1.  MY LIFE MY CULTURE family love faith hard work Victoria Magnotto Flack

2. Family – An Italian experience  I was born to my parents Sam and Bina Magnotto in my home town of Farrell, Pa  I am the last of 5 children  John is my oldest brother -72 years young  Mark is second and is now 71 years young  Mary Elizabeth, my only sister and is 67 years young  Luke is my third brother and is 62 years young  I am the baby and much younger than my siblings  All of my siblings have had very successful lives as business owners, lawyers, doctors and teachers. This is reflective of my parents dream for us.  All are married and have wonderful spouses and lots and lots of beautiful children and grandchildren.

3. History…  I have a 17 th century ancestor by the name of Lenardo Di Capua (mothers maiden name)who was a physician in a the village my mother was eventually born in.  The Piazza in the center of the village is named in his honor as he saved the citizens from a plague by conjuring up a mixture of herbs and who knows what else.  He was a true renaissance man as his healing methods went against the Catholic Church, which at that time thought that only God and the Church could heal.  My brother Luke, also a physician and part-time citizen of Italy has written and published a book about Lenardo.

4. Piazza Leonardo Di Capua, (1617 1695) - Bagnoli Irpino Provincia Di Avellino, Italy

5. DiCapua becomes DeCapua  My grandfather, Alphonso came to America in the late 1800’s along with his wife Victoria (My name sake)  Alphonso enjoyed a very good, wealthy life in Bagnoli, but when he met Victoria (who was a servant to his family), he fell in love and they eloped and married.  This annoyed his Father and was told that they would have to leave, go to America and make a life. Which they did. They intended to return and retire there, which never happened.  At Ellis Island the name became DeCapua rather than DiCapua.

6. Victoria and Alphonso  Raised 8 children in Sharon Pa.  Alphonso and his oldest boys returned to Italy as the Costa Nostra threatened to kill him and his 2 oldest boys as he would not give into their extortion tactics.  Victoria was left here, running a small grocery store, raising 3 children and keeping boarders for extra money!  Finally after several years, she packed up her kids and went to join him. This is where my Mom was born as well as my Uncle Sam  She must have been an extraordinary woman, navigating her way to NY with 3 young children, not able to speak english…amazing

7.  Magnotta becomes Magnotto  This is my father, “Sam” or Salvatore’s family name. It was also changed at Ellis Island when my Grandpa Pasquale came from Bovino Italy.  He and my Grandmother Mary had 7 children! They also were very hard workers.  Magnotto’s also owned an grocery store and a spaghetti sauce factory. Yummy!  After 3 generations of family ownership, my cousin was forced to close due to WalMart!  Growing up in an Italian community of cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents was a wonderful experience that taught many lessons of value.  This 1st artifact is the top that they would put on their spaghetti sauce jar. The 2 nd is my cousins wine he made and brought to the wedding-he really should bottle it! The 3 rd artifact is a box of my cousin’s MagNoodles which have just been put on the grocery shelves of Whole Foods!

8. Bina and Sam Magnotto my parents  Wonderful, hard working and intelligent.  My father died when I was 12 and my mother died when I was 14.  They left me the legacy of the importance and value of family, faith and friends.  I moved to Michigan to live with my oldest brother and his family.  Loosing my parents and leaving my cultural base was the most difficult time of my life.

9. This is where I met my husband Jim. We were married in June of 1978 He taught in Pontiac and I taught in Warren Woods We were both laid off a year after we were married, so we returned to Jackson and Jim started working for a company that he is now President of! We have two wonderful children who we love dearly and mean so much to the two of us: Katelyn is 27 and was just married in July to Dustin David is 24 and works for my husband and is recovering from an illness that almost took him from us several times. He is currently doing pretty well and enjoying his health. Albion means so much to us not only because we graduated from there but also our children and our son- in-law. Dusty is currently the assistant head football coach at Albion

10. Teaching  Teaching means a great deal to me. I returned to teaching 9 years ago after a 20 year absence. (Worked form my hubby)  I teach Life Skills to 7 th and 8 th graders at the Middle School at Parkside. Sometimes things get crazy in my 7 kitchen cooking classroom and my 33 sewing machine classroom! I’m exhausted most days, but I love them and they love me!  My family is my first priority and love being with them, especially up north at our cottage.  I enjoy traveling, church, learning, sewing and my favorite – cooking (especially Italian!)

11. Our beautiful daughter and son in law

12. La Familigia Magnotto! The tradition of family, love, faith and hard work continues today!!