Valentine – Love letters

Week 6’s theme is “Valentine.” From Amy Johnson Crow….Do you have any Valentines from any of your ancestors? Or maybe you have an ancestor named Valentine. (I remember when I was little being surprised to learn that Valentine was a “boy’s name.”) How about an ancestor that you wish you could exchange valentines with? Have fun with the theme!

When I first read the challenge, I immediately thought of the love story of my partners parents, Betty and Pete. I had found a copy of an article written in a Lowellville magazine in a family scrapbook of my partner’s sister.  It amazed me that two people who had never met but had only written letters to each other, could ultimately marry and have a happy life together.  

“Betty Brum was at home in Billings, Montana leafing through one of her father’s railroad employee magazines when she saw a request for a pen pal from 22-year-old Army soldier Peter Argenziano.  Betty can’t remember what it was that prompted her to write to Pete that day, but she did.  He was the only soldier she ever wrote to.  Over a two-year period the pair exchanged letters, but never met in person or saw a photograph of the other.  It was through these letters that they decided that they were meant to be together and in the most fitting way to propose to a pen pal, Pete sent Betty an engagement ring through the mail.

When Pete was discharged from the Army, he headed straight to Montana to meet his bride to be in person and plan the wedding.  He showed up at Betty’s sister’s door and announced to her “I’m Pete. I’m here to marry Betty.”  This was a man who knew what he wanted, and it was a pretty Montana gal who knew how to write letters that could make a man fall for her.

The couple married on February 7, 1953 in Billings and decided that they would settle in Ohio, a place that Betty had never been.  They got on a train and headed 1600 miles to Youngstown, from there they took a bus to Lowellville which stopped at the bus garage on Liberty Street.  No one knew when exactly to expect them so there was no one waiting at the bus station to drive them home.  Pete and Betty, with suitcases in hand, walked across the bridge to the Argenziano home on Jackson Street.  A large crowd of boisterous Italian relatives were there waiting to greet Pete and Betty.  Betty was overwhelmed by Pete’s big family at first, after all she was a girl from Montana and there were not a whole lot of Italians in Montana.  Plus, they really needed a rest, but rest was not what they got, because there was another wedding to plan.  This one would be Catholic wedding at Holy Rosary Church.  In little over one months’ time, they traveled from Montana to Ohio and got married twice.  Betty thought maybe she wanted to go back to Montana!

Pete and Betty settled on Jackson Street where they would welcome five children.  Their first born was Paul who sadly died at the age of six months in 1954.  A year later they welcomed Ralph, named for Pete’s father.  In 1957, little John came into the world, but he was born with a heart condition and lived only three days, they were devastated.

In 1959 (sic 1958) they were blessed with their fourth boy, Peter, who they named after his dad.  In 1966 finally they had their little girl, Denise.  The family was doing well.  Pete was working at Aluminum Color, a job he would hold for over thirty years and was a volunteer fireman.  In 1970 Pete became a part time Lowellville (police) officer, a role he loved for twenty years.  Pete’s favorite duty was working the Mt. Carmel Festival which was held just a few blocks from his house.  He would spend all night at the festival grounds ensuring that everyone was safe and enjoying themselves. 

In 1975, tragedy struck once again when 20-year-old Ralph died.  Some couples do not survive the loss of one child, not Pete and Betty had lost three sons, however their love for one another, forged through a series of letters two decades earlier, was a strong one.”

Remembering…… Article written by Rosyln Torella for the Lowellville Monthly, June 2018 (Lowellville, OH)

I hope to learn more about Pete’s family so that I can write my own story, but for this Valentine’s assignment, I wanted to share this one in particular.