We now know there were many more children than we knew of who were our grandaunts and granduncles from Italy. Sebastiano Michelangelo Marcantonio Normandia and Angela Cernese, had twelve known children. This is the entire list of children as it came from L'ufficiale di Anangrafe in Palma Campania, and also from microfilm from Palma Campania, Napoli, Italy.  I have added the name of a spouse if it was discovered.

1. Antonietta Normandia (1) born ca. 1858, died 1859.
2. Antonietta Normandia (2) born June 10, 1860. Married (1) Unknown; (2) Mr. Cassese; (3) Angelo Savignano.
3. Maria Rosalia Normandia born ca. 1862, no further information
4. Maria "Sofia" Normandia born January 5, 1862.  Married Nicola Federico Spina.
5. Antonio Biase (Biagio) Gennarino Normandia born November 19, 1863. Married Teresa, the widow of Mr. Caliendo.
6. Alfonso (Zi Funz) Normandia born January 16, 1866. Married Maria (Maimee) Cristina Cambia.
7. Concetta Luisa Normandia born October 20, 1867, died January 20, 1871 at age 3 years, 3 months.
8. Michele (Michael) Antonio Normandia, my grandfather, born September 28, 1868. Married Giovannina (Jennie) Tuorto.
9. Maria "Luisa" Normandia born October 1, 1869. Married Biagio Vito, attorney.
10. Aniello Antonio Normandia born November 5, 1870, died June 23, 1872 at age 1 year, 7 months.
11. Aniello Normandia born June 07, 1872. Married Maria LaManna, who married (2) Frank Carusi.
12. Maria Soletta Normandia born October 17, 1873. Married (1) Antonio Alfano; (2) Angelo Savignano.

There is a family legend of a sister Marianella who was deaf.  Perhaps she was one of the Marias above. Uncle George Normandy said he heard of another brother named Sebastiano who was born and died in Italy.  He is not on the State of the Family certificate.

Granduncle Alfonso Normandia was called  "Zi Funz." He was born in Palma Campania, Italy, on 18 February 1867. His wife's name was Maria Cambia. They were married by proxy when Alfonso was in New York and Maria was in Italy. The actual ceremony took place in Italy when Maria was 16. Alfonso's brother Michele (who was my grandfather, Michele (Michael) Normandia), stood in for him. Alfonso died in New York on 22 June 1955. Maria died in the 1940s. They are both buried in St. Johns Cemetery, Middle Village,Queens, New York. Photos from Zi Funz' grandnephew, Robert Aniello Normandia, Sr.	Granduncle Aniello Normandia was born in 1872 in Palma Campania, Italy. He married Maria LaManna there in 1893. Maria was born 15 May 1875. They had nine children before Aniello died in Italy in 1909. Linda and Vincent died in infancy. Maria came to America on the ship Prinzess Irene (later renamed Bremen) which sailed from Naples to Ellis Island, NY, arriving December 24, 1909. The Ellis Island records show her as Maria Maima. She died in New York  September 5, 1959. Their son, Alphonse Raffael, Sr., was raised by Aniello's brother Alfonso, whom we lovingly called "Zi Funz."  Info from Theresa Dodaro. Photos from Robert Aniello Normandia, Sr.
Grandpa  had a sister named Maria Soletta Normandia who was born 17 October, 1873 in Palma Campania, Italy. She married Antonio Alfano, who was born there on July 27, 1876. When he came to America, she stayed behind in Italy with their three children, Alphonso Sebastiano born March 1, 1909, Angela/Angelina (Julia) born 3 February 1908, and Pietro (Peter) born 30 October 1906. Later, Maria's brother Alfonso paid her fare to America where she would help take care of baby Raffaela Carmela (Millie) Tuorto, the daughter of Michael Normandia's brother-in-law, Salvatore (Sam) Tuorto.  Alfonso Alfano became a policeman with the NYPD. Because there were other Alfonsos, we referred to him as "Al-the-cop." Everyone had nicknames in the old days. Alfonso married Frances Luciano in 1932.  In his obituary it said they had a son and a daughter but I have not been able to locate them. Alfonso died in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Peter played trombone in the Brooklyn Dodgers Sym-phony Band. He later moved to south Florida.  "Julia" married a Mr. George. In the 1950s she  moved to Florida. She visited my mother often in Hollywood, Florida. Julia was an excellent seamstress. I remember she sewed beautiful blue silk flowers around the hem of my formal when I joined a sorority.	Grandpa's oldest sister was Antonietta Normandia who was born June 10, 1860 in Palma Campania. Her first husband's name is unknown to me. Her second husband's surname was Cassese. On September 16, 1917, Antonietta married her third husband, Angelo Savignano, of Avellino, Italy. She was his fourth wife. Angelo had three children from a previous marriage, John, Josephine (Jessie), and Carmine. Unfortunately, this is the only picture of Antonietta that we have, taken in her coffin in October 1921 in Brooklyn, New York. After her death, Angelo married her sister, Maria Soletta Normandia Alfano, as his fifth wife. Maria's son, Alphonso (Al-the-cop to us) gave many photos to his cousin in Maspeth. On the back of this photo, Al wrote that it was his mother's sister, Antoinette Normandia who lived at 549 Metropolitan Avenue when she died. The 1920 NY Census of Brooklyn, Kings County, Enumeration District 840 (image 10 on ancestry.com) shows that Angelo Savignano owned his own grocery store. In 2002, there was still a Savignano store there. In 2004 I heard they sold it.  (Many thanks to Professor Samuele Normandia in Palma Campania, Italy, who was kind enough to get us these valuable records there. Thanks also to Robert Frosch and cousin Letitia.)

"Those Were the Days"

Boy, the way Glen Miller played
Songs that made the hit parade
Guys like us, we had it made
Those were the days

Didn't need no welfare state
Everybody pulled his weight
Gee, our old LaSalle ran great
Those were the days

And you knew who you were then
Girls were girls and men were men
Mister, we could use a man
like Herbert Hoover again

People seemed to be content
Fifty dollars paid the rent
Freaks were in a circus tent
Those were the days

Take a little Sunday spin
Go to watch the Dodgers win
Have yourself a dandy day
that cost you under a fin

Hair was short and skirts were long
Kate Smith really sold a song
I don't know just what went wrong
Those were the days

by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse

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