Mastrangelo/Spinetto Family History

I originally wrote this note on Facebook in June 2009. It started out as a summary of some of the Yelp reviews of Louie’s Lobster store “Alive and Kicking.” Then I added more details over the years from things my mother told me when she was still alive, and my cousins filled in some of the missing information about our family.

Now that Facebook has removed “Notes” from their interface, I need to preserve this page for future reference. Its still organic- we can keep this up to date as a living document- so if anyone notices anything missing or wants to add something new, let me know.

Alive & Kicking Lobsters, 269 Putnam Ave., Cambridge, 617-876-0451.

This lobster shack, hidden on a residential street off Western Ave., is the type of place you only discover through word of mouth. But this joint, located behind owner Louis Mastrangelo’s home, has been selling the city’s best lobster sandwiches and live lobsters cooked-to-order for over 20 years. The no-frills sandwich ($12.95), served in aluminum foil with a small bag of chips, is delicious. Healthy chunks of fresh lobster with a touch of mayonnaise, salt and pepper are stuffed between slices of buttered and toasted scali bread from an East Cambridge bakery. (It’s not a lobster roll Mastrangelo insists because he says using a hot dog bun would be sacrilege.) You order the food in the garage, where there’s a huge lobster tank on the left wall. Then you grab a soda pop and head over to wooden picnic tables adorned with boat buoys and other kitschy seaside items. Eating here feels like a clambake at a friend’s home, or being at a rustic seafood shack on the coast of Maine. You can also take your food to go and have your own picnic on the banks of the Charles River two blocks away. They also sell live lobsters (and instructions how to properly cook them at home) and other fresh fish. For a seafood adventure without leaving Cambridge, Alive & Kicking Lobsters is the perfect choice.

=== OUR FAMILY HISTORY ===

My grandfather Rocco Mastrangelo came to Boston from Italy in 1914, just before the outbreak of WWI. He was born in Italy in 1899, so he spoke with a strong Italian accent. He came in to the north end of Boston, but it wasn’t too long before he moved to Cambridge. He had one brother, Genarro, who decided to go to Melbourne Australia, so my father has cousins down under. The town where they were from is called Anzano di Puglia, which sits up in the mountains east of Naples.

Rocco married my grandmother, Filomena Spinetto, and they moved into the house on Erie Street in Cambridge owned by her parents, where my father and uncles would be born. When I was little, my Aunt Rosie Spinetto lived in the back of the duplex, where she took care of my great grandmother. This is really as much a story about the Spinetto family as it is about the Mastrangelo family.

Filomena and Rose Spinetto were two out of nine children, four brothers and five sisters. My grandmother was born in Italy and came over with her parents, so she also spoke with an Italian accent. Some of her younger sisters were born here so they have no accent at all. I will have to get my father Lou to recount the names of his aunts and uncles. The ones I remember most were my father’s uncle Pat who owned the gas station on the corner of Pearl Street. He and his brother Abe ran Pat’s Towing service which had the towing contract with the City of Cambridge police department. All my uncles and cousins worked for Uncle Pat at some point, and I remember hanging out at the trailer on Pacific St and going out on calls in the wrecker to tow cars. Those were the best days ever- being a kid and riding in the tow truck with my father. When Lou worked the night shift I used to hang out in the trailer waiting for calls, and watch old scary movies on a little black and white TV.

Rocco and Filomena had six children of their own, who all had fairly large families, so I had 27 first cousins- 15 on my father’s side and 12 on my mother’s side. Some of the best times were after church on Sunday when we would go to my grandparents house for a big Italian meal! Home made wine, cold cuts, all kinds of cheeses, and of course lots of pasta with homemade sauce and meatballs. I miss that the most!

In addition to my father Louis, there were my uncles Joseph, Angelo, and Philip, and my Aunt Marie, not in that order. There was an Uncle Tony who passed away when I was too little to remember, although I do remember my Aunt Eloise and her kids Anthony and Sandra. They were much older than me. Uncle Phil is the youngest, and he works with my father Lou now in his fish store. Uncle Joe and Aunt Marie moved to Framingham MA with their respective families, so that is where my cousins Randall, Joe Jr., Mark, Adam and Denise Mastrangelo grew up, as well as my aunt Marie’s kids Ralph, Cheryl, Gina, and Beth Gravallese. My uncle Joe was a lifetime season ticket holder with the New England Patriots- he never missed a game while he was alive. Every year the Pats give out a “Fan of the Year” award in the name of my uncle Joe, and my cousins get to help pick the winner.

My cousin Joe Mastrangelo talking to some of the reporters at the New England Patriots training camp in 2007

My uncle Angie (yes, Angelo Mastrangelo) lived in the old house on Erie St, and we lived a few blocks away, so I was really close to my cousins Michael, Rocco, and Robert. Mike was the oldest so I remember when he got married and moved away to New York where his wife Joanne was from. Today he is a sport fisherman out in Wyoming. We used to take Rocco and Robert with us when we went to Plum Island in the summer, as well as my best friend Alex who grew up across the street on Rockingham Street. I’m an only child but Alex is the closest thing to a brother that I have. Of all the cousins, Robert and I are the closest in age. My other best friend from the neighborhood, Richie Kelly, is my father’s cousin by marriage. His uncle Ed McKenna married my Aunt Mary (Spinetto) so uncle Ed was Lou’s uncle too. They had a daughter Patty Anne who was close to the same age as my mother Ginny, and she had a daughter Lisa who was only a year or two younger than me. According to my mother, it was Lou’s older brother Tony who got her one of her first jobs at General Motors in Newton Corner, and then she helped Patty Anne get a job there. This was when I was only 1 or 2 years old.

My grandparents lived in Cambridge in the original house owned by the Spinetto family for years, until they decided to sell the property and buy a house in Arlington MA the next town over. The city bought the property, and the house where my father was born was knocked down to build the high rise apartment building where my mother lives today. Both of my parents still live less than a mile from where they grew up in Cambridge. My mother who turns 70 this year can look out her apartment window and see the three decker where she grew up. She was literally the “girl next door” who knew my father and his brothers since they were kids together. They have been divorced since I was a teenager but they still see each other every week in the old neighborhood.

There was another Rocco Mastrangelo who came over from Italy at the same time as my grandfather. They were even from the same village in Italy and they may have been second cousins but I am not sure. They knew about each other, but didn’t really keep in touch. The other Rocco moved to Arlington MA and had children and grandchildren. When my friend Alex got married in the 1990s, there was a Rocco Mastrangelo at the wedding, but it was not my cousin! It was the grandson of the other Rocco, who grew up less than a mile from my own grandparents house, but we never knew it. His wife Jenilde was best friends with my friend Alex’s wife Carolyn. They had known each other all their lives growing up in Arlington. The other Rocco is in the computer field like I am- at the time he was working at Digital Equipment Corp (DEC). I used to keep in touch with him by email but it has been a few years since I talked to him.

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Here is my attempt to list all the names of the people mentioned above. This is a living document so as I find new information I will update it here…

First Cousins on my father’s side, the grandchildren of Rocco and Filomena, most of whom had the last name Mastrangelo, although some of the girls are married now. There were only 6 girls out of 16 grandchildren, and 3 of them are my Aunt Marie’s children, so their last name is Gravallese.

Uncle Tony passed away when I was young (Anthony Mastrangelo and Aunt Eloise)

1. Anthony
2. Sandra

Uncle Joe and Aunt Alice (Joseph Mastrangelo)

3. Randall
4. Joseph Jr
5. Marc Mastrangelo is now a professor at Dickinson College in Carlisle PA
6. Adam
7. Denise

Uncle Angelo (first wife Natalee) – Angelo Mastrangelo

8. Michael
9. Rocco, named after his grandfather, now lives in Beaumont TX
10. Robert

Angelo’s second wife Beverly McMillan (three step children by marriage)

• Donny
• Lynmarie
• Scott

Aunt Marie and Uncle Vinny Gravallese (Marie Mastrangelo)

11. Ralph Gravallese was closest to my age
12. Cheryl
13. Gina
14. Beth

Uncle Phil (Philip J Mastrangelo, wife Charlotte)

15.  Dawn Marie
16.  Philip Jr

If you count Angelo’s children by his second marriage (Robert’s step brother and sister) that makes 19, if you count cousin Frances Spinetto who is really my 2nd cousin, that makes 20 – the point is, there were at least 20 kids close to my age at family get togethers!

My Aunt Marie has this picture hanging in her living room in Framingham . . .

Spinetto Family Picture

Names of the Spinettos- Lou’s aunts and uncles, not in age order…

Four brothers:

1 Uncle Pat (wife Minerva, no kids)

2 Uncle Abe (wife Sandy, children Linda, Joseph, Patrick aka “Butch” and Elaine)

3 Uncle Phil (and Aunt Bea, four children- Ann Marie, Paul, Stephen, and John aka Jack)

4 Uncle John and Aunt Dot also lived on Pearl St a few blocks down from us, their daughter Frances Spinetto was close to my age, Aunt Dot had 2 children from her first marriage, Freddy and Sandra West. Sandra married Jerry Baptist aka “cousin Beep” who was a city cop. They inherited the house. Uncle John was the youngest of the four brothers but the first to pass away. I remember the funeral because I remember going back to the house afterwards.

Five sisters:

5 Ma Mastrangelo (Filomena Spinetto aka “Aunt Fannie” to her nieces/nephews) had diptheria when she was young so she was partially deaf. She was a kind and gentle woman, and she was a great cook. My father Lou got his cooking ability from her.

6 Aunt Mary and Uncle Ed McKenna (Richie’s uncle)- daughter Patty Anne, and grandaughter Lisa Tello who was my age or a little younger

7 Aunt Teresa (husband Bill Leach)- lived in Somerville. She made great cole slaw according to my mother. Kids: Jo Anne, Bill, Joe

8 Aunt Madeline (husband John Maglio) – two children Frances and John who were older than me – lived in Jamaica Plain?

9 Aunt Rosie lived with Aunt Mary in Watertown after the old house was torn down

==== PAUSE ====

But wait – look at the picture. There are only three brothers and four sisters. That means two of them were not born yet. But which two? My grandmother Filomena is on the right and she has her finger on Phil’s shoulder to keep him from moving. Abe is the baby in my Great Grandmother’s arms.  That means the two who were not born yet were John and Rose.

I will embed all the pictures next and figure out how to include the comments from Facebook

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Lou in 1984 when we lived on Magazine St

My mother and me in 1999 on her 60th birthday at the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge