Girolamo and Caterina Arcuri

Ken, Virginia, Gabriel, Mary, Doris, Girolamo, Joseph, Caterina Arcuri

Gabriele Arcuri was born on June 15, 1866 to parents Girolomo Arcuri and Santor Lupino from  Colosimi, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy.  Gabriele immigrated to Canada in 1888 where he was farming near McLeod, Alberta. (Section 36, Township 1, Range 2).  He returned to Italy and married  Maria Colobeme.  Son, Girolamo Rosario, was born in 1895 and daughter, Julia, in 1908.  Julia remained in Italy where she married Emilio Ernesto Maletta.  Gabriele and Maria moved to Creston where they are laid to rest.

Girolamo Arcuri married Caterina Filliponi and they moved to Blairmore, Alberta.   Four children were born here: Mary (1918), Gabriel (1920), Joseph (1921) and Doris (1923).  In 1929, on the advice of “Cap” Capozzi, “that Kelowna was a good place to live and your family would never starve,” the Arcuri family moved to Kelowna.  Girolamo was employed by the City of Kelowna as a caretaker in City Park. Among his duties, he was tasked with giving care and attention to the infamous Okanagan Lake caricature, “Ogopogo,” at the entrance to the Park. Girolamo also had a 12 acre farm off of Paret Road (now Gordon Road) in the Mission, adjacent to the Thompson Family farm. He never owned or drove a car but rode a bicycle from his home in the north end of Kelowna out to the farm in the Mission.

Mary Arcuri married Joseph Gorski, who who was an Orderly at Kelowna General Hospital. Mary held many jobs in Kelowna, including working at Sun Rype and the Fruit Packing Plant.  Gabriel married Virginia Bodnaruk, in Kelowna, in 1946. Eventually they moved to Victoria in 1952, where they raised a family of 3 children, calling Victoria their home for the balance of their lives.  Joseph moved to Vancouver where he spent most of his adult life employed in the fishing industry. Upon retirement, he returned to Kelowna to be closer to his family … Mary and Joseph Gorski and Doris.  Doris finished schooling in Kelowna and pursued her calling to serve God as Sister Catherine James.  Her travels took her to Halifax, New York, Edmonton, Vancouver and Ladysmith.  After thirty-nine years, her teaching career concluded at St Joseph’s Elementary in Kelowna.  

Ken Arcuri, son of Gabriel and Virginia Arcuri