In 1955 the Matriarch of the Voci family was treated to her long awaited religious wish to visit Saint Peters Basilica in Rome.
Messina Arcangela (b. 1880), was granted her 75TH birthday wish by 2 of her 3 sons. On her left is her middle son Giuseppe age 42, a musician in the Rome Orchestra; and his daughter Lina age 11, to the right of Messina is her youngest son, our internationally collected artist Antonio Diego Voci age 35, dressed smartly (most likely in clothes of his own making trained at tailoring school in Reggio); To the right of Diego, Maria Teresa Voci, she is the mother to Mario age 13, standing in front of her. To the far right is Tonino age 16, older brother to Mario. Tonino was later killed in an auto accident 2002. Diego was his idol.
Mario, now in his seventies who supplied this family photo said of his “Nanny” (Grandmother), “The coolest lady I’ve ever known. Cooler than a refrigerated cucumber”.
Vincenzo, Diego’s oldest brother, at the time of this photo, was the missing brother, a professional designer at Pincus Manufacturing in Philadelphia, his home since he was 15 years old.
Messina’s husband Giuseppe Antonio had passed away. He wanted Diego and his brothers to be tailors and sent them all to tailoring school in Reggio (birthplace of Versace). His advice to Diego who said he wanted to be an artist, “Toto [Diego], the God of Art does not give bread”.
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