My Godmother, Great Aunt Mary

 Everyone should have a godmother like my great aunt Mary! She was indeed a great person, but the “great aunt” is actually referring to the fact that my godmother was my grandfather’s sister, thus “great aunt”. She also happened to be my father’s godmother and in fact she was a godmother to many many children and they were all lucky to have her.

Mary Grace Mazziotti was born in 1920 in Elmsford, NY, the youngest child of 7 and only daughter. I get the impression that her 6 older brothers protected her but also didn’t make her life easy which in turn made her a strong woman. Thinking of my Aunt Mary makes me smile. She wasn’t pushy as a godmother, but she did plant and sow the seeds with care and did take the opportunity to challenge me in my thinking about religion. During those difficult times in life, I can hear her calm wise words of assurance. Thank you, Aunt Mary!

She's the little girl hold her Pop's hand.

Of course, I only remember her as an “older” woman (I hesitate saying “older” because she was younger than I am now when she became my godmother!). When I knew her, she always had a bright smile and usually a cigarette in her brightly polished and manicured hand. She spent half her year in Ft. Lauderdale with my Uncle Walter and I remember her fondly with her bronzed skin, blond-ish curly hair with a colorful cloth muffin cap, snazzy sandals with multicolored stones, and a bright flowered one piece swim suit.

Aunt Marion and Aunt Mary

She and Uncle Walter lived in NY in the winter months with her brother Uncle Dotto and his wife Aunt Marion Winkelman. Uncle Dotto was the youngest son and I have come to learn that they actually were in the same grade in school and graduated together, along with Marion. The two couples came to visit us in Michigan most summers and my mother, the amazing hostess, would make them feel so comfortable whether we were at our house or at the cottage. Aunt Mary and Uncle Walter were at many of the major events in my life, like dance recitals, birthdays, and of course my wedding. I was so very lucky to have all four of my grandparents into my 20s and feel extra blessed that I had their siblings too!

Recently, I have been consulting with a 3rd cousin and “foster cousins” to my great-grandparents Emanuel and Concetta Mortelliti Mazziotti trying to identify people in group photos and hoping that our collective knowledge would help. Two of these photos were wedding photos, one in 1926 and one in 1949 and in both Aunt Mary showed up! 

In 1926, she was the flower girl in the wedding of the foster brother (Rocco Bellantoni 1903-1994) of her father Emanuel Mazziotti. (Side note: Rocco’s father (Rocco) was the foster father with his first wife Grazia Bova to Emanuel in Scilla in 1876. Emanuel came to the US in 1900 so he had never met his foster brother,Rocco, born with 2nd wife Grazia Pirrotta, until he emigrated in 1921 naming Emanuel as his contact in the US. He might very well have lived with the Mazziotti’s when he first arrived and Aunt Mary would have been a very little girl, probably capturing his heart).

In 1949, she was the matron of honor and is in a bonnet directly behind the bride, Santa (Sarah) Farfalla, her 1st Cousin. I’m not surprised that Aunt Mary was asked to be in weddings, she was just one of those kinds of people you wanted to be around. This was only my impression, so I decided to do a little deep dive into my Godmother Aunt Mary’s life prior to me coming along and thought the newspapers would help!

The earliest mention that I found in various newspaper repositories Newspapers.com, Oldnews.com, Fultonhistory.org (great collection of NY newspapers), Newsachive.com was as a 9 year old, she played a “fairy” in the school play (with Marion Winkelman). In the next 10 years, I found (although it could be more!) her name shows up 26 times usually in The Daily News (Tarrytown, NY). The topics were varied from attending a birthday party for a friend or relative, a Junior Choir Production, hosting a wedding shower, graduating junior and senior high, perfect attendance in school, placing 2nd in an Amateur Night singing competition, hosting or participating in the High School Italian Club, Chi Beta bridge events, Tally Ho Club, Hiking Club, Skating Party, senior play, Delta Phi Sigma chapter creator, to eventually her wedding announcement. 

Although these brief mentions are just snapshots into her life, it painted for me a richer picture of just how much of a social butterfly Aunt Mary was! After reading these, it reinforced my impression that Aunt Mary was a joy to be around and everyone wanted her there, I know I did!

And I wish everyone had a godmother like my Aunt Mary!

Aunt Mary and Uncle Walter c. 1986