Image of Elizabeth Joan Modarelli (Center) with two of her grandchildren, Tim Werner (Left) and Jack Werner (Right)
Guiseppe Alberto Modarelli was a Catholic, young man who grew up in a very poor part of southern Italy. The 25-year-old, married, father of two, was looking for a new beginning for his family. Guiseppe and his wife were poor, jobless and depressed because of the rough conditions of southern Italy at the time. North Italy was getting richer and south Italy was getting poorer which made living conditions in southern Italy terrible. They heard of many opportunities and better living conditions in the United States so they wanted to try and start a new and better life there. With high spirits, Guiseppe, his wife and their two kids packed up everything they had and boarded a boat in Naples, Italy that would travel across the Atlantic to Ellis Island, New York. On October 8th, 1902, the Modarellis stepped upon American soil for the first time. They were not sure where they would live specifically in the United States when they first came over, but soon after their arrival, they found a train that took them to Ohio. They finally decided to establish their new home and raise their family in a small town in Ohio called Girard. The Modarellis quickly settled in and Guiseppe and his wife soon introduced a third child in 1904, whose name was also Guiseppe Modarelli. He would later go on to raise Elizabeth Joan Modarelli in 1937, which happens to be my grandmother. Since Guisepee Alberto was very Catholic, he wanted to raise his kids as very strict Catholics, and when his youngest son Guisepee, got married, he married a woman who was not Catholic. Since his parents who such strict Catholics, they banished him from the family and Guisepee and his children were not allowed to see Guiseppe Alberto and the rest of their family. Since my grandmother was not allowed to see her grandparents, there are no real Italian traditions that we take part of today. Catholicism has made its way all the way down through generations of our family to me, one of youngest Modarelli relatives. My family has made it all the way from Napoli, Italy to Cary, North Carolina in about 100 years and I am proud to call the United States my home.
