Papa Colarusso
My mother's father Ralph/Raffaele Colarusso was born on April 7, 1916, in Boston, Massachusetts to Joseph/Giuseppe Colarusso and Josephine/Giuseppina Mazzarella. He had three sons and three daughters with Irene Francis Haverty. He died in 1989 in Hanover, Massachusetts, at the age of 73.
In his early life, my grandfather lived at 362 Sumner Street in East Boston. According to a 1930 census, living at this house were: Joseph Colarusso (51), head of household; Josephine (44), wife, Phyllis (18), daughter; Pasquale (16), son; Ralph (14), son; Eleanor (12), daughter; John (10), son; Louis (8), son; Margaret (5), daughter. His father Joseph was working as a truck man at a market. Later, his wife Irene also lived with his family on Sumner Street according to a 1940 census record.
He worked for Frank J. Gurlan Trucking Company located on Commercial Street in Boston's North End in 1945, but for most of his life, my grandfather worked as a truck driver for Genest Bros., Inc.—a wholesale bakery based in Manchester, New Hampshire.
In his twenties, he lived at 56 Mozart Street in Jamaica Plain. He also lived in Weymouth, Roslindale, Tewksbury, and Hanover, MA.
According to army enlistment records, my grandfather only had one year of high school and enlisted in the army on May 11, 1945 and was released on December 13, 1945.
When he lived in Tewksbury, he had fruit trees and a garden that he liked to work on. I did not know my mother's father all that well, I was only 13 when he passed away. I did learn from my mother that Papa was a very hardworking man, he liked to bet on horses and dogs, and loved watching football. He also enjoyed swimming and used to swim in the ocean in East Boston at Wood Island Park, which is where Logan Airport is now.
