Grandparent – 1 of 4 in this generation
Maria was born in Melilli, Sicily, the daughter of Salvatore Sanzaro and Sebastiana Milardo. She immigrated with her parents on the ship Olympia at the age of 16 – they arrived on Christmas Eve 1955! The trip from Messina, Sicily to New York had taken them 11 days.
Maria attended St. Sebastian’s Church along with her immediate and extended family members and Sicilian friends. St. Sebastian’s was modeled after the church by the same name in Melilli. Middletown considered Melilli’s sister city, has a substantial Sicilian population that originated from the same small town.
Maria’s son’s DNA results show 46% Southeastern Sicilian ancestry and 4% Aegean Islands (Greece).
At the age of 24, Maria married Norman Ralph Gaylord at St. Sebastian’s and they had three children.
Eventually, the two drifted apart and they divorced in the late 1980’s. Maria stayed in the home they had lived in on Fowler Avenue in Middletown and Norman moved to Meriden, CT. Norman died in 1991.
Maria worked for many years in manufacturing and at nursing homes. She valued her independence and was a fabulous cook.
Throughout 1996, Maria had been seeing doctors for a gynecological issue. The lack of insurance coverage created difficult stumbling blocks for her to hurdle, and her doctors – those who would agree to see her – repeatedly misdiagnosed her. Finally, Maria asked her daughter, a registered nurse, to examine her and that is when she first heard the word, “cancer.” She subsequently had some major surgery to remove the cancerous growth. The surgery was initially successful and Maria had renewed hope for the future. Her optimism was very short-lived, however, as her health deteriorated rapidly. She died in the Middlesex Hospital hospice unit, Middletown, on 25 February 1997 at the age of 57.
Maria was buried in St. Sebastian’s Cemetery, Middlefield, CT, next to her parents and her former husband, Norman.
A FAMILY HISTORY 
2 thoughts on “Maria Concetta Sanzaro”