Ubaldo and Assunta Bregolisse

Ubaldo and Assunta Bregolisse

In 1901, at age 24, Ubaldo (Baldo) Bregolisse travelled from Costacciaro, Umbria, Italy destined for Eveleth, Minnesota.  Baldo was involved with the iron ore mining industry when he met and married Assunta Porfiri.  After giving birth to son, Ernest, they moved on to Hedley, BC, where Baldo was involved in gold mining.  Moving to Revelstoke in 1902, they opened the Bregolisse General Store.  Daughter, Annie Nazarina (1905) and son, Atillio Arturo (Art Senior) (1909), were both born in Revelstoke.  Ubaldo passed away in Kelowna at age 78.  Assunta passed away in Kelowna, at age 99.

Baldo and Assunta sold their store in Revelstoke in 1947.  They moved to Kelowna at the urging of Cap Capozzi, who had earlier worked for the Bregolisse family in their store in Revelstoke.  Upon moving to Kelowna,  Annie began working for Capozzi’s store.

Son, Ernest, married Whilhelminia Knight and moved to Kamloops where he operated the “Bregoliss” Grocery Store.  They had three children: Ronald, June and Gordon.

Along with a friend, who had earned a football scholarship, son Art (senior) attended Gonzaga University in Spokane for one year. He married Mary Bridget Freney and they had two children: Arthur (Art junior) and Mary A.  In 1953, Art senior and his wife, Mary, leased a building from the Ruff family and opened the ABC Market.  The ABC Market was located at Gordon and Bernard on the property that later became People’s Food Market. The ABC Market enabled all members of the family a chance to contribute to its success.  With the store lease expiring in 1957, Art went to Vancouver to train as an investment broker and then took a job with Pemberton Securities.

Son, Art (Jr) Bregolisse, left school and started delivering telegrams for the CPR.  He moved on to Vancouver and Revelstoke as the CPR telegraph agent.  In 1968 he began selling cars in Kelowna.  He married Dorothy Cain and they had three children: Lisa Marie, Dan and John.  Mary A Bregolisse attended the University of Victoria for teacher training.  She taught in Victoria one year before moving to Kelowna.  She married Brian Chamberlain and they also had three children: Susan, Michael and Robert.