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Descendants of Domenico Modica

Generation No. 3


5. DOMENICO4 MODICA (IGNAZIO3, DOMENICO2, ANGELO1) was born December 19, 1878 in Sant' Agata di Militello, Sicilia. He married BENEDETTA LOPASO June 27, 1898 in Sant' Agata Di Militello, Sicilia, daughter of BASILIO LOPASO and ROSA TOUASELLE. She was born 1882 in Sant' Agata di Militello, Sicilia.

Notes for DOMENICO MODICA:
Domenico came to New York in 1899, at the age of 22. This information is found on the Ellis Island Family History web site.

More About DOMENICO MODICA and BENEDETTA LOPASO:
Marriage: June 27, 1898, Sant' Agata Di Militello, Sicilia
     
Children of DOMENICO MODICA and BENEDETTA LOPASO are:
  i.   DOMENICO5 MODICA.
  ii.   AL MODICA.
  iii.   JOE MODICA.


6. GIUSEPPA4 MODICA (IGNAZIO3, DOMENICO2, ANGELO1) was born May 01, 1881 in Sant' Agata di Militello, Sicilia, and died in New York, New York, USA. She married MAN SCAFIDI.

Notes for GIUSEPPA MODICA:
Giuseppa's name is on the ship manifest of the Marco Minghetti, sailing from Palermo and arriving in New York on March 16, 1900. Her father came with her.

Notes for MAN SCAFIDI:
We know that Giuseppa married a Scafidi through family memory. My parents visited their son, Ben Scafidi, who worked in the plaster trade in Cleveland with his uncles Domenico and Luigi. My mother also remembers their son, Luigi Scafidi, who latter moved to Florida.
     
Children of GIUSEPPA MODICA and MAN SCAFIDI are:
  i.   BEN5 SCAFIDI.
  ii.   LUIGI SCAFIDI.


7. LUIGI4 MODICA (IGNAZIO3, DOMENICO2, ANGELO1) was born May 06, 1887 in Sant' Agata di Militello, Sicilia, and died June 29, 1976 in Cleveland, Ohio. He married CATRINA MEGISTRO 1909. She was born June 21, 1887 in San Fratello, Sicily, and died September 05, 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Notes for LUIGI MODICA:
This information on Luigi and his family comes from family records provided by his daughter, Yolanda. The birth date is from the civil records of Sant' Agata Di Militello. Family birthdates provided by Yolanda differ from the official records: In family information Domenico is born on the 21st of December, 1878 instead of 19 December, 1878 in the records; the twins - Luigi and Salvatore have an official birth date of May 6, 1887 instead of May 4th; Antonino's official birth date is September 14, not the 13, 1892.


Luigi and his twin brother, Salvatore came to New York harbor on the ship - Sicilia, departing from Palermo, Sicily, Italy and arriving on 18 October, 1901 at the ages of 14.

More About LUIGI MODICA and CATRINA MEGISTRO:
Marriage: 1909
     
Children of LUIGI MODICA and CATRINA MEGISTRO are:
  i.   LUCIA5 MODICA, b. July 10, 1910.
  ii.   ANGELINA MODICA, b. May 22, 1912.
  iii.   EDITH MODICA, b. February 14, 1916.
  iv.   IGNATIUS (BUD) MODICA, b. December 21, 1917.
  v.   YOLANDA MODICA, b. September 12, 1925.


8. SALVATORE4 MODICA (IGNAZIO3, DOMENICO2, ANGELO1) was born May 06, 1887 in Sant' Agata di Militello, Sicilia, and died 1979 in Cleveland, Ohio. He married ROSALIA in New York, New York. She died 1953 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Notes for SALVATORE MODICA:
The date of Salvatore's birth comes from civil records of Sant' Agata Di Militello. Information on his wife and children are from the memory of his niece, Yolando Modica. Ellis Island records have Salvatore and his twin brother, Luigi, arriving in New York on 18 October, 1901. They were 14 years old and took the ship, Sicilia, from Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Their oldest brother, Domenico came in 1899, and their father and sister, Giuseppa came next, then the twins and about a year latter their mother, sister, Maria and little brother, Antonio.
Salvatore first lived in New York and then moved to Cleveland to work in the plaster business. Lastly, he lived in California and worked for movie studios and met movie stars. He had a great sense of humor and after his wife died, was still considered quite handsome and a "ladies man".

More About SALVATORE MODICA and ROSALIA:
Marriage: New York, New York
     
Children of SALVATORE MODICA and ROSALIA are:
  i.   IGNATIUS (ROBERT)5 MODICA.
  ii.   LUCIA (LUCILLE) MODICA.
  iii.   JOSEPH (JOEL) MODICA.
  iv.   GUIDO (BILL) MODICA.
  v.   UMBERTO (BERT) MODICA.


9. MARIA4 MODICA (IGNAZIO3, DOMENICO2, ANGELO1) was born November 29, 1890 in Sant' Agata di Militello, Sicilia, and died August 1978 in Garden City, MI. She married VINCENZO COLLORAFFI September 06, 1908 in Bronx, New York, son of DOMENICO COLLORAFFI and GIUSEPPA BOTTA. He was born January 26, 1881 in Sant' Agata di Militello, Sicilia, and died Abt. 1947 in New York, New York.

Notes for MARIA MODICA:
The birth date and parents names for Maria Modica are verified from her social security application #060-09-2065. Maria Modica came to the USA with her family when she was about 12 years old. She had gone to school in Sant'Agata Di Militello and was proud of being a good student. She told her grandchildren that when she came to New York, her parents dressed her in her best clothes and off she went to school. She was put in a kindergarten class with 5 year olds because she could not speak English. She never went back to school! Instead, she started working as a seamstress in New York. She worked all of her life until she retired at age 65. On her application for social security, which she filled out on November 26, 1936, she was working for Al Samuels, Inc. at 1375 Broadway in New York. Her address was 1126 Fteley Avenue, Bronx. She signed the form by writing her name "Mary Modica Colloraffi" and signing the form "Meri Modica Colloraffi".

She was a very tidy housekeeper and always had a very cheerful apartment with holy water in the bedroom and holy pictures on the walls. She wore fresly washed and starched and ironed housedresses. While in the Bronx, she lived in an Italian neighborhood and even married a man from her hometown of Sant' Agata. She worked and lived with other Italians, listened to music in Italian, read italian papers and cooked traditional foods. The address listed on her application for social security in 1936 is 1126 Fteley Ave., Bronx, NY. She loved to talk about her mischevious twin brothers, Sam and Louie, who continued to plan jokes on each other and other people until their death, when they werein their 80's.

She liked to feed her grandchildren Italian cookies and orange juice and ice cream. You could never finish anything without having another cookie in your hand or your glass refilled. She was a very independent woman and moved to Detroit to be near her 3 children when she retired. She had a stocked pantry so that when the weather was bad, and she could not go out, she would have food. While on a shopping trip with her friend Inez, 2 thugs tried to grab her pocket book. Maria fought back and ended up in the hospital with hip surgery. While recovering, she decided to spend the rest of her days in a nursing home where she grew to love the staff and they loved her. When some of them moved to a newer facility, Maria made the arrangements to move there too. She was remembered for tightly pinching both cheeks of a grandchild at one time - pulling the cheeks out - and saying "Youra soa cutea". Her biggest heartbreak was that she lived to experience the deaths of two of her three children, her daughters Lucy and Josie, as well as a beloved grand daughter, Eleanor.

Ellis Island records have Maria coming the the port of New York with her mother, Lucia, and younger brother, Antonio on August 18, 1902 from the port of Naples on the ship Roma. However, the records have her surname and that of her brother wrong, and well as her age. She was 12 years old. Her last name is listed as Regalbuto, the same as her mother's legal name. Antonio's name is also listed as a Regalbuto. In Italy, at the time, a woman maintained her birth name as her legal name, even though married.

Notes for VINCENZO COLLORAFFI:
      Vincenzo Colloraffi came to New York on a ship named Sempione, sailing from Palermo, Sicily, Italy to New York, arriving on May 11, 1900, when he was 19 years old. This information is from the Ellis Island research project. His parents came to New York in October, 1901 and his brother, Biagio, came at the age of 30, in 1905. Vincenzo worked as a tailor in New York. His sisters, Maria Teresa, Maria and Guiseppa all came to New York with him on the Sempione.

Marriage Notes for MARIA MODICA and VINCENZO COLLORAFFI:
The marriage liscense of Maria was found in records of the Bronx #1070.

More About VINCENZO COLLORAFFI and MARIA MODICA:
Marriage: September 06, 1908, Bronx, New York
     
Children of MARIA MODICA and VINCENZO COLLORAFFI are:
12. i.   DOMENICO5 COLLORAFFI, b. May 29, 1910, Bronx, , New York; d. October 28, 1996, Harper Woods, Michigan.
13. ii.   JOSEPHINE COLLORAFFI, b. February 18, 1912, New York City, New York; d. Detroit, Michigan.
14. iii.   LUCILLE COLLORAFFI, b. December 18, 1914, Bronx, , New York; d. March 1956, Detroit, Michigan.


10. ANTONIO (ANTHONY)4 MODICA (IGNAZIO3, DOMENICO2, ANGELO1) was born September 14, 1892 in Sant' Agata di Militello, Sicilia, and died June 22, 1984. He married GIUSEPPA MARCELLINA REGALBUTO April 25, 1915, daughter of GIUSEPPE RE(G)ALBUTO and ANGELA CERRITO. She was born March 19, 1895 in Sant' Agata di Militello, Sicilia, and died September 29, 1970 in California.

Notes for ANTONIO (ANTHONY) MODICA:
Antonino came to N.Y. on the ship, Roma, departing Naples on August 18, 1902 with his mother and his sister, Maria. His other siblings and father had come to the USA earlier.

Notes for GIUSEPPA MARCELLINA REGALBUTO:
This could be Giuseppa Marcellina who was married to Antonio Modica, son of Ignazio Modica.

More About ANTONIO MODICA and GIUSEPPA REGALBUTO:
Marriage: April 25, 1915
     
Children of ANTONIO MODICA and GIUSEPPA REGALBUTO are:
15. i.   LUCY5 MODICA, b. April 03, 1916, New York, New York.
  ii.   IGNATIUS MODICA, b. February 28, 1918.
  iii.   JOSEPH MODICA, b. July 24, 1922.


11. DOMENICO4 GALLENTI (NINA3 MODICA, DOMENICO2, ANGELO1) He married ANGELA.
     
Children of DOMENICO GALLENTI and ANGELA are:
  i.   NINA5 GALLENTI, m. IGNATIUS (JIM) SCAFFIDI.
16. ii.   LENA GALLENTI.


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