JOE'S MOM AND SOME INFORMATION LEARNED
I began my serious search for information by going over my notes from the visit to the cemetery. I found that the owner of the plot was Joe's mother, but since she had died, the contact person was her landlord, Angelina Paparella.
After a short time, I was able to track down Mrs. Paparella and explained to her who I was and what I wanted. She told me that she did not meet Joe's mother until long after his death, but she knew her well. She said that Joe was saying his rosary when his plane crashed and everyone was killed. I dismissed the rosary story as the memory of an overzealous Catholic woman, but later I found out that she wasn't far off the mark.
At this point I thought I would ask her about Joe's mother, Anna. As with Joe, I had never heard anyone in the family mention her. Mrs. Paparella said that Anna spoke only Italian and that she was divorced from Joe's father, Emmidio, not long before Joe died. Anna was put in a convalescent home at some point, and Mrs. Paparella visited her every week. Eventually Mrs. Paparella made plans to move to a new home, so in preparation she disconnected her phone. Her plans fell through and she remained in New Haven. Sometime later she went to visit Anna at the convalescent home and found that during the few weeks that she was planning to move, Anna had died. The convalescent home tried to contact Mrs. Paparella but could not reach her.
Anna's body was turned over to a funeral home, which had her buried in a pauper's plot in Hartford; her lawyer auctioned off her personal possessions to pay the home. Mrs. Paparella called the undertaker to complain and to ask why no notice had been placed in the newspaper. The undertaker said that he understood that there was no family so he did not put a death notice in the paper. Mrs. Paparella argued that Anna's body should be moved from Hartford to the plot that she had in New Haven so that she could be buried next to Joe. Anna had mentioned many times that she wished to be buried next to her son. The undertaker agreed to move Anna if Mrs. Paparella would split the $500.00 cost. She agreed, and Anna now rests beside her son. This all took place in 1976, when I was 14 years old and before I even knew about Joe. I also learned from Mrs. Paparella the name of the convalescent home that Joe's brother Frank was then in, and how to reach him, but she said not to expect him to remember too much.
As I hung up the phone, I took stock of what I had learned. Joe's plane had crashed, but I still didn't know what happened. I now knew where Joe's brother Frank was and could contact him, but what would he remember? Plus, if he had Alzheimer's or was in some other way mentally incapacitated, how would I explain who I was? I was his 1st cousin once removed. Hell, I didn't even understand that! I decided to figure it out later. I also made note that since Anna's possessions were sold by her lawyer, anything of Joe's that she might have had was gone. I thought most about his Purple Heart medal that the government would have given her. It would have been nice to have as a family heirloom. I have tried in vain to find a photo of Anna, and have been unsuccessful in contacting her family. I hope that someday, someone in her family, the Da Dato family, will see this and contact me. I also would like to use this space to thank Mrs. Angelina Paperalla for her kindness and loyalty to Anna in having her moved to rest next to her son, and paying for it out of her own pocket. |
