The United States of America, Certificate of Naturalization, April 14, 1914. No. 471763 Western District of Pennsylvania * Original document in the possession of granddaughter, Sandra Ippolito
Petition Volume 127, number 10873 Age Honorable discharge from the Army of the U.S. 1918. * original document in the possession of granddaughter, Sandra Ippolito
Signed from Camp Sheridan, Alabama, 12/6/1918. from Private Co. 4 Development Battalion.
Described: When enlisted was "29 1/2" years of age by the occupation of "plater." He had "brown" eyes, "black" hair, "ruddy" complexion, and was "5" ft "2 3/4" inches in height. 25, height: 5 ft, 4 inches.
Address of residence listed as: 642 Parkview Avenue, town of: North Avalon, State of: Pittsburgh. It is said that he met the requirement: "resided continually within the United States for at least five years and in his state for at least one year immediately preceding the date of the filing."
* * * * * * According to family history, Rocco was born in Torella, Italy (the city he wrote on his social security application). His father was an olive farmer and "died young." His mother remained in Italy. Rocco had an older brother, Nicholas, who also emigrated to the U.S. Rocco left the country of Italy illegally through the port of Naples. He told his son, John, that he was taken out at night by rowboat to a larger ship and sailed for the U.S. He was avoiding WWI in Italy, and for this reason could never return to his native Italy. He joined the U.S. Army in WWI and served time in Alabama. He lived with his brother, Nicholas and their family in Pittsburgh area and later moved to Cleveland, Ohio.
In Cleveland, he met and married Fanny Jefferys. They had one son, John Lawrence Ippolito. Rocco was the proprietor of a small delicatessen in the Euclid Beach area of Cleveland. His generous nature extended credit to his local patrons and when the Great Depression set in, he could not collect his payments and make the payments for new refrigeration equipment in his deli. He lost everything! His wife Fanny recalls when the creditors came to repossess the furniture; she begged them to "leave the little boys chair." They did. Rocco went West to California in search of work. He later sent for his wife and son. Rocco worked much of his remaining years as a building superintendent in apartment buildings in the North Hollywood area of Los Angeles. He moved to a 1/2-acre piece of property in the San Fernando Valley and worked vigorously tending the grounds and the olive trees.
He died of a heart attack while in his car about to back out of the driveway. He was known as a kind and loving man, who enjoyed opera. He used to build small nativity scenes at Christmas time out of cardboard on the lawns of the apartment buildings he supervised. His son, John, said he once built a cardboard replica of his hometown of Torella, in the attic of his Ohio home.
More About Rocco Ippolito: Date born 2: August 16, 1888 Burial: Unknown, Holy Cross Cemetary, Los Angeles, California. Military service: August 08, 1918, Co G 67 Infantry, Private, discharged December 6, 1918. Occupation: Delicatessan Owner. Social Security Number: 286056093.
More About Rocco Ippolito and Fanny Elizabeth Jefferys: Marriage: June 28, 1919, Church of St. Thomas Aquinas, Cleveland, Ohio. Marriage license: Original in possession of Sandra Ippolito.
Marriage Notes for Rocco Ippolito and Fanny Elizabeth Jefferys: According to the original "Marriage Certificate" in the possession of their grand daughter, Sandra, Fanny is known as "Frances Jefferys." This is the only know reference to her name as "Frances."
The two witnesses signing the Mariage Certificate are Albert Jefferys, brother of Fanny and John F. Walsh, brother-in-law to Fanny and husband of her sister Violet "Vie" Jefferys.
Children of Rocco Ippolito and Fanny Elizabeth Jefferys are:
Rocco Ippolito (b. August 16, 1888, d. January 08, 1956)
Notes for Rocco Ippolito: