Meet Ann Bono: Senior Living Community- St. LouisOctober 17, 2011 |
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ribbon. So while everyone knows of Ann, not everyone knows Ann Bono and that is why we visited with her. Ann’s parents Sam and Vita came here from Palermo, Sicily. Sam worked for Great Lakes Carbon, later known as Laclede Gas Company. After Ann and her sister Mary and brothers Charles and Frank grew up, Vita went to work in the garment industry in downtown St. Louis. Charles and his wife Peggy helped Ann remember some of the incidents of her life. As a typical brother, he had to tease his sister over some of the events, but always with love. Ann went to school at St. Leo’s Catholic School at 23rd and Mullamphy. After graduating, Ann spent almost two years candling eggs to separate the good eggs from those that were not very fresh. The good eggs were sent to the military bases for the soldiers. She wasn’t sad to leave this job, but the reason for leaving was not a happy one. Her fiancé Sam was wounded overseas in the European Theatre of action and was sent to a military hospital in El Paso, Texas to recover. Ann went to Texas to help care for him,doing the little things to make his convalescence easier, things that busy nurses did not have the time to do. To make it possible for her to stay in Texas, the hospital got her a job distributing medicine. Ann was there until the war was over and she accompanied Sam back to St. Louis. They married at St. Leo’s. In St. Louis Ann worked for the Samuel Shoe factory making shoes. She then went to work in the dress industry on Washington Avenue. She worked there untilshe retired at 65. Ann said that although she didn’t know how to sew, she was able to identify mistakes others made in putting a garment together. Ann was now alone, and had also lost her sister Mary who was 44 years old when she passed away.Ann said she had no hobbies, but she did love to travel. She liked taking the train to New York. She also introduced her mother to flying by taking her to California to visit her sister, Fanny. Ann loves to listen to music and loves to dance. Although she said there is no way she would ever marry again, when she was introduced to Frank Bono, Ann said he was so handsome she was instantly in love. They were married in St.Aloysius Church and were very happy until Frank’s death ten years later. Ann has four nieces, named Vita, Gina, Tina, and Tammy and two nephews, Bobby and Frank Jr, to lavish her love on and is loved in turn by them and the rest of her family. We had a lovely visit and were so glad we had a chance to get to know Ann Bono. |
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