Mary (LaPatka) Aiello

Mary LoPatka (later given as LaPatka) was born in the small village of Chewton, Wayne Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, June 11, 1907. She was the fourth child born to John and Mary (Brinczko) LoPatka, both of whom had immigrated to the United States in the 1890’s from the Hungarian portion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (an area now in modern day Slovakia). John and Mary had met in the city of Pittsburgh at the turn of the century, and then settled up north in Chewton.

I am not sure exactly where in Chewton her family was initially living, but the same month Mary was born her father bought piece of property on Plum Way. He had a house built here, right behind Robertson’s general store (later Kubinski’s store) near where the ball field is today. Mary and her brothers and sisters attended the Chewton Public Schools while growing up. Sometime during the timeframe 1913-1917, when Mary was a young girl, her parents rented out their house in Chewton and moved the whole family by train to Cleveland, Ohio. After only three months they packed up and moved back to their home in Chewton.

Beginning in 1914, when Mary was age seven, the monumental “Great War” (later known as World War I) raged across Europe, but the isolationist-minded United States managed to remain officially neutral for the time being. The LoPatka’s were potentially in a bad spot as their home country of Austria-Hungary joined ranks with Imperial Germany. Sometime after war broke out the Reverend Frances A. Maloney, the pastor of St. Monica’s Catholic Church in Wampum, apparently convinced John LoPatka to change the spelling of the family surname to the more Americanized form of “LaPatka.” This was probably suggested as a way to distance the family from their native Austro-Hungarian homeland, which was aligned with Imperial Germany during the Great War.

On June 7, 1917, the LaPatka’s moved to a sixteen-acre farm on the outskirts of Chewton (on Tony Dytko Road). With nine total children including Mary (another two died in infancy) the family had a lot more room to grow out in the countryside. Five more kids would be born out at the farm from 1920-1926. Mary probably completed the eighth grade in Chewton in about 1922 or 1923. I am sure if she went on to attend high school. I do know that as a teenager and a young adult she was involved in various activities, including the choir, at St. Monica’s Church in Wampum. During her twenties Mary worked as a secretary at the Slovak Club in Chewton, an establishment operated by her brother Joe LaPatka.

At some point, possibly in the early 1930’s, she met a local Italian man named Robert C. Aiello. Robert was born in October 1908 to Joseph and Grace (Venuti) Aiello - probably in Curwensville near Altoona, Pennsylvania - but was raised in Wampum. His parents had come to Pennsylvania from Sicily, Italy, and eventually settled on Beaver Street in Wampum when Robert was a young boy. Sometime after 1920 they moved to a house on Church Street. Robert, one of seven children, graduated from Wampum High School in about 1929.

While still living out on the LaPatka farm Mary became pregnant in about March 1936. Details are sketchy but at some point (possibly right after she became pregnant) they went to Canada and claim they were married there. Either way they had a daughter named Carol Grace Aiello born in the Ellwood City Hospital on December 25, 1936. She would turn out to be their only child. They relocated to the Aiello residence on Church Street in Wampum, where daughter Carol attended school in the small borough. As her own daughter grew up Mary lost both of her parents, as her father John died in July 1949 and her mother Mary passed away in February 1952. They were both laid to rest at the St. Nicholas Orthodox Greek Catholic Cemetery in Slippery Rock Township just outside New Castle.

Mary was a homemaker and a very skilled seamstress. Robert was a very thrifty and savvy businessman and co-owned the Paramount Club in Wampum with his brother Richard. They had troubles working together and Robert eventually moved on to buy his own in Darlington known as the Darlington Diner (now known as Rick’s). Robert, a democrat, began a longtime member and sometimes President of the Wampum Borough Council beginning in about 1953. Years later, from 1963-1964, he also helped represent Wampum after the local schools had just merged with the new Ellwood City Area School District.

Sometime in the late 1950’s the Aiello’s moved from Church Street to a larger house around the corner at #422 Beaver Street. Their daughter Carol, who had graduated from Wampum High in May 1955, was a very talented vocalist and began taking singing and acting lessons down in Pittsburgh. Carol had a very tumultuous relationship with her parents and eventually followed her singing coach (I believe this was Louise Taylor - possibly known as Mary Lou) to New York City to pursue her dreams. This was probably about 1960-1961 when Carol was not quite twenty-five years old.

Mary and Robert, who had a strained relationship at times, remained together for many years. Robert eventually retired from the Wampum Council in the late 1970’s and they settled into retirement at their home on Beaver Street. Mary was particularly close and spent a lot of time with her sister Irene (LaPatka) DeMarc, who lived in Chewton.

Mary grew frail in her later years and passed away in St. Francis Hospital in New Castle on Wednesday, August 23, 1995. She was eighty-eight years old. A viewing was held at the Marshall Funeral Home in Wampum from 2:00-4:00pm and 7:00-9:00pm on Friday. A prayer service, presided over by the Reverend Father Joseph R. Lemp, was held prior to the second viewing. She was subsequently buried at St. Agatha’s (Holy Redeemer) Cemetery in Ellwood City.

In mid-2000 Robert was hospitalized at Jameson Hospital in New Castle and passed away on Tuesday, December 26, 2000. He was ninety-two years old. A viewing was held at the Marshall Funeral Home in Wampum from 2:00-4:00pm and 7:00-9:00pm on Friday. The next day at 10:00am a Mass of Christian Burial service, presided over by Reverend Lemp, was held at St. Monica’s Church in Wampum. Robert was then interred next to his wife at St. Agatha’s (Holy Redeemer) Cemetery. Their longtime home on Beaver Street was sold soon after.