My story this week is about Italian born Dirce (Mattiussi) Pandolfo. Dirce was born in 1932 in the little town of Teor, Italy; a small town with a population of about 1,000 people. Teor is nestled in the northeast corner of Italy among the more famous cities of Venice, Trieste, Udine and the historical city of Aquileia.
Dirce had a job in Italy and life as she knew it was just fine with her. Then one day back in September of 1960 as fate would have it, her life would change completely. That was the day that she met Arduino Odone Pandolfo. It all started at the Festa del Perdono, the annual patron feast of the town. Arduino had been living and working in Canada for the past five years and he made a trip back home to Rivolto, the province of Udine in Italy for a visit. Unbeknownst to Dirce he was also attending these same festivities. This is where the couple met. The stories of their lives began to unfold between them and they soon discovered that they had many things and many friends in common.
Arduino returned to his job in Canada and after their one year separation that was sustained by weekly handwritten letters he could not get this girl out of his mind. To make a long story short Dirce accepted his marriage proposal and agreed to come to Canada to get married. Arduino did all the paper work required to get his future bride into Canada and specifically to Prince George. When everything was in order he sent Dirce the tickets for the long voyage to Canada.
This is where the story really gets interesting. Dirce arrived in Halifax by boat and from there the plan was to take the train directly to Prince George. No problem if you speak and read English. No problem if you are used to traveling halfway around the world by yourself. No problem if you can handle being sea sick for days on end as you cross the Atlantic Ocean. Well, for some reason a wrong train connection was made in Jasper and Dirce ended up in Vancouver. She phoned Arduino from Vancouver and his reply was, "What are you doing in Vancouver?"
By this time Dirce was suffering from jet lag and total frustration and if you know Dirce that is just not a good thing! Her exasperated reply was (in Italian: O vieni a prendermi o ritorno in Italia), "Either you come and get me or I am going back to Italy."
Arduino arrived by plane that same evening and the two of them caught the bus back to Prince George the next day.
Dirce stayed with another Italian family here in Prince George for a week until the couple got married in April of 1962 and the rest is history.
Dirce said, "During that week before our wedding I would look out the window and many thoughts went through my head. I said to myself - 'That was one mighty big ocean that I came over on that boat. This is my new life now' and you know I was more than happy to stay. I have always liked Prince George and we have had a good life here."
Arduino started out by working in the sawmills, then worked as a City employee and then he worked on the paving crew for Columbia Bitulithic until he retired. Arduino passed away in November of 2012.
Dirce's first Canadian employment was as a chambermaid for the Delta Inn of the North. From there, Dirce worked at the hospital in housekeeping for nearly 18 years before she retired. It was there that she met many new and wonderful friends. Dirce reflected back and said, "You know, many of those friends contacted me when Arduino passed away and that really meant a lot to me."
Together they raised three children Pier (1963), Mirian (1964) and Walter (1968) which in turn gave them five beautiful grandchildren Joel, Nicole, Will, Marco and Matteo. Pier Pandolfo was ordained as a priest in November of 1992. Dirce loved it when Pier was stationed at the Sacred Heart Cathedral here in Prince George.
Every summer the family enjoys a week of camping together at Camp Morice near Fort St. James. When they get back home they all invade nonna's garden!
Dirce has been a member of the Catholic Women's League for nine years. Her passion is her family and her gardening. If you need a lesson in growing tomatoes just contact Dirce! She is a great cook and baker and a relentless card player. In fact she says her greatest opponents are none other than Davey Toninato and Benny Romanin.
Dirce walks to church nearly every day and attends Mass six days a week. When she is asked why she goes to church every day, the answer is simple. Dirce said, "For many years in the past I would work eight hours a day away from my home. Ever since I retired I felt the obligation to give God one hour every day to say thanks for the many blessings I have received and to bring new prayer petitions for others."
