NAME(S) ON TILE: GIUSEPPE AND TERESA BRIZZI
DONOR NAME(S): GAETANO TROVATO BRIZZI
MADDELENA BRIZZI NATALIA
TERESA BRIZZI LOMBARDO
DOMENICO BRIZZI
ELISA BRIZZI O'MALLEY
Giuseppe Brizzi and Teresa Valenti Brizzi were born in Mairato, Province of Vibo Valentia, Italy. In 1954 they decided that Teresa would depart for America in the hope of a better life for the growing family. Eighteen months later, Guiseppe and four young children Gaetano Trovato, Maddelena Brizzi Natalia, Teresa Brizzi Lombardo, and Domenico Brizzi - embarked on the “Christopher Columbus” ocean liner to reunite with Teresa. Elisa Brizzi O’Malley, the “true American,” was later born in Pittsburgh.
The family lived in a tenement house in East Liberty. With patience, determination, and hard work, Giuseppe and Teresa paid off the debts owed for the move to America, and later they bought a home at 120 Shetland Avenue. Many happy years were spent there in an area known as Little Italy. The community there was full of tradition, pride, and many caring neighbors. Teresa died at a young age in 1970, long before she could see the full rewards of what she began in 1954. Over the years the children grew and married, bringing five new members to the family. Giuseppe and Teresa currently have eleven grandchildren, all first generation Americans, and five great-grandchildren.
Giuseppe and Teresa struggled to raise their family in the best way they knew, always instilling the Italian ways in their children. We will not soon forget the hard decisions they had to make nor the sacrifices they endured on our behalf. Giuseppe died in 1997. He left us with a love for each other and a respect for that which is right. Teresa would have been proud of how he raised us in her absence.
We wish to express this tribute to our father and mother for giving us a better life than they had. May the wind be always on their wings and the sun they knew in their youth always shine down upon them.
With love and affection,
Lena, Guy, Teresa, Dominic, Elisa