An intriguing story is developing about your grand uncle Joseph Coffarelli's family. You may remember that Joseph Coffarelli (your grandfather's brother) worked for the Post Office. Angela says he smoked a pipe and worked staggered hours during the Depression in order to help save jobs. Despite this, the general consensus seems to be that he had an unpleasant personality.
The family story had been told that Joseph and his wife Mary adopted two girls Eleanor and Mary. This is how they appear in the 1940 census:
You will note they use the surname Gibilsco, something I overlooked earlier--I think because I needed some verification this was "our" Joseph and Mary Coffarelli. I recently located Eleanor's obituary which tied together Marie, Joseph and Mary. I also have Marie Coffarelli Balistreri's obituary as well which makes a nice neat package.
Nice and neat except what's up with this Gibilisco family? Sometime between 1930 and 1940, these girls went to live with your Coffarellis. This is how their life looked in the 1930 census:
It's interesting to me that Albert was a federal tax collector at the time--must have been a difficult position to be in at that time in our economic history. To date, I can find no evidence of what may have happened to either Albert or Lucy that pushed their daughters to go live with Joseph and Mary. Angela noted that the girls were Mary's sister's children so that helps explain some of the story. Albert and Lucy's fates are unknown and my imagination has gone off in several directions--none less than tragic.
Marie's obituary lists her as Marie Coffarelli Balistreri but Eleanor's lists her as Eleanor Gibilisco Nicolaison. I take that as a clue as to which girl may have been officially adopted. I think this story will continue to develop as time goes by.
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