Connie Maione was born Constance Mary Verderico on Sunday, Feb 13th, 1921 to Giuseppe Verderico and Giovanna Lentini in South Fork, PA. She was the youngest of five other siblings Nicholas, Josephine, Mary, Rose, and Angela.
The roaring 20s were when women finally gained the right to vote, were holding down white collar jobs, and there was 1 car for every 5 people. Her first impressions were gathered during this time which, I think, made her the powerful force that she came to be as matriarch of our family.
As a young child of the 1920s, I can imagine her playing outside with her brothers and sisters. It wasn’t until her pre-teen years that she experienced the depression. Her folks must have learned how to effectively survive on very little in order to thrive as a family of 8 most surely did. She had remained frugal for the rest of her life as most depression – era kids did.
In 1941, she married Antonio Zavarella, who later became a war hero and was awarded 5 bronze stars and 1 Silver Star. Her son, Nicholas, was born soon after on Christmas day 1942.
Antonio’s life was cut short too soon at the young age of 23. He was killed in action on Nov 23rd, 1944 as a result of the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest, located along the border between Belgium and Germany during WWII.
In 1947, she married Paul Maione who had 3 children, Dominic, Mary-Theresa, and Marion (Butch). Together she and Paul had a daughter, Joanne, on October 21st, 1948.
Connie and Paul worked closely in the restaurant business for many years until they retired. Eventually, Paul died in 1986 from cancer.
Connie lived a long and productive life and had seen many advances in technology, such as the invention of the TV, refrigeration, microwaves, she saw astronauts walk on the moon, the invention of computers, space shuttle, internet, WiFi, and cell phones. She could never have imagined growing up during the depression, that one day she would watch her great-great-grand children open gifts on Christmas morning from across the country by just using her phone.
She often enjoyed travelling to Akron, Ohio to visit her sisters as well as to Cleveland, Ohio to visit her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She loved going to Italy and Australia to see her Brothers and Sisters-in-law and their families. She was a strong, independent woman and was not shy about it. She spoke her mind and was proud to do so! She was a compelling role model to her daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters. She will be greatly missed.
