Vancouver "mafia" under Joe Gentile

[motorfab]

B, here is an article about Carmelo "Carlo" Gallo published in Macleans magazine in 1982. Gallo turned himself in to police in January 1983 and was subsequently sentenced to life.

According to Cecil Kirby, Gallo was a member of the 'ndrangheta in Vancouver so it is hard to say if he was under the authority of Joe Gentile. One thing is for sure is that in addition to Violi, he was largely connected to the Commisso brothers and the Siderno Group

[PolackTony]

Dr. Giuseppe Romano was from Termini Imerese if that helps at all. As you and I have discussed before there was a large colony from Termini in the Toronto area so it is a paesan group with a strong Canadian connection.

Yes, Giuseppe Romano's precise POB in Palermo is helpful, as initially I was only getting hits that he was born in Palermo. There are tons of records for him.

I've seen two YOBs for his son-in-law Anthony Mangione: 1900 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:62L7-ZKFF) and 1901 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPX7-HN2). Lots of records for him and his wife, Maria Concetta Romano.

Unfortunately, I'm not finding records that would help me flesh out Joe Romano's family tree, despite his having resided in both the US and Canada. I've been able to piece together that he a) was likely born in 1932, b) was married, c) had 5 or 6 kids, d) was said to have been from New York, and e) had gone to San Francisco for a trip before being ordered deported.

So if some of the newspaper reporting in Canada about Joe Romano is correct, his full name was Joseph James Romano, he was born in Argentina, and he died in LA toward the end of July 1987.

The 1950 US Census record below lists a 17-year-old Joseph Romano who was born in Argentina, while his parents -- James and Frances -- and his younger sister were all born in New York State.

I agree that this is likely to have been the same Joseph J Romano that you’ve reported on as connected to Vancouver.

While he was born in Argentina, his parents were both born in Syracuse, NY, where he also grew up. Father James Romano was born in Syracuse to Vito Romano of Belmonte Mezzagno and Ignazia Russo of Tèrmini Imerese. Joseph J Romano’s mother, Frances Ranieri, was born in Syracuse to Calabrian parents from Catanzaro province. So while he in fact was of partial Termitano ancestry, the Romano surname in his case came from Belmonte.

[antimafia]

^^^^
You and I have found the same details so far. James Dubro wrote in Mob rule that Joe Romano was from Syracuse, NY (you've probably seen that the Romanos were specifically in Onondaga County). This is what I've got for Romano and his ancestors to date:

[B.]

Belmonte Mezzagno and Termini fit Syracuse as the wider region stretching from Syracuse to Albany attracted mafia-affiliated Palermitani from places like Bagheria, Villabate (near Belmonte), Termini Imerese, and other towns. The Buffalo decina that covered that jurisdiction also had close ties to Canada.

[antimafia]

Re: Carmelo Gallo, aka Carlo Gallo, Carmen Gallo

The Maclean's magazine article for which Fab provided a screenshot a few posts back is referenced in the Thomas Renner-authored book that has a couple of titles: Mafia assassin: the inside story of a Canadian biker, hitman, and police informer and Mafia enforcer: a true story of life and death in the mob. The book Police undercover: the true story of the biker, the mafia & the mountie by Mark Murphy, the Mountie who retired from the RCMP because he wasn't treated very well by his employer, treads some of the same ground as Renner's. Later I'll try to provide quotes from each book about Gallo and Joe Gentile but for now I'll say that Murphy refers to Gallo as Gentile's "underling" -- a view that is consistent with James Dubro's assessment of Gallo -- and that Murphy believed there were about 6 members in Gentile's group.

Gallo's original online funeral-home obit is no longer available. AFAIK, there was no print obituary. However, it's easy to find some links to some "obituary" pages that were derived from the original:

https://www.echovita.com/ca/obituaries/ ... lo-6468795

https://necrocanada.com/obituaries/carm ... 1945-2017/ (photo of Gallo below is found at https://necrocanada.com/obituaries/wp-c ... 5-2017.jpg)



An Ancestry user provided the details about Gallo's funeral-home obituary by citing from the following link that is no longer operational and does not appear to have been captured on the Wayback Machine:

https://www.everhere.com/ca/obituary-va ... lo-6468795

The details at https://www.ancestry.ca/family-tree/per ... 9571/facts (see the second "obituary" listed as an unsourced citation):

Carmelo Gallo Location Vancouver, British Columbia Date Deceased : November 22, 2017 Birth : July 3, 1945 Obituary Here is Carmelo Gallo’s online obituary. Please accept Everhere’s sincere condolences. Sadly, on November 22nd 2017, at the age of 72, we had to say goodbye to Carmelo Gallo (Vancouver, British Columbia). You can send your sympathy in the guestbook provided and share it with the family. You may also light a candle in honor of Carmelo Gallo. For the visitation and funeral service information please see event section below.

The print obituary for Carmelo's father, Giuseppe Gallo, will be found online at https://www.newspapers.com/image/492706772:



The aforementioned Ancestry user traces Giuseppe's ancestry to Iatronoli, Reggio di Calabria.

Link to Giuseppe Gallo's registration of death: