De Luca Family: Children of Peter and Clementina De Luca

As I am still awaiting Peter Sr.'s death record, I figured I would do a post about his children, and some records I've found on them. As this is only a collateral line for me, I have not fully investigated all the children like I would have if this would have been one of my own direct lines. Nonetheless, I did find a few things online at Ancestry.com.

Peter and Clementina's oldest child, Maria Asunta "Mary" De Luca, who came over with them from Italy, married Antonio L. Piazza on 18 Nov 1922 in what was then called Knobview, Phelps County, Missouri. Knobview is now called Rosati. Antonio was also an Italian immigrant, the son of Luigi Piazza and Luigia Cumerlato. Mary was 18 years old at the time of the marriage.

You can see Mary and Antonio living in St. Louis, Missouri at the time of the 1930 US Census here. Antonio was working as a carpenter for the railroad. They had a daughter, Eleanor, about 1924. Mary died on 24 Apr 1989 at the age of 84. From the SSDI:

Name: Mary A. Piazza
SSN: 497-10-5656
Last Residence: 63357 Marthasville, Warren, Missouri
Born: 14 Aug 1904
Died: 24 Apr 1989
State (Year) SSN issued: Missouri (Before 1951)

Name: Antonio Piazza
SSN: 702-07-8124
Born: 31 Aug 1891
Died: 11 Mar 1975
State (Year) SSN issued: Railroad Board (Issued Through) (Before 1951)

The second oldest child, Elizabeth, married Joseph Menchini. They settled in southern California. Elizabeth was the informant on her mother Clementina's death record. Elizabeth died 12 Feb 1988 at the age of 79 in Los Angeles County, California. From the "California Death Index, 1940-1997," at Ancestry.com:

Name: Elizabeth Menchini
Social Security #: 497-20-4471
Sex: FEMALE
Birth Date: 29 Apr 1908
Birthplace: Missouri
Death Date: 12 Feb 1988
Death Place: Los Angeles
Mother's Maiden Name: Clementina
Father's Surname: Deluca

Name: Joseph Menchini
Social Security #: 378-01-4216
Sex: MALE
Birth Date: 14 Sep 1916
Birthplace: Other Country
Death Date: 20 Jun 1994
Death Place: Los Angeles
Mother's Maiden Name: Menchini

The third oldest child and oldest son, Julius, died at the young age of 20 from tuberculosis. The picture of his tombstone is courtesy of Steve Zulpo, who has done a marvelous history of the families of Rosati.

The fourth oldest child, Rose, is still living.

Next is yet another daughter, Anna. Anna married Piero Joseph Achilli, an Italian immigrant, in 1935. Piero was the son of Amos and Agnes Achilli. They lived much of their married life in Coldwater, Branch, Michigan, before retiring to Payson, Gila, Arizona. They had 3 daughters and one son. Anna died at the age of 64 in Nov 1977. From the SSDI:

Name: Anna Achilli
SSN: 326-12-0780
Last Residence: 85257 Scottsdale, Maricopa, Arizona
Born: 1 Jan 1912
Last Benefit: 85257 Scottsdale, Maricopa, Arizona
Died: Nov 1977
State (Year) SSN issued: Illinois (Before 1951)

Name: Piero Achilli
SSN: 351-03-2285
Last Residence: 85541 Payson, Gila, Arizona
Born: 27 Sep 1911
Died: 10 Apr 2007
State (Year) SSN issued: Illinois (Before 1951)

Anna and Piero are both buried in Holy Reedemer Cemetery in Phoenix. See their memorials at Find-A-Grave here and here.

After Anna comes my brother-in-law's grandfather, Peter Louis De Luca, Jr. He married Living [first name not given due to privacy reasons] Hartman. They lived in Michigan for a short while before settling in southern California. Peter Jr. was the founder of Armtec Defense Products and possessed a number of patents in the development of military arms components. Peter Jr. had three children. He died on 10 Aug 2003 at the age of 86 in Bermuda Dunes, Riverside, California, and is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park (formerly Palm Springs Mortuary and Mausoleum) in Cathedral City, Riverside, California. See his memorial at Find-A-Grave here.

The youngest child of Peter Sr. and Clementina was Aileen "Lena" De Luca. Aileen married James Cassettari 30 Oct 1940 in Cook County, Illinois. James was born 1 Oct 1918 in Cook County and died on 8 Sep 1997. Aileen and James had two children. Aileen died 15 Jan 2009 at the age of 90 and was buried 19 Jan 2009 at Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleums in Hillside, Cook, Illinois. From the SSDI:

Name: Aileen Cassettari
SSN: 486-14-6995
Last Residence: 60108 Bloomingdale, Du Page, Illinois
Born: 29 Jul 1918
Died: 15 Jan 2009
State (Year) SSN issued: Missouri (Before 1951)

See Aileen's memorial at Find-A-Grave here.

I have at least one to two more posts on the De Luca family, so stay tuned.