fantastic cook.
She sent both her daughters to college but insisted they live at home. The Ciarfella’s bought a beautiful single family home near Watertown High School which was the only home I saw her live in. Her daughter Margaret was married on November 7, 1959. Four years later she had her first 3 grandchildren. I always loved sleeping over her house.
. Anne is buried in Newton Cemetery in Newton, Massachusetts,
LINKS
Memories (17)
Gallery (10)
Guestbook (1)