Rosario Di Maria and Giovanna Randazzo

(L-R) Rosario, Salvatore (Sam), Giovanna and Maria on the Saturna

Rosario was born in 1925, to parents Salvatore DiMaria and Maria Gulliotta. They farmed grapes and wheat in in San Giuseppe, Jato, Sicily.   Giovanna was also born in 1925, in San Giuseppe to parents, Antonio Randazzo and Serafina Pilato. Rosario and Giovanna were married in 1952.

In November, 1958, Rosario, Giovanna and children, Salvatore (Sam) and Maria, departed Sicily seeking a better life and more opportunity.  They boarded the Saturna, in the port of Palermo, Italy, stopped in Naples, Italy and Lisbon, Spain, and landed in Halifax, Canada. The seas were very rough.  Due to seasickness, Giovanna stayed in the cabin the entire time.  Sam remembers the boat swaying, as the buns rolled off the table and  him running to fetch them.  They landed at Pier 21, in Halifax, and took the train across Canada to Kelowna, BC,  where they encountered cold wintery conditions.  This is the first time they had seen snow.

Rosario worked for Stewart Brother Nurseries, in East Kelowna, at Calona Wines, and eventually at Crown Zellerbach Sawmill.  Two more children were born in Canada: Antonio (Tony) in 1961 and Serafina (Sara) in 1964.  Rosario and Giovanna bought an orchard on Mail Road, Kelowna in 1962.  They saved hard to build a new house which they moved into in 1966.

During the daytime, Rosario worked hard in the orchard.  He planted apple and pear trees and vegetables during the day and worked the graveyard shift at the sawmill. In 1974 they bought an old orchard in Okanagan Centre and replanted it to grapes.  Rosario and Giovanna had an incredible work ethic.  They welcomed company at anytime, sharing a meal, vino and friendship.  Rosario died May 19, 2000 and Giovanna died January 3, 2017.  They are both interred at Lakeview Memorial Gardens, Kelowna, BC.  Their children: Sam (Patti Anderson), Mary (Jim Hawes), Tony (Maria Anfuso) and Sara (Antonio Cimino).
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Sam and Patti Di Maria