Of Diana’s mother’s seven siblings, only the youngest, Tomasso Frascolla, came to the United States settling in Detroit in the early 20s. After meeting and marrying Raffaella (Lina) Ferro in Italy in 1929 they moved to Worcester, Mass., where he and his family resided for decades until shortly after his death in 1985.
Diana’s mother also had two (first) cousins who came to the United States. Diana’s grandmother was one of six siblings and, of those, only the eldest sister came to the US settling in New York where she raised a large family several of whom have kept in touch with us over the years and continue to e-mail periodically.
Diana’s grandmother also had a younger brother, Domenico DeMaria, who was a lawyer in Italy. He and his wife had two daughters. The eldest was Michelina (called Michelinella — born 1905; died 2001) and she settled in Chicago marrying Ralph Menotti in 1935. She and Ralph had two sons Dominick and Alfred who still keep in touch as well.
The older son, Dominick, was an executive who worked in the financial sector. Now, in retirement, Dominick and his wife, Judy, enjoy time with his family including two young grandchildren.
Diana called the younger son, Alfred, a “Renaissance Man” because of his diverse talents encompassing fashion design, jewelry design, oil painting and, his most recent passion, providing beautiful artificial hair for those being treated with chemo-therapy.
Al told Diana and others in the family that most of his early inspiration in designing fashion as well as other artistic pursuits was the result of encouragement from Diana’s mother whose photo he kept for many decades in his wallet. Al first met his “Zia Preziosa” when he was about 5 years old when the family was visiting Rochester. As a result of her instigation, his parents had him study for a while in Milan and NYC.
One of Diana’s last phone conversations with Al was a few weeks before her 93rd birthday, when she gifted her knitting machines, yarns, fabrics and, “other toys” as she referred to them, to him and his long-time seamstress, Carmen.
July 2017