Silvio Petricciani - University of Nevada, Reno
Silvio Petricciani - University of Nevada, Reno
Silvio Petricciani - University of Nevada, Reno
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Background, Early Life and Education<br />
5<br />
and her education consisted <strong>of</strong> the usual<br />
schooling there in the little town, but then<br />
she and all <strong>of</strong> her sisters as they grew up had<br />
an uncle who was a priest in Livorgno—or<br />
Leghorn, if you will—and when they grew<br />
up in time to get their high school formal<br />
education, why, they were sent to Livorgno<br />
to him, and he would see that the sisters in<br />
the convent educated the girls. They spent<br />
approximately—the schools in Italy are twoyear<br />
schools equivalent to our four years <strong>of</strong><br />
high school here—and they would spend the<br />
two years there and come back educated. Now<br />
my mother married when she was nineteen—<br />
my dad came back and married her when she<br />
was nineteen years old— and they came over<br />
here, and <strong>of</strong> course, their life together from<br />
there was as I had explained before—they<br />
went into California then came up to <strong>Reno</strong>.<br />
And my first sister was born in 1914, and then<br />
my second sister was born in 1915, and then<br />
I was born in 1917, and I had a brother who<br />
was born in 1924. And that is the family. And<br />
<strong>of</strong> course, my mother stayed at home all the<br />
time and raised her family. And raised a pretty<br />
good one I might say—all the kids grew up<br />
and married and have led good lives and so<br />
on. And that is about it.<br />
They both became naturalized citizens.<br />
That was the first thing that my dad insisted<br />
upon was that this was his country—his newfound<br />
home—and the first thing he wanted<br />
to do was become a naturalized citizen <strong>of</strong> the<br />
United States, and my dad and my mother<br />
both became naturalized citizens after he<br />
married her. Of course, he had been working<br />
towards his naturalization for a long time<br />
before that. And so, I guess that about sums<br />
up anything that I can think <strong>of</strong>.<br />
Oh, as time went on he bought other<br />
buildings—he bought other property in<br />
<strong>Reno</strong>. He bought the building which is called<br />
the Traveller’s Hotel building, which we just<br />
recently sold to the Del Webb people. It was<br />
on the southwest corner <strong>of</strong> Commercial Row<br />
and Sierra Street. You know, where the old<br />
McMahan building was—the old furniture store<br />
there? It was right on the corner there, and the<br />
Del Webb people had bought all the property<br />
up to that, and they came to us and <strong>of</strong>fered us a<br />
pretty good deal—plus the tact that it would—by<br />
holding that building and not selling it to the<br />
Del Webb people would have been like a little<br />
pimple sitting there against a big hotel and we<br />
would have stopped progress in the town, and<br />
I don’t believe in that—I just don’t believe in<br />
that. People have held this town down for many,<br />
many years because they’d go out and buy little<br />
pieces <strong>of</strong> property here and there and the other<br />
place so the town couldn’t expand, and contrary<br />
to what these small-minded people thought,<br />
the more people that come into the town and<br />
the more businesses and hotels that grow in the<br />
town, the better it’s going to be for everybody<br />
because they’re just going to bring more people<br />
into the town. But, as I say, we have some smallminded<br />
people in this town, and they don’t<br />
believe that way. Luckily enough, time changes<br />
that, and it has changed it in the last two or three<br />
years—as we can well see.<br />
There weren’t really any real “life<br />
experiences” other than my dad bought a<br />
house on South Virginia Street in 1920, I<br />
believe—675 South Virginia Street—my<br />
mother still lives there. I was three years old<br />
when we moved in there, and she’s going to<br />
live there until she dies—she’s not going to<br />
move. At the time he bought the house, I think<br />
they bought the house for sixty-five hundred<br />
dollars, and she’s been <strong>of</strong>fered sixty thousand<br />
for it now—wouldn’t sell it though.<br />
What kind <strong>of</strong> person was your father?<br />
Well, he was more or less <strong>of</strong> an extrovert<br />
such as myself. I mean people tell me I’m