Frank was the son of Maria Raffaella Ammirata and the husband of Orsula Greco. He was the only child and was born when his mother was 40. Although the men in his family were millers and there are still Amodio mills in Bisignano, he was a shoemaker. He married Orsula in 1896 when she was 16. She was an orphan.
Frank was named for his father's oldest brother. Fedele had died in 1869, relatively young. He left a wife an son. Apparently Frank's father, Giuseppe helped raise the son, Pietro. Pietro and Frank considered themselves more brothers than cousins despite their age differences. Pietro's son and daughters referred to Frank as Zio and he called them nepo e nepa.
Frank and Orsula's first child was born in 1899. In 1900 he came to America for the first time. He returned to Italy in 1904. My mother was born in August 1905. He returned to America in 1906; then returned to Italy in 1909. They had their third daughter. He made his final trip to America in 1910 and sent for the family in 1913. They traveled steerage on the Verona and arrived on Ellis Island in May.
At first they lived with Orsula's sister, Rosaria. Eventuallly, they rented their own house in the Italian section of Trenton, settling on Roeblin Avenue. Frank continued to work for Roebling's. He retired after 30 years and became a citizen in the late 1930s. This is his citizenship photo.
Orsula had 2 sisters and a brother in Trenton but was never happy. She died May 2, 1935 of a heart attack, age 55. Frank developed colon cancer and died December 26, 1939, age 65.
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