DiRocco, Giulio

Giulio Carmine DiRocco

April 7, 1925 – March 2, 2018

GIULIO CARMINE DIROCCO passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family at Chinook Regional Hospital, on Friday, March 2, 2018 at the age of 92 years.

Born in the town of Castel Castagna in the Province of Teramo in the Abruzzo region of Central-Southern Italy, on April 7, 1925, he was the seventh and youngest child of Rosina and Rocco DiRocco. As a young boy he grew up working on the family farm with his siblings. At the tender young age of 21 he married the woman who would remain the love of his life, Teresa Angiolina DiRocco. After marriage he worked in various trades including installing telegraph wire, working in a steel mill and coal mining in France. He knew that in order to try to create a better life for his family he would have to leave his beloved Italy and immigrate to Canada. He boarded a ship from Naples to Halifax and subsequently made his way to Lethbridge, arriving in April, 1952. It would be nine months before his wife and three small children would join him in Lethbridge.

During the winter months, he was able to secure employment mining coal at Number 8 Mine in Lethbridge, and during the summer months, he worked as a laborer for the City of Lethbridge. Giulio, like the rest of his fellow countrymen, was not afraid of hard work. He later managed to guarantee himself a fulltime job with the City of Lethbridge where he would work his way through the ranks from laborer to a foreman position in charge of the sidewalk surveying crew. He would retire from the City of Lethbridge after 35 years.

Giulio was a founding member of the Lethbridge Italian Canadian Cultural Centre and was instrumental in the completion of the new building that currently stands today. He served as President for many years and was very passionate about his role in the Club. It was one of his proudest achievements.

Music was a huge part of Giulio’s life and is something he enjoyed immensely. His passion for it was greatly evident in his impressive music collection, which he loved sharing with his friends and family. He was an accomplished (self-taught) accordion player and had a gift for playing any song by ear. He was also masterful in playing his hand-carved antique wooden concertina, much to the delight of his whole family.

He had a love for Italian cuisine and his own homemade wine. He had a great enthusiasm for life. He was a wonderful husband, devoted father and loving grandfather and great-grandfather. He will be sadly missed and fondly remembered for his constantly amusing and sometimes long-lasting storytelling.

Giulio was predeceased by his beloved wife, Teresa Angiolina DiRocco.

Together, they had nine children, Rosanna, Piera, Dario (Barbara) DiRocco, Tina (Wally Chubaty) Filbey, Rita (Gerald) Varzari, Diana DiRocco. He will be sadly missed by his twelve grandchildren, Craig, Laura, Christopher, Alyssa, Devin, James (Gina) Jamie (Cody), Danielle, Kristin, Jordan, Matthew & Eric, and his eight great-grandchildren, Deacon, Brooklyn, Kashtyn, Dominic, Luca, Briella, Siena and Dredan.

He was also predeceased by his infant son Pietro DiRocco; his daughters Anna Trotter and Julia Bluekens; his parents, Rosina and Rocco DiRocco; his brothers Domenico, Pietro and Guido and his sisters Sophia, Anna (Nina) and Nella.

A Funeral Service will be held at CORNERSTONE FUNERAL HOME, 2800 Mayor Magrath Drive South, Lethbridge, AB on Wednesday, March 7, 2018 at 11:00 A.M. with Deacon Ray & Ellen Wagner officiating.

Should friends desire, contributions can be made to the Crohns and Colitis Foundation – 3100 – 246 Stewart Green S. W., Calgary, AB T3H 3C8, in memory of his daughters Anna and Julia.

To send a condolence, please visit www.cornerstonefuneralhome.com