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The middle of three children, Steven Decker was born in Chicago to Roy and Kathryn Tomasello Decker, who were living near North Avenue and Larrabee. When Decker was 3 years old, they moved to Logan Square, where he grew up living close to his Sicilian-born grandparents and his mother’s five siblings and their families. On Sunday mornings, Decker aw...

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Alfred Joseph Trifiro died Thursday, March 23, 2023, in the loving company of his wife, Anne Pennucci Trifiro, to whom he had been married for 61 years, and daughters Nancy (Stephen Troese), Cory (Philip Kuhn) and Michele (John Beavers). He was born Dec. 23, 1929, in Somerville, Mass., on December 23, 1929, to the late Joseph and Rose Trifiro. He w...

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One of eight children, Vincent Speranza was born in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in 1925 to Francesco and Francesca Paratori Speranza. Francesco immigrated from Palmi, Calabria, and Francesca from Sciacca, Sicily. When Speranza was 3 years old, they moved to Staten Island, where he grew up amid a large extended family. Every Sunday...

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Members of the Italian American Heritage Club of Sussex County recently presented supplies and toiletries to staff at Home of the Brave in Milford for military veteran residents, along with a surprise Italian meal of baked ziti and garlic bread. The Home of the Brave mission is to reduce homelessness among the military veteran population. In additi...

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Although Veterans Day honors the living, anytime is appropriate to honor the memory of a courageous local hero, John T. Frisina, Captain, U.S. Marine Corps.  I learned of him from my Benedictine High School classmate Russ Davis, a member of the undefeated Bengal football team and “mythical” Ohio Champion of 1964. While visiting Little Italy for Col...

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As a radio intercept operator during the Korean War, Paul Greico and his team worked around the clock to snatch top-secret Chinese transmissions from the airwaves and pass them along for decryption. The middle of three children, Paul Greico was born in Chicago to Dominic and Carmella Rosso Greico. The family lived at 718 S. Aberdeen St. Greico’s pa...

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John Basilone was a hero in WWII and now the Navy has christened a second ship in his name and there is also a movement to recognize him here in his hometown. Basilone, born on the West Side of Buffalo, November 4, 1916, into an Italian-American family, the sixth of ten children. Basilone enlisted in the Army in 1934, then in the Marines in 1940. H...

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World War II veteran Gino Mei has had birthdays worldwide, but Thursday’s celebration in Arizona may have been one of his favorites. Arizona’s Family reports hundreds of people came out to his street to give the U.S. Army veteran a 103rd birthday celebration he won’t soon forget. They did a drive-by salute to honor him. “I feel great. I feel like I...

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Joe Piscopo is about to have a bit more in common with Bill Murray than SNL alum status, and members of the McHenry American Legion post can't wait. A Saturday Night Live cast member from 1980 to 1984 who also starred in 1980s films including "Johnny Dangerously," "Dead Heat," and "Wise Guys," Piscopo will perform stand-up comedy and music in two s...

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Edward Alexander Powell was born in 1879 in Syracuse, New York. After studying at Syracuse University and Oberlin College, he began his journalism career at the Syracuse Journal. In 1903 he moved to London to work as an advertising manager for the Smith Premier Typewriter Company, which was based in Syracuse, but within a couple of years he returne...

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