Colomba Pugliese Romano

She was the third child born to Giuseppe and Maria Lorenza Pugliese. Both her parents were hard working individuals and did everything they could to raise strong and independent children in a well-disciplined household. Colomba’s parents had a first born son, Vincenzo, who passed away in his first year of life. She was raised with an older brother, Raffaele and two younger sisters, Maria and Vincenza.

Colomba’s childhood consisted of tending to livestock and gathering food from their land. She attended school until Grade 3, where she was fortunate enough to learn the essentials of reading and writing. Colomba enjoyed the social aspect of school the most, as it was here that she made a few, good childhood friends. They would spend much of their time together playing games in the fields once their chores were done at home.

At the age of 23, while attending church, Colomba met the love of her life, Francesco Romano and they were married on April 14, 1940. Soon after getting married, he left to serve in World War II, and was forced to leave his pregnant wife at home. Named after Francesco’s mother, their first born daughter, Colomba was born on December 25, 1940. While Francesco was away, only returning occasionally, Colomba learned to be independent, living through the war and raising a child on her own. She buried her possessions so that the German army wouldn’t confiscate them. After being constantly relocated to various villages for safety, Colomba found herself in the region of Calabria, Italy, where she gave birth to a second child, Raffaele. He was born on May 17, 1944, and was named after Francesco’s father. After the war ended and Francesco returned home safely, life settled down and they focused on raising their family and farming their various pieces of land (Sauzo, Fontana di Ozza, Zi Pietro, Ponteciello). They continued to work hard and provide for their family. They expanded their family with their third child, Maria, who was born on September 27, 1947, and years later, a fourth child, Lina, who was born on April 16, 1954.

Seeking a better life for their children, Francesco and Colomba made the difficult decision to immigrate to Canada through sponsorship, leaving their extended family behind. Francesco departed Italy in January, 1957 on the S.S. Constitution, arriving in Fort Erie, New York and their daughter, Colomba followed shortly after. Colomba, with her three younger children, departed in March, 1958 on the Saturnia, arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The trip was long and treacherous, but luckily, the family fared well on their journey.

After settling in Toronto, the family faced many challenges such as finding work, assimilating into a new culture and learning a new language. As Italian-Canadians, they settled into a smaller community and continued with their own Italian culture, making homemade sauce, wine, sausage, raising pigeons and rabbits and tending to their vegetable garden. Francesco worked in construction and Colomba worked for 40 cents an hour making plush dolls in a factory, and sewing doll’s clothes at home with her oldest daughter at night. Colomba continued to work hard throughout her life, with the difficult task of balancing work and family. Together, the family struggled to make ends meet. Life was difficult, but satisfying.

The family’s hard work allowed them the opportunity to purchase their first home at 88 Bellevue Avenue. It was here that they inherited lifelong, family friends with neighbours, Joel, Rosie and Mrs. Unroth. At this point, Colomba and Francesco welcomed their fifth child, Linda, who was born on December 14, 1961. Their family was now complete. As time passed, their hard work led to good fortune, which allowed them to move to 520 Salem Avenue and later, 16 James Gray Drive. Here, neighbours like Minasha and Shoshana, as well as Ursula and Paolo became part of their extended family. Francesco and Colomba enjoyed many years together with their children and grandchildren through holidays, weekends and Sunday lunches.

It was on Monday, April 18th, 1977 when tragedy struck and Francesco passed away suddenly. Devastated, without her lifelong partner, Colomba had to continue to face life the best she could. Shortly after, in August, tragedy struck once again. Colomba was near death, suffering serious ongoing medical issues. Her family rallied around her and through her own belief in God and the continued support from doctors, family and her own determination to survive, her health eventually improved. She continued to enjoy her life, tending to her vegetable and flower gardens, fruit trees, grape vines and continuing with her favourite past time, cooking for her family and keeping her Italian traditions alive. She had a flare for making Christmas crespelle, Easter Pizza di Riso and ciambelle, known as Nonna’s bread to her grandchildren.

Colomba faced an additional hardship in April 2012, when her only son passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. She had a difficult time understanding why God had chosen to take the life of her child rather than herself, being 94 years of age. She would have gladly traded her life for his.

In her 97 years, Colomba constantly demonstrated in many ways what a strong, independent and hardworking individual she was. She was tenacious, determined and always loving. She loved her children, her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Whether she was bobbing for apples, playing T-Ball or looking silly wearing funny slippers, everyone loved her adventurous personality. And after a fall from a ladder and a trip to the hospital to cast her arm from picking cherries, everyone loved her determined attitude to return to the orchard, climb the ladder and pick cherries once again!

Her own health continued to deteriorate over the years. After surviving breast cancer and dealing with many medical issues, she also coped with congestive heart failure. Ultimately, Colomba passed away peacefully on Friday, January 2nd, 2015 surrounded by her family, living a long, joyous life. Riposa in pace Ma.....Sogni d'oro.