The Gibilterra Family Website

This site is to record the history of the Gibilterra family and keep it's family and friends updated.

Our grandparents immigrated from Sicily in the early 1900's

Our Dad's parents, Carmelo Gibilterra (1876 - 1946) and Leonarda Accardi (1881 - 1961) immigrated from the town of Campobello di Mazara sailing from Palermo on the SS Sicilian Prince and landing at Ellis Island on June 27, 1905. At the time they were 28 and 24 years old, respectively. From there, they eventually settled in Flat River, Missouri where our grandfather was a carpenter/brick mason. They had four children: Carmela, who grew up and married Salvatore Fallucco and moved to Chicago, Cecilia, who grew up to marry Salvador Ingrassia and live in St. Louis, James J., who never married and died of tuberculosis at the age of 22 (10/28/07 - 9/14/29) and our Dad, Frank Jasper (01/24/12 - 10/16/87) who grew up to marry our Mom, Antonina Marchese on April 19, 1937.

Our Mom's parents were Vincente Marchese, who died at the age of 33 in Castlevetrano, Sicily, (1885 - 1918) and Angelina Greco (1886 - 1981). Our grandmother, Angelina, along with our Mom, Antonina (Nina) (03/18/13 - 04/11/2003) and sister Vincenza (Ginny) (06/39/15 - ) immigrated from Castlevetrano to America on the vessel SS Sophia sailing from Palermo and arriving at Ellis Island on February 3, 1921. Our grandmother was 24 years old  whne she arrived and Mom was 7 and Aunt Ginny was 4. They had left Sicily to live near our grandmother's sisters and brothers in St. Louis, Missouri and nerby Wood River, Illinois.

Our Dad met our Mom while he was helping his Father do masonery repairs near the house where Mom was living with her mom and sister. It was a very secretive courtship since there was some friction between the families caused by old Sicilian customs. They were married "on the sly" by a justice of the peace because of these problems and continued to live separately. They do so until they where married in the Catholic Church on April 19. 1937.

They lived in several homes in and around St. Louis during their marriage. They first lived on Greer Ave. and then moved to Labadie, Ave. both in St. Louis. They had their first taste of county life in their brief stay on Bel Nor Ave. in Normandy, Mo. It was back to the city after that to live on Lexington Ave. Just a block away from Public School Stadium. Their last home was back in the county on Wooster Dr, in Ferguson where they moved in 1953.

In addition to our grandmother living with us, there were four of us children. The oldest, Frank Joseph (originally called Carmelo but name changed after another Sicilian thing) (10/18/38 - 04/09/72) died in an automobile at the age of 33. James Joseph (10/19/39 - ) was born one year and a day later. Mom dressed them with the same clothes and many mistook them for twins since they were so close in age. Thomas Vincent (10/27/46 - ) was the last of the boys with Nancy Marie (05/08/48 - ) being born almost 18 months later. Thankfully, she did not dress Tom and Nancy alike.