Richard Joseph Lerro: Born in Philadelphia

1918-2013

Richard Joseph Lerro was born February 7, 1918, in Philadelphia. His early years were spent in an orphanage outside of town. His maternal grandmother, Justina Camarrotta Lerro, brought him into her family around age 6, and he grew up behind the counter of the family meat market at 1024 S. Ninth Street in the heart of Little Italy. He was surrounded by aunts and uncles who were just a few years older than him. He married Caroline Fusco in 1939 and had a son, Richard Joseph Lerro, Jr. two years later. In 1941 he joined the U.S. Navy and toured the Pacific, serving in the "Sea Bees" in the Philippines, Japan, and Attu, Alaska. He remained in the Navy Reserves into the 1950s. After the war, Caroline and Richard divorced and he moved to Texas where he met and married Myrtle Metcalf Gibson on April 11, 1956. Together, they moved to Dallas and had a son, Richard Marcus Lerro (b. 1958). Rick Lerro worked as a maintenance man for Standard Brands Foods and St. Regis Paper Company before retiring. Myrtle died in 2007. Rick Lerro died January 20, 2013, in Tyler, Texas, with family at his bedside.

Friday, January 25

Catholic Funeral Mass
St. Boniface Catholic Church
318 South Broad Street
Chandler, TX

Wake for Residents and Staff
Providence Park Rehabilitation Center
-Andrea Bocelli (Italian music!), signing memory books, refreshments. A friendly gathering around the piano.

Inurnment is scheduled later this year at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Born in Philadelphia

Joseph Lerro was a young man in 1918 and had just returned from service in the U.S. Army in the great war in Europe. He liked to dance and as a member of a large family in Philadelphia's Little Italy there were plenty of opportunities. He met Catherine Meo at a neighborhood dance and they soon married. She was a young woman who worked as a beautician at Gimbels Department Store on Market Street.

The marriage was not supported by either family.The Meos and the Lerros came from different regions of Southern Italy. They were "Cilandan" and "Napolitan," and in families still tied to their recent past, their passions ran deep. Soon Joe and Catherine were each living with their separate families. They never bothered with a divorce.

Catherine's pregnancy was not welcomed, and following the birth of her son in February she showed little desire to raise him. After a few difficult years, Catherine and her parents left the toddler at a Catholic orphanage outside of Philadelphia. Years later, Richard would have few memories of that time, but he developed a deep affection for the nuns who provided him with shelter, food, and guidance.