NAME(S) ON TILE:                 FRANK AND ROSE AMUSO

DONOR NAME(S):                   CONCETTA AMUSO

Frank (Francesco) Amuso was born August 14, 1883, in San Fillipo, Sicily, a small town west of Messina.  Rose (Rosina Ciraolo) Amuso was born June 12, 1890, in the same village.  Young Francesco went to school and grew up learning to be proficient in raising and handling produce.  In 1906 Francesco came to the United States through Ellis Island and settled in Pittsburgh, Pa.’s Strip District.  He returned to Sicily in 1912 to marry Rosina.  Rosina worked in Messina.  During the great earthquake of 1908, she was trapped for a day in a collapsed building, and was found by rescuers after they saw her hand protruding from the rubble.  Francesco, along with his new bride, returned to Pittsburgh’s Strip District and settled at 28th Street and Penn Avenue.  Later they purchased a house at 452 Cedarville Street in Bloomfield.  They raised five children, Guy, Lillian, Frank, Concetta and John.  Francesco worked in the Strip District as an independent merchant, selling wholesale produce to small businessmen and hucksters.  At first he was partners with Ralph Lupinacci, and then alone at this business at 19th and Penn until he retired in 1952.  He began his workday at 4 a.m. taking a trolley to the strip and returning home at 4 p.m. six days a week.  He still made time to pursue his hobbies of playing the mandolin and guitar, games of Bocce and cards (briscola and tre-sette).  He also enjoyed concerts and the opera.  He made improvements on the house in Bloomfield, added on to the barn where he stabled the horses and mules for neighbors.  He built a Bocce court and planted a large garden.  He was especially proud of his large fig tree that produced abundant figs.  Francesco died July 25, 1962 followed by Rosina on February 3, 1971.  Lillian and Concetta still reside in the same house.  Francesco and Rosina were two of many immigrants that entered this great country through Ellis Island, a reminder of what we are, and what we stand for, life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for all.