Vol 4-2, Maria's copy2(R).pub (Read-Only) - Filicudi.org

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Know Your Officers:
Maria Taranto/Mahon,
President, is a granddaughter
of Maria Picone of
Filicudi and Onofrio Taranto
of Alicudi, and daughter
of Gaetano "Tom" and
Rose Busceme Taranto of
Waltham. Born in 1941 and
raised in Holliston, Maria
graduated from Holliston
High School, Bennington
College and Columbia University with a Ph.D. in
Psychology. Before retiring she taught at Hofstra
U. and Nassau College in Long Island, NY, while
engaging in psychological research. In 1988 she
Jennifer "Jenny" Taranto,
Recording Secretary,
was born in 1976 in
Fayetteville, North Carolina
to Linda and Felice Taranto.
She is a granddaughter of
Giuseppe and Elena Taranto
of Pecorini, Filicudi and she
also has ancestors from
Alicudi. She graduated
from North Carolina State
University in 2000 with a
Batchelor of Science degree in Construction Engineering
and Management and is currently employed
as a project manager by Structure Tone
Patricia Rando, Treasurer,
was born in Chicago
IL in 1932 to Wilma and
Frederick Whalend. She is
married to Anthony Rando
whose mother and father,
from Pecorini, Filicudi,
were Angelina Giardina and
Giacomo "James" Rando,
an early member of the
Santo Stefano di Filicudi
Society and the Unione
Eoliana Society. Patricia
LA CANNA SIREN
VOLUME IV ISSUE 2
was married to John Curtis Mahon and moved to
MA. She has been a member of the Filicudi Associates
since 1990, organized and ran the first Eolian
Islands Heritage Day in 1999, oversaw the Heritage
Room display, and gathered information for and constructed
the souvenir booklet for the Gala in 2000,
was secretary of the association from 2000-2002 and
has been president since 2003. She also initiated the
celebration of an Annual Santo Stefano Picnic, and
cooperative ventures with the Waltham Museum,
The Waltham Historical Society, and The Museum
of Eolian Emigration on Salina, Eolian Islands, Italy.
She has been to the Eolian Islands seven times and
has had a long-standing love-affair with all things
Eolian. She is currently putting together a book of
memoirs of those who emigrated from the Eolian
Islands to the greater Boston area, and their descendants.
Inc. of Boston. Jennifer has had a long-standing
interest in family genealogy and in preserving the
Filicudi culture and heritage. She joined the Filicudi
Associates soon after relocating to Boston and has
been the Recording Secretary since 2004. Her interest
in heritage is so strong that after graduating
from college she traveled to Filicudi by herself to
experience the land of her ancestors first hand. She
returned last year with her husband, Tom Vitolo,
during their honeymoon. Jenny is carrying on a
massive genealogical search of Taranto families to
discover their interconnections and she is Chairperson
of the society's Genealogy Interest Group.
graduated from Morton High School in a suburb of
Chicago. She met Anthony in 1966 and they were
married in 1968. She accompanied Anthony and
his mother to Italy and Filicudi in 1968 and remembers
having to depart from the large boat from
Messina to a small row boat in order to land at the
port in Filicudi. She says that she enjoyed the trip
very much. Patricia spent most of her professional
life working with figures, first in a bank in Chicago,
then on the old UNIVAC computers, engaged as a
keyboard operator, punching in programs. She
joined the Filicudi Associates in 2002 and has been
its treasurer ever since.