October 2021 – Sgriccia

On October 15, 1923 Marcia Jean Sgriccia was born in Clymer, PA. Her parents were Anna Maria Lucia Bianco (Aunt Lucy), age 20, and Mariano Sgriccia, age 32. She had an older sister, Rita Sgriccia, and in 1925 would have a younger brother, Joseph Anthony Sgriccia.

She grew up in Clymer with many Sgriccia family cousins. Though spelled MARCIA she was called “Mar-see” her entire life. In 1941 she graduated from Clymer High School. She went on to attend State Teachers College, Indiana, PA and graduated in 1944.

Somewhere along the way she met Harry “Leroy” Chapman – perhaps in High School. On November 15, 1945 they married. The couple soon moved to West Mifflin, PA where they raised three girls: Kathryn, Geraldine and Maria. Marcia was a beloved music teacher in the West Mifflin School District for 25 years. Many of her grade school students called her their “favorite teacher”.

Marcia Jean (Sgriccia) Chapman died on February 13, 2010. An obituary can be found HERE. Following the obituary there is a long list of her students who wrote to praise and remember her.

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On October 15, 1964 Evelyn Lois Sgriccia was born in Michigan. She is the sixth child of Samuel F. and Evelyn V. Sgriccia. This blog has a policy of not posting detailed information about living persons, but I think that we can say… that Evie lives in northern Michigan. She is happily married; has three daughters and two granddaughters.

October 5, 1889 Cherubino Sgriccia was born in the town of Preci, Perugia, Italy. He was the second child of Ascanio Sgriccia, age 34, and Venanza Arcangeli, age 27. We do not much about his early years, but at 17 he left Italy and sailed to the USA following his Uncles to work in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. He arrived in New York in May of 1906.

He only stayed in the USA a couple of years and returned to Italy to serve two years in the Italian Army. During this timeframe he married Augusta Cordella. In November 1911 he returned alone to the USA and the coal mines. He therefore missed the birth of his daughter Anna on July 26, 1914. Before he could return to Italy war broke out and Cherubino was drafted into the US Army. This allowed him achieve his US Citizenship before he sailed to France as a musician in an Army Band in October 1918.

The war ended and rather than travel back to the USA, he went to Italy to rejoin his family. A trip to Rome in the summer of 1919 allowed Augusta to secure her passport to the USA. The three traveled to Clymer, PA arriving in October 1919 and lived with his brothers Mariano and Antonio.

Cherubino and Augusta had three sons: Vincenzo 14 Dec 1919, Mario 4 April 1921 and Salvatore 12 July 1924. Cherubino lived the rest of his life in Clymer. He and his brothers ran a grocery store for many years and later in life Cherubino planted and sold Christmas trees through the grocery store.