Local Notables

One of the earliest Italian immigrants to make residence in Grand Rapids was Giovanni Gardella from Neirone, which is just outside of Genova.  He, along with Nicolò Villa ran a retail store selling fruits, nuts and confectionaries at the corner of Monroe Ave and Ionia St.  Eventually, his brothers Francesco and Andrea joined the business, and they began exclusively selling wholesale fruit from a warehouse on Ionia St.  Many local Italians who worked as hucksters would begin their day by purchasing fruit from Gardella Bros. to sell from their carts that they pushed around the streets of the city.

Arriving around 1900 from Bari, Vincenzo De Modugno ran a wholesale business at 301 Straight St NW selling imported foods and cooking supplies.  Vincenzo was a former president of The Italian Brotherhood and one of the founding members of the Marconi Club.

At the young age of 15, Giovanni Battista Russo arrived from Montelepre and procured a job shoveling coal for the Grand Rapids Gas Light Company.  He eventually set up a grocery store at the corner of Franklin St & Division Ave, selling fresh bread, pasta and imported goods to anyone that was looking for a taste of Italy.  When G.B.’s son Frank was born in 1916, the business became known as G.B Russo & Son.  Many local Italians turned to G.B. for advice because he had many valuable relationships with people throughout the city, including Grand Rapids Mayor George Welsh, a frequent customer of his store.

Msgr. Salvatore Cianci was more than a spiritual leader for the Italian community because he also had a doctorate in civil and canon law.  Msgr. Cianci advocated for civil rights any time Italians were being harassed by police or refused employment merely because of their nationality.  Because he encouraged his “flock” to assimilate with the community, he was held in high regard at City Hall.  Msgr. Cianci spoke out to the community regarding Italians during both World Wars and consoled his parishioners who had family members fighting on both sides of the war front.

In 1937, Rev. Cianci announced to his parishioners at Our Lady of Sorrows that they would soon be able to get legal representation by one of their own.  In November of 1937, Louis Maggini passed the bar exam and quickly he won his first case.  Maggini was born in Grand Rapids to Italian immigrants from Tivoli, a city near Rome.  His ability to speak both English and Italian was beneficial to the Italian community, assisting them with matters of legal advice or American citizenship.  He was active as a leader in many community organizations and boards, including the Marconi club, the Knights of Columbus, Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity and he was a co-founder of the Grand Rapids Chapter of The Order of the Sons of Italy.  Louis Maggini also served as chairman on several committees for Our Lady of Sorrows Church and other local Catholic organizations throughout his life, returning the favor to Msgr. Cianci many times over.  Z.Z. Lydens consulted with Louis Maggini for his book “The History of Grand Rapids” for his chapter on the Italian community.

Grand Rapids born Josephine (Jodi) Bancino (née Geluso) was blessed with the talent of being a songwriter on a national level, writing many B-sides for successful pop & country singles.  Her parents were both born just outside of Palermo, her father being from Giardinello and her mother from Montelepre.  After having over 50 of her songs plagiarized, she appealed to presidents Gerald R Ford and Ronald Reagan to have copyright laws changed to help the protect rights of songwriters.  She was a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Broadcast Music Incorporated and the Country Music Association.  She eventually formed her own music publishing company, Jodi Bancino Music.  Her songwriting accomplishments range from Christmas songs for Herpolsheimer’s Department Store to commercial jingles for Coca-Cola.

Mary Otterbein (née Rozzasco) served as the Health Nursing Director for the City of Grand Rapids for over 20 years.  First serving locally as the supervisor for Tuberculosis Nursing, she agreed to take the position of Health Nursing Director in 1935 as a temporary position.  She eventually stepped down from the role in 1957.  She was a graduate of St Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing and served 13 months in World War I before working in the Mayo Brothers Sanitarium (now known as the Mayo Clinic).  She was born in Grand Rapids to Luigi Rosasco and Rosa Gafforio, immigrants from Genova, Italy.

Ambassador Peter Secchia may have been born in New Jersey, but he made West Michigan his home after graduating from MSU in 1962.  Peter began his career as a salesman for Universal Forest Products, eventually taking majority ownership in 1971. His involvement as chairman of the Michigan Republican Party garnered him the friendship of U.S. Presidents Gerald R. Ford and George H.W. Bush.  Secchia was appointed Ambassador to Italy by President Bush and served in that capacity from 1989-1993, achieving Italy’s highest public service award, the "Cavaliere della Grande Croce". Peter Secchia has made countless philanthropic contributions throughout the city of Grand Rapids and beyond, including the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education at GRCC, the Secchia College of Human Medicine, and Secchia Hall at GVSU’s downtown campus. Secchia was quite proud of his Italian heritage.  His paternal grandfather was born in Masserano, a city in Northern Italy located near Torino.  Peter Secchia was the first president of the Grand Rapids Chapter of The Order of the Sons of Italy and remained involved in the club throughout his life.

In 1978, Fr. Julian Reginato, an Italian born Consolata Missionary Priest, was assigned pastor of the faltering Our Lady of Sorrows Parish.  Beginning in the 1950s, many of the Italian Americans that once attended mass at the church had moved to the suburbs, and they began attending their neighborhood churches.  Fr. Julian’s priority was to persuade the former members of the parish to return and encourage them to attract younger people as well.  He began modernizing the interior of the church and took measures to increase the safety of the church grounds.  Within a few years, the parish was thriving again.  In September of 1982, Fr. Julian gathered a group of Italian Americans together in the room above Bono’s Restaurant on Plainfield Ave to begin discussions of creating the Grand Rapids Chapter of The Order of the Sons of Italy.  A few months later, Fr. Julian served as the temporary chairman of the first club meeting to nominate officers.  At the end of the meeting, Peter Secchia was selected as the first president and John Russo was the first vice president.  Other officers were Bernard Sikorski-treasurer, James Bartoletta-secretary and Louis Maggini-orator.  Within a year, Grand Rapids held its first Festa Italiana and Fr. Julian provided Sunday liturgy at the event annually until the practice had to be discontinued.