Carmela Bonanno, formerly of Home Hill, celebrated her 100th birthday on February 14 at the residential aged care home in Brisbane where she now lives.
Carmela (nee Quattrocchi) emigrated to Australia from Zafferana-Etnea, Sicily, by boat in August 1950, aged 26. She settled in Townsville, working in a café owned by her sister and brother-in-law. Not long after she arrived, a friend introduced her to Giuseppe (Joe) Bonanno, who was living and farming in Home Hill. Joe hailed from the same village in Sicily as Carmela, although he had left there as a baby when his family moved to Australia in the early 1920s. Carmela and Joe were married in August 1952, and they lived on the farm and then in Home Hill until Joe’s death in 1993, aged 69. Carmela continued to live in Home Hill for another nearly 20 years, until she relocated to Brisbane in 2011 to be closer to her two sons, Alfio and Sam.
Carmela celebrated her 100th birthday with Alfio and Sam and their partners, and all her six nephews and nieces, and their partners, from Melbourne and Brisbane. There were two other special guests at the festivities: the brother and sister with whom Carmela shared a cabin (along with their mother) on the boat from Sicily to Australia in 1950. Aged eight and four then, they are 82 and 78 now. It was quite a gathering!
Contributed by Sam Bonnano
Caption: Carmela Bonanno on her 100th birthday with her sons Alfio (right) and Sam (left)
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