Paul Sidney Grade (age 50)

Born March 13, 1909, in San Diego, California, USA, son of Carl Otto Albert Grade (1868-1930, Prussian) and Caroline Temperance Wales (1879-1957, originally from Ohio). He was the Captain of the Super Constellation that crashed on June 26, 1959. The veteran pilot had been with TWA 19 years, since he was engaged by TWA on June 5, 1940 and was promoted to TWA Captain on July 17, 1942. Grade was assigned to international routes since 1952. Before joining TWA he had been chief pilot for Pan American and for Hawaiian company Inter-Island Airways (later to become Hawaiian Airlines). He was also in the United States Army Air Corps during WWII. Paul Sidney married Marjorie H. Mullenbach (1909-2001), they had three children: Margot C. (born 1938), Peter (1939-2009) and Angela L. (1950-1951). In 1952, he married Geneva Vranizan, a TWA flight hostess.

After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to Santa Monica (California). Paul Sidney Grade has rested in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California.

Jack Davis (age 39)

Born January 1st, 1920 in Decatur, Illinois, son of Dee Davis (a maintenance man for American Airlines) and Josephine Blakeney. Jack Davis lived in Westchester (Illinois) and joined TWA in 1942. On November 6, 1944 he married Ellen Jo Bergman. Capt. Davis was assigned to international flights only few months before the plane crash.

Capt. Jack Davis was a non fare paying passenger abord TWA Flight 891 which crashed in Olgiate Olona on June 26, 1959, he was not a member of the operating crew. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to Broadview (Illinois). Jack Davis was survived by his wife, Ellen Jo Bergman (1923-2010), and two sons, Scott Dee (age 12) and Gary Jack (10).

Frank William Ellis (age 29)

First officer in service on Flight 891 of June 26, 1959, born March 7, 1930 in Peabody, Massachusetts, USA, son of Arthur Tomas Ellis and Louise Frances Doyle. His brother Arthur T. (born 1926) completed their family. Frank William graduated from Boston College. He earned his wings in the Air National Guard in 1951 and then was engaged by TWA on May 2, 1955; in 1957 he was assigned to international. At the time of the plane crash he was a resident of Rowley, Massachusetts.

After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to his hometown. Frank William Ellis was survived by his wife, Margaret Rose, and two daughters, Susan (age 3) and Kathleen (1).

June 26, 2016 - Kathleen Ellis, Frank W. Ellis’ daughter

The commemoration of TWA flight 891 of June 26, 1959

Harry Louis Stanton (age 43)

Born October 26, 1915 in Denver, Colorado, USA, son of Harry Louis Stanton and Elisabeth Jane McCrone. Captain Stanton joined TWA on July 6, 1945 after serving in World War II as an airforce instructor at Chickasha, Oklahoma; he was promoted to TWA Captain on June 7, 1956. Harry Louis was a resident of Seaford, New York. He and his wife Glenrose were childhood sweethearts. They grew up together in Denver and were married shortly after graduating from high school in 1936.

Relief pilot on flight 891 of June 26, 1959, after the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959. Harry Stanton’s remains were finally moved to Wantagh Long Island, New York. He was survived by his wife Glenrose and his son Kenneth, 14 years old.

Donald Albert Lueke (age 41)

Born January 9, 1918, in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, son of Henry Daniel Lueke (1878-1954) and Marie Evelyn Farber (1888-1964). He had a brother, Robert Oliver (1914-1992) and a sister, Gladys Ruth (1920-2008) known as “Sunni”. Donald Albert Lueke married Virginia Rita Swofford (1917-2001). He went to work for TWA in Kansas City on February 16, 1940 and was rated a Flight Engineer on July 3, 1946; he had been flying overseas 14 years.

On June 26, 1959, he was one of the crew of nine of fatal Super Constellation L-1649A Starliner - flight 891 Athens-Chicago. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to Kansas City July 4th, 1959. Donald Albert Lueke has rested in the Cemetery of the Resurrection, Lenexa, Kansas. Lueke was survived by his wife and four children, Donald, Carl, Janice, and Roberta.

The following is the biography-obituary written by Virginia Swofford Lueke, widow of the Flight Engineer, published in 1959 in the Turner Life newspaper of Kansas City - the newspaper was directed by the mother of Donald Albert Lueke. We received this document from Donald Edward Lueke, one of the sons of this U.S. victim, on the occasion of the commemoration of 2009.

«Donald A. Lueke, Flight Engineer, was one of the crew of nine who together with 59 passengers, lost their lives in the fatal disaster of a Trans World Airlines plane, Friday, June 26, 1959, near Milan, Italy.
The plane, a Constellation Jetstream was returning home from Athens, Greece and had made a landing at the Malpensa Airport in Italy, and shortly after its takeoff, the accident occurred.
The last radio signal heard from the plane, according to reports, was that it has climbed to 10,000 feet. A terrific summer thunder storm was encountered, but officials doubted that the accident was caused by lightning or the storm.
Shortly after the plane fell, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan arrived on the scene with Father Don Gaetano Sirtori, a priest, and the last rites of the church was given for the victims.
After identifications, the bodies of the 68 victims were taken to the church of the little town of Busto Arsizio, Italy, where the townspeople turned out in mourning. The caskets were placed in two flower bedecked rows while services were held, after which the bodies were returned home for burial.

Don was born January 9, 1918, in St. Louis, Mo., and was the son of Turner Henry D. Lueke, who passed away June 11, 1954, and Turner Marie E. Lueke, Editor of Turner Life.
He had attended gym classes of the North St. Louis Turners as a boy and had received a medal for 10 years regular attendance.
He was also a member of a Boy Scout Troop, and at an early age showed a deep and lasting interest in aviation and won many trophies for his entries in Model Airplane Contests. He also received special recognition for his original design of a Glider with a 6 foot wing span which was classified as “Outstanding in Design”.
His love for airplanes continued through his school years and after graduating from the Lowell grade school and Beaumont High, he continued his studies in aviation, attending classes in Kansas City, Washington, D.C. an California. He was a licensed Pilot as well as a Flight Engineer.
He married Virginia Swofford, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Swofford of East St. Louis, Illinois, June 17, 1939, and in February, 1940, he went to work for TWA in Kansas City, where he and his bride settled down to make their home.
During the war he was transferred to Washington, D.C. for special work, and after the war was over he and his family moved back to Kansas City. Sometime later he bought a new home at 4900 W. 55th St. in Mission, Kansas.
Before his promotion as an International Flight Engineer, Don had worked on flights covering the States. Since he received his new assignment, he traveled to many far away places and he loved his work very deeply.
Always active, he found great joy in working with children, and after settling in Mission, he organized a Boy Scout Troop, No. 184 which was affiliated with the church, and he served as Scout Master. After his extended trips made it too difficult for him to continue as Scout Master, he found a successor, but he continued his work for the boys, and as his troop began to outgrow the Boy Scout age, he organized an Explorers Post and was appointed to serve as Advisor to the group.
One of his last pleasure was to spend an over-night at camp with the boys on Friday, returning home on Sunday. On the following day, Sunday, he left for New York. He phoned to his sister in New York before leaving the States on his last flight.
Don is loved and missed by his wife, Virginia; his four children, Donald E., 17 years; Carl Henry (Skippy), 14; Janice Marie, 12 and Roberta Kay, 10. His mother, Marie E. Lueke; a brother, Robert O. Lueke, and a sister, Mrs. Kermitt M. Patton (nee Gladys Ruth Lueke) of Briarcliff Manor, New York, relatives and many friends.
His remains arrived by plane in Kansas City, July 4th and was taken in charge by the Mellody-McGilley-Eylor Funeral Directors. A requiem Mass wass held at 9 o’clock Monday morning, July 6 at St. Pius X Church, Mission Kansas, and the flag draped casket was carried by six Flight Engineers, Harold Wright, Robert Gaughan, Howard Hansen, Ivan Lyon, Joe Leonardo, and Dale Bebee, all of whom had graduated as Flight Engineers in the same class with Don.
Scout Leaders were Honorary Pallbearers and Boy Scouts formed a Guard of Honor. Taps were sounded by the Bugler of the Troop as Don was laid to rest in the new Cemetery of the Resurrection, where just a few months before he had led his Boy Scouts in the dedication ceremony».

The letter written to Lueke’s family in 1959 by cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, archbishop of Milan: the future Pope Paul VI, now proclaimed Saint

October 23, 2018 - Donald Edward Lueke of Kansas City, Missouri, USA, son of Donald Albert Lueke (flight engineer in service on the plane crashed in Olgiate Olona), shared a precious document with those who care about the seventy immortal lives: the letter of 1959 with the reply of the cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini – archbishop of Milan and future Pope Paul VI – to Virginia Lueke, Donald Edward Lueke’s mother, who in a previous missive had thanked him for rushing to the site of the disaster on the evening of June 26, 1959. The Ambrosian prelate wrote: I express sincere condolences at the tragic death of your husband Donald A. Lueke in the air disaster of June 26 at Olgiate Olona. I sincerely thank you for your letter of July 14, and for your kind remembrance of your dead husband. I shall pray again for the repose of his soul, and I shall also pray for you and your family so that God may grant you his comfort, merit and hope in so great a sorrow. With my personal blessing and my deepest regards I remain, + G.B. card. Montini Archbishop of Milan. The letter is even more precious and significant today, given that on October 14, 2018, Pope Paul VI was proclaimed Saint.

Letter of cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini to Lueke’s family

John Victor Powell (age 39)

Born September 14, 1919, in Kansas City, Missouri, son of Victor B. Powell and Mayme Elisabeth Skinner. John Victor Powell was a flight engineer in service on flight 891 of June 26, 1959. He joined the maintenance dept. of TWA in 1943 and became a flight engineer based in Kansas City in 1948. He met her wife, the former Thelma M. Brilke, in Kansas City while she was secretary to the superintendent of flight engineers, between 1948 and 1951. Thelma served as a flight hostess, leaving the company when they married in 1952. John Victor and Thelma lived in Cairo, Egypt, between 1952 and 1955.

After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, Powell’s remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959. His remains were then moved to Lexington, Missouri. John Victor Powell has rested in the Machpelah Cemetery, Lexington, Missouri. John Victor was survived by his wife and two children.

Edmond Mouchnino (age 38)

French, born February 26, 1921, in Oran (Algeria), son of Sadic Mouchnino and Josephine Medioni. Before joining TWA in 1950, Edmond Mouchnino distinguished himself in the French army in World War II and he greatly aided allied forces with his services as an interpreter: he could speak six languages.

On June 26, 1959, he was the Purser in service on the airplane; he would have get off the Super Constellation at Paris-Orly Airport since a partial change of the crew was planned. His remains were sent to TWA office at Paris-Orly Airport. Edmond was survived by his wife and two children.

Marguerite Fay (age 27)

Born September 25, 1931, in Cannes (France), daughter of Georges Fay and Antoniette Conchon. Marguerite Fay attended school in her hometown and in Nice. Unmarried, she joined TWA in March, 1954. At the time of the plane crash she was living in Paris.

On June 26, 1959, she was one of the hostesses in service on the airplane; she would have get off the Super Constellation at Paris-Orly Airport since a partial change of crew was planned. Her remains were sent to TWA office at Paris-Orly Airport. Marguerite was survived by her parents and a half-sister who was a hostess with Air France.

Jacqueline Jaussen (age 23)

Born June 15, 1936, in Bordeaux (France), daughter of Georges Jaussen and Janne Chabigrand. Resident in Cannes (France), unmarried, young, full of vitality, Jacqueline was part of the French Red Cross where she was distinguished for her qualities and held a certificate of achievement for her work.

Jacqueline was one of the hostesses in service on flight 891 of June 26, 1959. She had joined TWA on May 19, 1959, one month before the plane crash. After the accident the mass media reported that the wristwatch found on her corpse - embraced to little girl Mary Belknap - had stopped at 16.33 UTC, the exact time when the disaster occurred. She would have get off the Super Constellation at Paris-Orly Airport since a partial change of crew was planned. Having heard the news of the plane crash, one of Paris based TWA Stewards remembered in a broken voice and barely holding back the tears: «Jacqueline was all grace and delicacy. Slender, blonde, with two big dreamy eyes... She was so full of life that I still refuse to believe to the irreparable ». Her remains were sent to TWA office at Paris-Orly Airport. Jacqueline was survived by her parents.

Govie Bebee Allbritton Jr. (age 38)

Born November 13, 1920 in Natchitoches, Louisiana, USA, son of Govie Bebee Allbritton (1898-1973) and Emma Delilah Clanton (1900-1963). He had a brother who died at a young age, Donald James (1922-1935).

On June 26, 1959, he boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to New York City. Govie Bebee Jr. has rested in Forest Lawn cemetery, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.

Leonardo Armanetti (age 53)

Italian-American, born October 28, 1905, in Triggiano (Bari), Italy, son of Gaetano Armanetti and Luisa Merola. Leonardo Armanetti immigrated to Chicago in 1917, and moved to Barrington, Illinois, in 1942. He was President of Armanetti Liquors, a successful retail store chain for wine and spirits in the greater Chicago area.

On June 26, 1959, upon conclusion of a business trip, he boarded TWA flight 891 in Rome, accompanied by his best friend, Basilio Lombardi, a director at the same company. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959.
Leonardo was survived by his wife Jennie Di Leo Armanetti (1907-2002), and children Guy (1932-1963) and Louise Anne (born 1936). He is buried in St. Joseph’s cemetery in River Grove, Illinois.

My Grandfather, by Angelo Capozzi (2009)

Angelo never met his grandfather, but shared with us his own family memories at the 50 Year Memorial:

My grandfather, Leonardo Armanetti, immigrated to Chicago where later he established a successful liquor business. He was a great presence in the family, with the farm in Barrington being the focal point for family celebrations. Leonardo and Jennie had just built a second home on the property with a swimming pool. Everything was ready for my grandmother’s birthday celebration and a welcome home party for Leonardo. My grandfather had written a letter from Italy just before his return, that concluded with the words “I cannot wait to have my arms around you.” My grandmother heard the news of the disaster on the radio. My mother was 23 years old, and read about the accident in the Chicago newspaper. Leonardo’s two surviving brothers, who were on a later TWA flight from Italy the same day, read about the crash in Newfoundland during a fuel stop. After the death of my grandfather, Jennie never remarried. She passed away in 2002 when she was living with us in California.

Memories of My Father, by Louise Anne Armanetti Capozzi (2009)

Leonardo Armanetti was born October 28, 1905, in Triggiano, Italy. Leonardo’s father, Gaetano Armanetti, was a musician and found work in the United States travelling with an Italian band playing the saxophone and the clarinet. He would return to Italy once a year and sought to convince his wife, Luisa, to immigrate to America with him. She always hesitated due to her reluctance to leave her mother and sister behind. As World War I was raging, Luisa was finally convinced, along with her mother and sister, to follow Gaetano to the United States. Leonardo’s mother, Luisa, and his three younger siblings, Franco, Lucilla, and Stella, along with his grandmother and aunt, departed Naples on April 1, 1917, on the ocean liner “Dante Alighieri”.
On arrival in New York, they spent seven days on Ellis Island. Once his father Gaetano was able to prove that he was financially responsible for the family, they were able to leave for Chicago on April 28, 1917. Gaetano had given up his musical career, and was working as a tailor at Mandel Brothers, a large department store in downtown Chicago. Leonardo was now 12 years old, and he was placed in school in the third grade because he could not speak English. After his first year, he dropped out of school and went to work for a railroad company performing manual labor, like so many Italian immigrants of his day, also given the lack of laws against child labor. When he was 18 he went to work in a butcher shop in Chicago. During this time, Leonardo was busy educating himself and night courses and reading on his own.

Over time Leonardo had saved enough money to purchase a grocery store in the Italian neighborhood of Chicago, with additional financial resources from his father. He was also an amateur wrestler and became a semi-professional in his early 20’s.
He met Jennie Di Leo, while he was working as a butcher during this time. They married in 1930. Their first child was a son, Guy, born in 1932, followed by a daughter, Louise, in 1936.
Leonardo was very generous with his family, and sought to employ all his family members at his grocery store. He always spoke to his children about the natural and cultural beauty of Italy. He realized early the great contributions that Italy was making in art, fashion, food, wine, and music. He was grateful to be an American given the economic opportunities that it offered him, but he always had a great affection for his native land.
After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, Leonardo began adding wine and liquor products in his store. Given the success of the wine and liquor sales, he decided to focus on these products and opened a dedicated liquor and wine business that expanded to twenty-one stores in the Chicago area by 1959.

Leonardo dreamed of owning a farm in the countryside, and in 1942 purchased 160 acres and the Pomeroy Farm in Barrington, Illinois. The family moved there the same year, and everyone in the Armanetti family has happy memories of “the farm”. All family holidays and gatherings were held here, which included the extended family of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Leonardo’s avocation was farming and gardening. He was never happier than when he was on his tractor and working the fields with his assistants. The farm also had a wetland area that was transformed into a lake in 1952.
In 1953, Leonardo took his family to Italy for an extended tour and introduced everyone to the family in Bari. Every year following, Leonardo and Jennie would travel to Italy for two months every summer by ship (the Italian Lines, “Cristoforo Colombo”, “Leonardo da Vinci”, and the ill fated “Andrea Doria” one trip before she sank). They always travelled with Basil and Florence Lombardi. Basil was sitting next to Leonardo on that fateful TWA flight the 26th of June, as they were best friends.
In June of 1959 Leonardo was leading a wine tour with the Spirits Guild of America through Italy. His brothers and Basil were among the group. On the return flight, it was decided that the four of them would not fly together. On June 26, 1959, Leonardo and Basil flew out of Rome to Milan, then continued their trip aboard the ill-fated TWA flight that departed that afternoon from Malpensa.
The tragedy devastated his family, and his wife never fully recovered. He was 53 years old and full of life, and had many additional plans that sadly went unrealized. Beautiful memories of a very special man live on in the hearts of his family and dearest friends.

June 26, 2020 - Angelo Capozzi, Leonardo Armanetti’s grandson

Caro Nonno: In Memory of the Grandfather I Never Knew - TWA Flight 891

Mary Belknap (age 10)

Born June 6, 1949 in Yakima, Washington, USA, daughter of Donald Robert Belknap (1922-1991) and Margaret Elverna Thompson (1917-2012).

At the time of the accident Mary lived with her family in Italy since her father was a U.S. Embassy employee in Rome; she was attending the American Overseas School. On June 26, 1959, Mary was entrusted by her parents to the aircraft crew members at Rome-Ciampino Airport. She was on her way to Chicago to meet her grandmother [note: some Italian newspapers wrongly reported that Mary’s father was waiting in Chicago for his daughter to arrive instead]: they were to travel to Oregon to spend a few weeks at Wallowa Lake resort where they would ride horses.

After the crash, rescuers found Mary’s body embraced with the one of hostess Jacqueline Jaussen, who tried to protect the little girl in the tragic moment of impending death.
Mary’s remains were buried in the “zona vecchia” of Protestant Cemetery in Rome in 1959.
Mary was survived by her father, her mother and two brothers, John Robert and Bruce.

Since 2012 Margaret MacKallor Belknap (Mary’s mother) has rested alongside her daughter in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome.

This picture - taken the week before the plane crash of June 26, 1959 - was included in a brief article dedicated to Mary (see below) published in the July 6, 1959 issue of Newsweek magazine. Bruce Belknap - Mary’s brother - kindly provided us with a copy of that magazine.

The following is a brief article about Mary Belknap, published in Newsweek magazine of July 6, 1959. It was written by Bill Pepper, correspondent of the Rome bureau of Newsweek and acquaintance of Mary’s family.

A Last Gay Moment.

Two little girls were playing “horses” in a garden in Rome one sunny afternoon last week - two little American girls. One of them was Mary Belknap, 10, daughter of a U.S. Embassy attaché; the other was Jorie Pepper, daughter of an American correspondent. The little girls were “best friends”, and they pranced up and down, shouting “neigh ... neigh”, their hair streaming out like horses’ manes in the breeze that ruffled the nearby pines. “I’m flying to Chicago tonight to see grandma and grandpa”, Mary told her friend. It was an unnecessary piece of information for the two girls had discussed the trip for weeks. But - at 10 - repetition is the art of conversation.
“I wish I could go with you”, said Jorie. “We could play horse in the plane all the way over. Then when we got to Chicago, we could show your grandma and grandpa how to do it”.
They stopped playing long enough for Mary to make a point: “Playing horse in an airplane would make me a real flying horse”. When it came time for Mary to leave, Jorie called after her: “Remember you promised to write and tell me if you can play horse in the airplane”. Mary said: “I will”.
Mary kissed her parents good-by at Rome’s Ciampino Airport and boarded the big airplane all alone. She was laden down with presents - a picture book, a Teddy bear, a doll.

Death in the Rain: The plane, a TWA Constellation, took off and headed north. At Milan, it touched down to take on more passengers, then set off on the long flight to New York. It was 5:35 p.m. and raining hard.
Then, only seconds away from the airport, only 2,000 feet in the air, and in full view of thousands of people in the thickly populated northwest section of Milan, the airplane caught fire. Little Mary Belknap never got to play flying horse.
“A wing came off”, said a witness on the ground, “and then the plane exploded. Poof-boom-like that, it exploded in a ball of flame”.
Italian soldiers found all 68 persons aboard (including 34 Americans) dead in the wreckage, lying near a grove of birch saplings. In the fuselage they found a few toys that could have belonged to any child in all the world - a picture book, a Teddy bear, a doll.

A poignant detail about June 26, 1959, is coming to light from the newspapers of that time; it was highlighted in l’Unità of June 27, 1959, by Salvatore Conoscente who was among the reporters who rushed to Olgiate Olona on the crash site: “A big, blonde Lenci doll was found near the wreckage of the fuselage, it belonged to ten years old victim Mary Belknap”.
Therefore the U.S. child who boarded the airplane at Rome-Ciampino airport was going back home bringing along a fine genuine Italian toy: one doll made of lenci cloth produced by company Lenci of Turin since 1929, already famous in the fifties and yet collectible items of high value.

Augusta Benedetti (Augusta Pucci, age 69)

Italian-American, born January 4, 1890, in Chiesina Uzzanese, Pistoia, Italy, daughter of Pietro Pucci and Emilia Pucci. Augusta Benedetti immigrated to the United States in 1911 together with her husband Joseph (Giuseppe) Benedetti (born 1888, Italian); they had two children, Dino (1911-1998) and Diana (born 1926).

On June 26, 1959, Augusta Benedetti, widow, was returning from her first trip to Italy since she had emigrated. She boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. “At least she had a dream come true before she died”, said Mrs. Benedetti’s daughter, Diana. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, her remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to Chicago, Illinois, where Augusta lived with her daughter.

Jacob Binder (age 57)

Born October 1, 1901 in New York City, son of Hyman Binder and Sara Lechtblan.

On June 26, 1959, he boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to New York City, where he lived. Jacob Binder was survived by his brother Sol and sister Rose.

Anna Maga (Anna Maria Adele Boaro, age 64)

Italian-American, born July 21, 1894, in Ivrea, Italy, daughter of Francesco Boaro and Mariana Reano. Anna Maga emigrated in the United States in February 1921: she left Italy with her son Oscar Edward (1917-1987) to join her husband Michele Maga (1893-1977) - originating from Scarmagno, Italy - who emigrated to the USA one year before and resident in Forbes, Colorado. In the end of the same year Harold F. (1921-2007), the second son of Michele and Anna, was born. Maga family moved to Glendale, Los Angeles, California, a few years later.

On June 26, 1959, Anna boarded the TWA Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport to go back to the United States after having spent a four-week vacation hosted by her brother and sister-in-law in Sant’Antonio di Ivrea. Two acquaintances of Anna boarded the plane with her: they were Katherine Germo and her daughter Mary Germo, who had spent a four-week vacation as well with some relatives in San Giusto Canavese. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, her remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to to Glendale, Los Angeles. Anna Maga has rested in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California, together with her husband Michele Maga.

William Edwin Buckley (age 53)

Born September 24, 1905 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, son of William Aloysius Buckley and Annie Cann. William Edwin was an engineer for Stone & Webster Inc., Boston. At the time of the plane crash he was resident in Cottesmore Gardens, Kensington, England.

On June 26, 1959, he boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to his hometown. William Edwin was survived by his wife, Florence M. Lyons (1907-2004), a son William (age 22) and two daughters, Joan (23) e Gail (18).

Rizieri Celli (age 42), his wife Marfisa Bertolucci (24)
and their unborn child

Italian-American Rizieri Valentino Giovanni Celli was born November 27, 1916, in Galveston, Texas, USA, secondborn son of Rizieri Celli and Maria Biagi. The family was originating from Verciano, a large agricultural village at the gates of Lucca, Italy. Rizieri’s parents had left for America in the beginning of 1900, they lived in Brooklyn and put some money aside, but they did not have too much luck. They returned to their hometown around 1930 and bought a piece of land to cultivate, coming back to their past life. They had eight children, four males and four females.
At a young age, Rizieri and his older brother Sperandio decided to leave for the United States with little money in their pockets. Settled in New York, they bought a taxi. With the money earned with their first taxi they bought a second one, then a third one, until they became owners of an entire garage. They were young men with their feet on the ground and their heads in place, so their company grew rapidly.
Time passed and Rizieri and Sperandio decided to change job: they bought a hotel at the seaside. With the new job not only they made ends meet, but they would send good money to their parents and siblings in Verciano. Thanks to the savings that the two young men sent from New York, the few hectares that the old Cellis bought once back from the United States soon multiplied.
The Celli’s were interested in the hotel for few years then they changed job one more time. Rizieri thought to start a new business in oil wells. They sold their hotel and bought a desolated plain in the area of Galveston, Texas. They made an agreement with a company for drilling and after some time they found oil. The luck seemed to be on their side in all their choices. Several oil wells followed their first one, then brothers Celli - now millionaires - signed a contract with an oil company for the exploitation of the subsoil of all their land. They sent more money to Italy and the family’s property in the Serchio valley grew. The small farmhouse just outside Verciano became a model farm. The Cellis became owners of palaces in Lucca, but they did not change their simple habits. They were the richest family in town, but always remained simple persons.
Sperandio and Rizieri often would travel to Italy from Galveston. Rizieri mainly: «This is my father’s land», he often would repeat. He liked the peace of that valley between the mountains of the Appennines, the green woods surrounding his «italian» house. He would arrive with his white and yellow Chrysler, a billionaire big car, that he would embark on his same ocean liner and that he would start once on the ground.

Marfisa Bertolucci was born January 4, 1935, in Pescia, Pistoia, Italy, daughter of Aladino Bertolucci and Irene Menconi.
She was resident in Capannori, Lucca, Italy, and on January 12, 1959, got married with Rizieri Celli who was eighteen years older than her. Their story seemed taken from the pages of a novel: a delicate love story that had an American, billionaire confident man, and a quiet country girl, daughter of peasants, as protagonists.

On June 26, 1959, Rizieri and Marfisa boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport; they were en route to the United States to reside in their new home and to start their new married life. During the recovery of the victims of the plane crash that began on Saturday June 27, 1959, at dawn, rescuers made a bitter detection: Marfisa was pregnant and about to give birth.

Therefore Rizieri and Marfisa’s unborn child is the 70th immortal life of the plane crash of Olgiate Olona.

«I want my son to birth in the United States», said Rizieri Celli to Verciano parson. «We will travel by airplane and we hope that the jouney will not make my wife sick». He was cheerful, happy for the forthcoming birth. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, their remains were sent to the cemetery of Verciano on June 29, 1959.

Excerpt from Una favola d’amore nel rogo dell’aereo (transl. A love tale in the burning airplane) by Vittorio Lojacono, published on La settimana INCOM illustrata of July 11, 1959

(...) Rizieri was 42 and still a bachelor when he arrived in Italy for the last time. Friends say that he would smile and would shrug his shoulders when someone asked him why not take a wife. Maybe he was looking for a wife, an Italian wife perhaps. He met Marfisa Bertolucci in a coffee house in Lucca, right in the central square. The girl was sitting at a table with her boyfriend, a retailer of footwear. Marfisa knew very well who was that bald gentleman looking at her insistently: he was the «American billionaire» of Verciano. Her parents used to speak frequently about him at home: they too had been in America to tempt fortune, but luck was not benign with them; they went back to Massa Macinaia indeed – a village not far from Verciano – almost poorer than before.
The «billionaire» and the peasant girl met again a few days later, then they met once more, to the point that Marfisa realized that she had to give an explanation to her boyfriend: she no longer loved him, she had fallen in love with Rizieri Celli.
It was right in that period that Celli had a heart attack. For a month he was between life and death, and the pastor used to visit him every day, convinced of having to give him the Extreme Unction at any moment. And it was in that period that Rizieri Celli became aware of the intensity of Marfisa’s affection, she was always there, next to him, sorrowful and taking care of him, proven by that tension.
«Father, I’m going to get married», the «American» said to Fr Domenico Fontana, the pastor of the village, as soon as he was declared out of danger by the doctors. He was happy he had found a wife like he maybe dreamed of for years: an Italian, good, simple, affectionate wife. The fact that she was the daughter of poor peasants did not care. She was 25: she would have given a son to him, she would have filled his life.
Their engagement impressed the people of the village: Marfisa was envied by the other girls. It was the tale of Prince Charming coming true. Few days before their marriage, Rodolfo Bartolini - a young man of Massa Macinaia - tried to extort two million liras to Celli. In order to have his life safe, he had to throw a pack with the money requested out the window of his car by passing under the arches of the near aqueduct. «Trouble if you call the police: I’m ready to shoot», was written on the letter.
Rizieri Celli was not impressed: «I live in America», he told his friends smiling. He went to the police headquarters in Lucca to tell everything, he himself set up a plan to catch the delinquent. He passed at the appointed hour, he threw the pack, then the policemen jumped on the author of the letter: he was a 20-years-old man who dreamed of buying a racing bike. Asking fifty thousand liras seemed far too little, so he demanded two millions. Celli was touched by the cry of that boy, so he didn’t denounce him and insisted that the police do not refer to the judicial authority. He managed to save that man. He also gave him the racing bike that the man dreamed of. «I’m going to get married», said, «I don’t want to hurt anyone. I’m too happy».
The marriage celebrated in the small church of Verciano was like the village festival. Fr Domenico made a short speech, he praised the figure of Rizieri Celli and the most beautiful meaning of the marriage that united a billionaire with a peasant girl. But the fate was lurking: the luck that had been alongside the «American» guy for years was about to turn its back, ready to hit him traitorously.
They were expecting their child, they would have liked to see in their baby the most beautiful conclusion of their love story, it was the only aim for which it was worth to continue to work even, after the wealth already achieved. They had departed on purpose, to give him birth in America. It is a dream that has vanished with them on the moorland of Olgiate, in the terrible burning of the «Superconstellation» crashed by the lightning.

Georgia Chioles (Georgia Mothonopoulou, age 67)

Born February 17, 1892, in Hora (Greece), Georgia Chioles emigrated in the USA in 1911. She married George Demetrios Chioles (1883-1947), of Greek origin; they had two daughters, Thetis (1919-1998) and Nausicia Nancy (1920-2014).

On June 26, 1959, Georgia boarded the Super Constellation in Athens. She was returning to Chicago after a year in Greece where she had visited relatives. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, her remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to Chicago (Illinois) where she lived with her daughter Nancy. Documents of the time of the plane crash confirmed that the remains contained in the coffin No. 1 were those of Georgia Chioles.

On October 8, 2017, Vanessa Veleris (granddaughter) wrote to us:

«Thank you for your email. My husband and I just returned (yesterday) from a trip to Italy and Greece. Based on your email, we visited the memorial about 10 days ago. It was an overwhelming experience for me, and I want to thank you for being the impetus that prompted me to make the journey. I never knew my grandmother, and visiting the memorial made her a “real person” for me. Please let me know if there will be other dedications made at this site. Thank you».

Jesus Juan Rey (age 63), his wife Anna Rey (Anna Genova, 55)
and their son Manuel Rey (31), Josephine Fuda (Giuseppina Genova, 65)
and her son Domenick Fuda Jr. (15)

A family of Spanish-Italian origins, all resident in Chicago, Illinois.

Jesus Juan Rey, born November 17, 1895, in Quiezon, Lugo (Spain) in the province of Galicia, son of Manuel and Manuela Rey. He left Spain at age 16 to work aboard a Merchant Marine ship delivering cargo to many ports including the Gulf of Mexico. He entered the United States and went to work in the coal mines for 6 months in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; there he met Anna Genova who had just arrived a short time before, 1920, from Palermo, Italy. Jesus and Anna married in September 1921 and left for Chicago. August of 1922, a daughter was born followed by three additional children (two girls and a son). Jesus worked in several fields as a laborer foreman and eventually with Railway Express Agency. He was a proud man with such profound family love and a love for his home and garden which was admired by all.

Anna Genova Rey, born February 10, 1904, in Palermo (Italy), daughter of Salvatore Genova and Rosalia Romano. She wanted desperately to leave for the United States. When her uncle Mario, and her sister, Josephine, were to leave for the United States to help in Mario’s Restaurant in Miami, Florida, Anna was allowed to accompany them in 1920. However, a stopover in Pittsburgh for 6 months, led to the meeting of Jesus Juan Rey and marriage followed. Anna was a superb seamstress making dresses for all her girls including formalwear and suits.

Manuel Rey, born August 21, 1927, in Chicago, was the son of Jesus and Anna Rey. He was an Insurance Claims Adjuster, married for 10 years to Dolores Alonso, father of Don (6 years) and Sandee (2 ½). Manuel’s love for family and friends were evident in his daily life.

Josephine Genova Fuda (sister of Anna Genova), born September 20, 1893, in Palermo (Italy), daughter of Salvatore Genova and Rosalia Romano. She left Italy in 1920, to accompany her uncle Mario to help with his Restaurant-Nightclub business in Miami, Florida. After the business closed in 1927, she came to Chicago and met her future husband, Domenick Fuda (1882-1957), a Restaurant-Bar owner and married in 1932. Josephine loved opera and had a beautiful contralto voice. Childless, Josephine and Domenick eventually adopted a son, Domenick Fuda Jr. in 1944: he was a joy to all.

Domenick Fuda, Jr., born January 12, 1944 in Chicago, son of Domenick and Josephine Fuda. He was a student at St. Leo High School in Chicago, a superb athlete and friend to many. Domenick did not want to go on that trip to Spain and Italy in June 1959, however, his mother, Josephine insisted as she wanted him to meet his Italian relations.

This ill-fated family left Chicago Airport on June 1, 1959, to go back to Spain and Italy to see some relatives once again after more than 40 years. They went to Spain first to see Jesus Juan Rey’s sister, then off to Palermo to see Anna and Josephine’s brother and after Palermo, they went to Treviso to see another sister. They wished to go back to the USA by vessel, but a strike of sea transports forced them to take a plane.
On June 26, 1959, they boarded the Super Constellation in Rome Ciampino airport. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, their remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959. All their remains were then moved to Chicago.

(December 2, 2009) Ann Rey Clam, daughter of Jesus Juan and Anna Rey, sister of Manuel Rey, niece of Josephine Fuda and cousin of Domenick Fuda, wrote:

«I remember the day on June 1, 1959, when I drove them to the Airport in Chicago where they boarded and were very happy to be going back to Spain (where my father was from) and to Italy (where the other relations were). Our family was a close and loving family and the traditions handed down to me are endearing and passed on to my children. I was pregnant at the time with my fourth child and almost lost her because of the tragedy we faced on that horrid day (note: Ann’s daughter, Laurie Bernadette, was born November 10, 1959). My two older children remember their grandparents and uncle and all, but the younger ones never had the opportunity to know them except for the stories and the Ravioli we make as my Mother did many years ago and now my grandchildren gather with my children and we all make them together during the Holidays. I have my cousins in Treviso (Italy) I email and correspond with them often. (...) It was consoling to know that people cared when it happened and felt our loss».

Katherine Germo (Caterina Guglielmo, age 71) and her daughter Mary Germo (46)

Katherine Germo, Italian-American, was born December 3, 1887, in San Martino Canavese (Turin, Italy), daughter of Joseph and Margherita Guglielmo. Katherine immigrated in the United States in 1907; she married Joe Germo (born 1883), Italian origin, they had two daughters, Margrat (born 1910) and Mary (born 1912). She was the oldest passenger on board of TWA flight 891 of June 26, 1959. Mary Germo was born October 12, 1912 in San Pedro (California) to Joe and Katherine.

On June 26, 1959, Katherine and Mary boarded the TWA Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa Airport to go back to the United States after having spent a four-week vacation hosted by some relatives in San Giusto Canavese. One acquaintance of Katherine and Mary boarded the plane with them: it was Anna Boaro Maga, who had spent a four-week vacation as well with her brother and sister-in-law in Sant’Antonio di Ivrea. Katherine’s nephews were living in San Giusto Canavese, she had always had a cordial exchange of correspondence with them. At Easter she informed them that she would have taken a trip to Italy: «I’m 72 - Katherine wrote in her letter -. I want to see my homeland again, before it is too late». Katherine went back to Italy then with her daughter Mary after a remoteness of 44 years; they found everything beautiful, everything new, everything worthy to be seen. After the plane crash it was her nephew to have to recognize the corpses of the two women: being covered by other corpses, they had been saved from the flames and their faces were almost intact. The rolls of color films with whom Katherine had wanted to immortalize the memories of the holiday just spent in her beautiful homeland were found in her bag. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, their remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to Los Angeles (California) where their family lived.

(1959) Taken from the message of thanksgiving sent by Margrat Germo to Olgiate Olona mayor Carlo Ferrari after the plane crash:

«Me, as a daughter and sister of two of those who perished, I feel compelled to thank you for all you have done. At least they were not alone, they were watched over by many pious people. Together with my husband, Marshall Mc Comb, Judge of the Supreme Court of California, I extend to you and all your very noble people our imperishable gratitude».

Olivia Kammerer (Olivia Pattison Heminway, age 66)

Born July 28, 1892, in New Rochelle, New York, USA, daughter of Truman Heminway, banker (1855-1908) and Honora Irving Harwood (1863-1900). Olivia Pattison got married to Percy Gamble Kammerer on November 4, 1926 (they divorced in 1941). They had two daughters: Honora Harwood (1917-2003, future bride of John Stewart McLennan, famous music composer and owner of Ashintully Farm in Tyringham, Massachusetts, USA) and Eleanor B. (1921-1986). Olivia Pattison was an American Red Cross official and she traveled widely in Europe and Africa.

At the time of the plane crash she was resident in Florence where she was the founder and director of Villa Mercedes Junior College. On June 26, 1959, she boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, her remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Olivia Pattison has rested in the Center Cemetery of Tyringham with her husband Percy Gamble dead in 1946.

Syd Kaye (Syd Liftiz, age 59)

Born November 5, 1899, in Russia, daughter of Herschel Liftiz and Rebecca Rosenthal. Syd Kaye emigrated to the United States and settled in Brooklyn, New York, where she was naturalized US citizen in 1928. At the time of the plane crash she worked as credit manager and was often traveling by ship or by air, preferably in the first class seats.

On June 26, 1959, she boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, her remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to her town of residence. Syd Kaye has rested in the Mount Carmel Cemetery, Glendale, Queens County, New York.

Anna Korecky (Anna Picha, age 69), her daughter Lillian Sternes (Lillian Korecky, 48) and and her son-in-law Frank Charles Sternes (51)

Anna Korecky was born July 29, 1889, in Paseky (former Czechoslovakia), daughter of James Picha and Marie Picha. She immigrated in the United States in 1904. On May 22, 1909, Anna married James Korecky (born 1887 in Bohemia, former Czechoslovakia) in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Lillian Sternes was born October 1, 1910, to James Korecky and Anna Korecky. Lillian’s sister, Adeline (1912-2006), completed the family.
Frank Charles Sternes, otorhinolaryngologist, husband of Lillian, was born May 15, 1908, to Frank and Josephine Ctrnacty; he was a staff member at MacNeal memorial hospital, Berwyn, Illinois, and St. Antony’s hospital. Frank and Lillian got married on September 14, 1938, in Cook County, Illinois.

A group of relatives whose journey started together and ended tragically; they were ending a five-week vacation in Spain, Portugal, Africa and Italy. On June 26, 1959, they boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, their remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to Berwyn, Illinois. Frank Charles and Lillian were survived by their son Glenn, 16 year old.

Chester Linsky (age 34)

Born November 10, 1924, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, son of Louis Linsky and Beatrice Gottlieb Backer (both of Russian origin); his brother Leonard (1921-2016) completed their family. Professor of industrial engineering at Pennsylvania State University and expert in automation and plant layout, Chester Linsky was in Europe since early in 1958 working with numerous European industrial counterparts to design the layouts of new manufacturing sites. At the time of the plane crash he was resident in Paris with his family.

On June 26, 1959, Chester Linsky boarded the Super Constellation in Milan-Malpensa Airport to join his wife Jane and their three children, Jan, Dean and Glen. They had expected to return to Pennsylvania the month later to await the birth of their fourth child, Gary. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to State College, Pennsylvania, USA.

Chester Linsky’s son Rev. Dean Linsky wrote us his family memories in October 2013:

«My father was travelling back to Paris earlier than his consulting itinerary had originally planned in order to surprise my mother on her birthday, June 26. He was a professor of industrial engineering on loan from The Pennsylvania State University to consult with the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC). His expertise was in automation and plant layout. He was working with numerous European industrial counterparts to design the layouts of new manufacturing sites throughout Europe. He had left our family in the USA for a number of months early in 1958 to pursue the initial stages of his consulting. Then it was decided that the whole family should live in Paris from the summer of 1958 until the following summer and then return to the USA. I lived in Paris with my older sister and younger brother. My mother, Jane, was pregnant from about November until my second brother was born in the USA upon return immediately after my father’s death. My mother remained in State College, the town surrounding the Pennsylvania State University where she raised me and my siblings. She never remarried. She and my father were deeply in love. My father was a strong family man. I have few memories of him since I was only 7 years old when he died. My mother suffered terrible grief but found resolve in her faith to keep from falling into despair».

Basilio Lombardi (age 61)

Italian-American born December 25, 1897, in Triggiano (Bari, Italy), son of Pietro Lombardi and Raffaella Raimondi. Basilio Lombardi lived in Chicago with his wife Florence Phyllis Palese (1908-1999), native of Illinois; they had two sons: William Michael (Bill, 1935-2012) and Gerald (Jerry, born 1937). Basilio Lombardi was the director of Armanetti Liquor Co., growing company producing wine and spirits still present in Chicago with some stores.

On June 26, 1959, he boarded the Super Constellation in Roma Ciampino airport with Leonardo Armanetti, president of the same company; they were on a business tour, visiting wineries in France and Italy. The trip had been organized by the Spirits Guild of America. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, their remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959, then moved to Chicago to be buried in the Saint Joseph Cemetery, River Grove, Cook County, Illinois, USA.

(2009) Bill Lombardi (grandson) remembered:

«Basil was an Italian Air force pilot during World War I and was hit and wounded once. After the accident of June 26, 1959 Saverio Scavelli - relative of Leonardo Armanetti - and Raffaello Lombardi - Basilio’s brother - came to Olgiate Olona from Bari to identify the bodies. Leonardo Armanetti and Basilio Lombardi had decided to return to the U.S. on that flight, because Basil wanted to be in Chicago for the birth of his first granddaughter, Anne Marie, sister of Bill Lombardi».

And again:

«The story of my grandfather Basilio and our family is sad, but also encouraging. My grandfather Basilio and my grandmother lived with my uncle in Chicago. But in those days my grandmother was here in Dallas, Texas, because my mother - who lived here with my father Bill - was pregnant with my sister. So my grandfather Basilio left from Triggiano-Bari to return soon in the U.S. because his first granddaughter was coming. When the plane crash happened my father learned the news on TV in the office but did not know that his father, my grandfather Basilio, was on board of that aircraft. Instead, my uncle in Chicago received a phone call from the local mass media: they asked if it was true that his father had died in the disaster. Then the TWA called my uncle to inform him of the sad news and he called my father in the office to inform him of the shock of his life. My mother and grandmother were in the store and have heard the news of the plane crash on the radio: my grandmother was afraid that her beloved Basilio was dead, but she still did not know. Then my father Bill came back home and announced the sad news to my grandmother and my mother. My mother rushed to the hospital for childbirth immediately after: the day after my sister was born. So, my grandmother was troubled because she had lost her husband and met his granddaughter in the same time!».

Michael A. Martino Jr. (29 anni)
e sua moglie Corinne Martino (Corinne Drafz, 30)

Michael A. Martino Jr. was born November 25, 1929 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, son of Michael Martino and Alice Hayo. He was a graduate of Wright junior college. He won scholarships to the University of Chicago and the Illinois Institute of Technology. He obtained his doctorate in the field of mathematics from the University of Illinois at the age of 22. Corinne E. Drafz was born July 22, 1928 in Lombard, Illinois, USA, daughter of Max and Rose Drafz.

Michael and Corinne married October 19, 1951 in Chicago, and at the time of the plane crash of June 26,1959 they were living with their children in Schenectady, New York. Michael was a brilliant mathematician and played an important role in the application of digital computers to atomic reactor design at General Electric Knolls Atomic Power, Schenectady; he took part in the construction and development of atomic submarines. In June 1959, Michael and Corinne left for Europe for a mixed business-vacation trip. Michael attended a scientific international conference in Paris (June 15 to 20, 1959) at the request of his employer General Electric and with the permission of the United States Atomic Energy Commission. Later Michael and Corinne spent some days of vacation in France and Italy.

On June 26, 1959, they boarded the TWA Flight 891 in Milan Malpensa airport. Their remains - identified with difficulty after the disaster - were buried in the cemetery of Busto Arsizio (Italy) on July 5, 1959 (¹). Michael and Corinne were survived by their three children - William (age 5), Mary (3) and Alice (2) - who were then cared for by the parents of Michael. These grandparents cared for the surviving children from before school age and into adulthood.

(¹) The Sepulture register of the cemetery of Busto Arsizio reports the time of sepulture (3 p.m.), the location of the grave (field 58, place 88) and the following variations of the location of the remains: on July 3, 1997, Michael Martino’s and Corinne Martino’s remains were transferred in a niche (arch 7E, eigth row, loculus number 2) which was already containing since 1980 the remains of Albert John Palmer and Percy Charles Nicholls - the victims of the plane crash who have never been identified - and the coffin with human remains set up in 1959; the pink granite tombstone tells: “Palmer Albert Nicholls Percy Martino Michael Martino Corinne In memory of air disaster M. 26-6-1959”.

June 17, 2010 - Reconnaissance of the loculus located in the cemetery of Busto Arsizio where four victims of the plane crash of June 26, 1959, are resting

Sophie Doumouras (Sophie Nafpliotou, age 23)

Born July 19, 1935 in Koufo Pourolynpias (Greece), daughter of Nicholas and Evanthia Nafpliotou.

On June 26, 1959, Sophie Doumouras boarded the Super Constellation in Athens, she was on her way to Chicago where she lived with her mother and her sister. She had obtained a leave of absence and returned to her native Greece in April. There she met George Doumouras, a 24-year-old Greek sailor, and married him. Her husband was expected to follow her to Chicago soon but unfortunately their dreams for the future were broken. After having heard the news of the accident on June 27, George was admitted to Piraeus naval hospital suffering from an overdose of aspirin. Mrs. Antonia Giannakopoulos, Sophie’s sister, said her sister didn’t go to Greece to marry, but she had said before departing: “If I meet a good man, I may get married”. Sophie’s remains were among the last to be identified and were sent to Athens (Greece).

Antonio Salbego (age 68)

Born June 9, 1891, in Salcedo, Vicenza, Italy, son of Giovanni Salbego and Antonia Marchi. Antonio Salbego left Breganze (Vicenza) at the age of 29 and emigrated to USA where he made his fortune in building construction. In 1959 he wanted to return to Italy to visit Vicenza and his family (his brother Giuseppe, his sister in law and their two children): «for the last time before I die», he said.

On June 26 he was going back to Chicago after a three-months stay in Italy. His relatives accompanied him to Milan-Malpensa Airport and then stopped in Gallarate: later they heard the tragic news by watching the images on television and believed that the plane crashed was the same that they hailed a few hours before. Once back to the airport, they had a grotesque misunderstanding: since Antonio was an U.S. citizen but with Italian name and surname, the TWA official - who searched for his name among Italian victims without finding it - denied that the man had died in the air disaster; but few moments later, after a more accurate check, the official had to correct the information. They rushed in vain in Olgiate Olona on the site of the plane crash. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, Salbego’s remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959. His remains were then moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he lived with his sister Maria Cusinato. Antonio Salbego has rested in the Saint Joseph Cemetery of River Grove, Cook County, Illinois, together with his brother Giovanni Salbego (1892-1972).

Hugo Sei (age 45)

Italian-American, born November 18, 1913 in Calumet, Michigan, USA, son of Lorenzo Sei (born 1889) and Carmela Conedera (1882-1953). Hugo Sei’s father, Lorenzo, was native of Capannori (Lucca, Italy) and emigrated to the United States in 1912. In 1925, after having made money in the USA, Lorenzo took his wife and son back to Italy where he bought a farm.

In 1931, when Hugo was 18, his parents decided to send him back to the United States, to avoid him leaving for the war in Ethiopia. Then Hugo settled in Chicago to live with his aunt. In 1935 Hugo married Rose (Rosa) Molose (1910-1993) - later they had two children. The love story between Hugo and Rose ended in 1950. In 1953, Hugo decided to marry Loretta L. Podolak (1918-1986). Hugo worked for the New York Central railroad for twenty five years and together with his wife Loretta they owned a tavern.

In 1958, Hugo Sei decided to go back to Italy for visiting his father Lorenzo for the first time after 27 years: he went with his wife Loretta by boat - the Christopher Columbus. On June 26, 1959, he boarded the Super Constellation in Rome Ciampino airport for flying back to the USA; he was on his second trip in eight months to visit his father Lorenzo in Italy. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959. Hugo’s remains were then moved to Chicago, Illinois.

George S. Sherman (age 43)

Born March 2, 1916, in Brooklyn, New York, USA, son of Samuel and Molly Sherman. George Sherman was a History teacher, coast guard and eventually a partner and selling agent of a mens clothing mill, the Bernard Mills Inc. of Methuen, Massachusetts. He married Julia Rosenberg (1917-1975), an avid golf player and prolific artist.

After visiting a mill in Florence, on June 26, 1959, George boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959. George Sherman’s remains were then sent to New York City. He was survived by his wife Julia and a daughter, Deanne (1943-2014).

Mary Thompson (Mary Mason, age 22)

Born October 1, 1936, in Jackson, Louisiana, USA, daughter of Carrol E. Mason (1902-1967) and Rebecca Williams (1916-2007).

Mary Thompson boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, her remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959. Mary Thompson’s remains were finally moved to Houston, Texas.

Franco Cavallanti (age 30), Gabriele Cavallanti (20),
Achille Belloni (30) and Paolo Ciserani (32)

Four young friends from Livraga (Lodi, Italy) indicated by newspaper chronicles as “the four musketeers”: Franco Cavallanti, born December 5, 1928 in Livraga, and his brother Gabriele Cavallanti, born March 18, 1939 in Lodi, sons of Carlo Cavallanti and Santa Filippazzi, Achille Belloni, born July 1, 1928 in Milan, son of Attilio Belloni and Ermengarda Polenghi, and Paolo Ciserani, born March 22, 1927 in Livraga, son of Emilio Ciserani and Teresa Rossi.

Franco Cavallanti was married to former Pierina Albertini, they had a newborn, Carlo Eugenio; he was the manager - with his father - of his family firm which produced electromechanical components; he was the president of Livraga football team (amateur league). Franco proposed a relaxing holiday to his brother Gabriele - unmarried, student at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Milan - and to their longtime friends: Ciserani, geometer in his father’s construction company, married to former Anna Rocchetta and father of an eight-month-old baby, mayor of Livraga - elected in 1956 with a majority of Democrats, a politician estimated also by the opposition for his energy and strong organizational skills - and Belloni, geometer, married to former Annunciata Dedè, father of two sons (a four year old child and a nine month baby), manager with his brothers of their farm producing diary products, a booming farm known to be one of suppliers of Alemagna.

Because of the passion for the sport played in the parish and the typical atmosphere of a small agricultural town where every news is of public domain, all the community of Livraga was aware of the trip-vacation of the four young people to the French capital. Belloni and brothers Cavallanti reached Malpensa Airport by coach of TWA, while Ciserani remained in Livraga until 2 p.m. on June 26, 1959: in the town hall he signed the payment orders of municipal employees, then he left right on time for boarding the airplane. That was the first time that “the four musketeers” boarded a plane all together: their vacation in Paris and their lives disappeared a few minutes after they departed with flight 891 on the “legendary” Super Constellation. All the reporters present in Olgiate Olona at the site of disaster noted that Cavallanti’s father - together with Ciserani’s father were among the first relatives of the victims to arrive in Olgiate - at the sight of wreckage of the plane reacted vigorously, screaming and crying. He was dragged away with difficulty. The remains of the four young men left the church of Busto Arsizio, Italy, before the funeral rites of June 29, 1959; they were taken to San Bassiano church in Livraga where in the morning of Tuesday June 30, 1959, all the community attended the funerals celebrated by the Bishop of Lodi.

In Livraga parish, located in “via Roma”, a mere memorial stone (picture on the right) remembers the four unlucky young men; it carries their pictures and this epigraph (translation):

Ciserani Paolo, geometer, mayor of Livraga, 1927
Belloni Achille, geometer, agriculturist, 1928
Cavallanti Franco, industrialist, 1928
Cavallanti Gabriele, university student, 1939
United in life by common noble ideals United in the tragic death in the sky of Olgiate Olona, 06-26-1959
The parish that had them as diligent sport managers remembers them together forever in God

In the “famiglia Cavallanti Carlo” chapel in the cemetery of Livraga, the tombstones of two unlucky brothers carry their full names and the following epigraphs:

Franco Cavallanti tragically perished in the plane crash of Olgiate Olona leaving his loved ones into an inconsolable grief;
Gabriele Cavallanti tragically perished with his brother Franco where together they went to the heavenly homeland where life and youth eternalize in God.

(2009) Testimony of Annunciata Dedè, widow of Achille Belloni:

«June 26, 1959 was not the first time that my husband Achille was boarding a plane: a few months before we flew together from Palermo, returning from our honeymoon in Taormina. Right at that time my husband told me that he had been afraid, and that he would fly no more; and I reminded him about that, when he talked to me of their journey to Paris, but that day he felt safe, because in company of his friends. I was the first to report the sad news to Livraga; I knew the time scheduled when the Super Constellation would have landed in Paris and - since I didn’t received any news - I made a call to the travel agency asking for information: few minutes later, after they got in touch with TWA, I was coldly replied “The plane crashed. There are no survivers”. It was a huge shock and then I remember that my house was invaded by people. Especially in the first years after the plane crash I went back to Olgiate Olona with my children [Attilio and Giuseppe] to stand and pray in front of the monument. Every time I remember my husband and that distant day, the pain is renewed in me and I live again this tragedy».

(2009) Testimony of Maria Enrica Ciserani, daughter of Paolo Ciserani:

«To tell the truth, the four young men of Livraga, including my dad, had to go to Paris a few days before, but they postponed the trip to attend the funeral of a friend of theirs: in collaboration with the police sergeant were able to change the date of departure and tickets. On June 26, 1959, as soon as the news of the plane crash was heard in Livraga, the father of Cavallanti brothers, my grandfather Emilio Ciserani with his son Piersandro Ciserani, that is my uncle, and Pietro Soffientini - a close friend of my dad and uncle Piersandro - left to reach Olgiate Olona: they identified with certainty the bodies of the four young victims of Livraga. I was only eight months old, but there are two memories that have been passed down to me. The first: my father used to say that I would have become a pharmacist, this was not his desire but this happened in the end. The second memory: before leaving for the airport, my father urged his mother, that is my grandmother, to take care of me. I went few times to Olgiate Olona with my husband, we stopped at the monument to the plane crash. As a daughter of a father never known and who died tragically, maybe I could have had the curiosity to know the details long before an author wrote a book. But my memory and my heart have always been filled during these last fifty years by the memories and the huge love that I received by my mother and by my paternal and maternal grandparents who unfortunately are no longer alive. And important as well is the role of my current dad [note: Anna Rocchetta, wife of Paolo Ciserani, remarried few years later], a “real” father who has always respected and educated me as if I really were his daughter».

Pietro Castelnovo (age 30)

Born April 14, 1929 in Cesate (Milan, Italy), son of Luigi Castelnovo and Virginia Gessaghi. At the time of the plane crash Pietro Castelnovo lived in a nice apartment in Bollate (Milan) with his wife, Carla Banfi, and their children Maurizio (age 3) and Emanuele (1); he was about to move with his family into the new house located in his hometown. Pietro was an official of a big international company dealing in import-export and he used to fly abroad often on business trips; he flew worldwide with commercial airliners even in extreme weather conditions.

On June 26, 1959, he boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport en route to France for some important business meetings; he said goodbye to his wife in their home of Bollate promising that he would write once landed at Paris-Orly. The day after the plane crash his remains were identified for fifty-fifth. The bag the man was carrying was recovered among the aircraft wreckage: it came out unscathed from the terrible crash and flames and contained the documents of his company “Materie plastiche e madreperla”. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio his remains were sent to his town of residence.

Raffaele Cohen (age 28)

Born February 19, 1931 in Cairo (Egypt), son of Leone and Alice Cohen. At the time of the accident Raffaele Cohen was living with his parents and two brothers in a flat in Milan. He was an accountant, a brilliant guy, single and fiancé, graduate in Economics, official of the Italian cotton institute; he was considered a successful professional by his friends.

On June 26, 1959, almost as a premonition, his mother, who was also suffering from a heart condition, implored him not to take the plane but Raffaele was in a hurry to leave: he boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa Airport to go to Paris where he had a business meeting scheduled. For many hours his mother hoped that he had just been injured in the disaster. Cohen was among the victims identified with difficulty; his remains were sent to Milan on July 1st, 1959 and buried in the Jewish sector of cemetery of Milano-Musocco.

Maria Sacchetti (Maria Fermi, age 60)

Born April 12, 1899, in Rome (Italy), daughter of Alberto Fermi and Ida De Gattis. Maria Fermi was the sister of the famous scientist Enrico Fermi, widow of Renato Sacchetti who died in Naples during the “Spanish” pandemic. She lived in a small villa in via Monginevro, Rome, for forty years; she had three children (Gabriella, Giorgio, Ida) and was a teacher at Orazio Flacco high school in Rome. Maria decided to sell her villa in Rome; she was embittered because the building that would have been built in its place after the demolition would have cut down the trees that she planted years before. On June 26, 1959, Maria boarded the Chicago bound Super Constellation in Rome Ciampino airport; she was going to visit her sister in law Laura Capon (widow of Enrico Fermi) in the USA, where she planned to hold a series of conferences on contemporary Italian literature. After encountering some difficulty in getting the visa, her purpose was materializing with Flight 891; then, a few hours after takeoff, she died. According to what is told in Olgiate Olona since 1959, the sister of famous scientist had expressed the desire to be buried in the place where her life would finish. The research on the documents kept in the archives of Municipality of Olgiate Olona found the truth; her three children decided the place of burial of Maria Fermi Sacchetti: Gabriella, teacher, in 1959 married and resident in Milan; Giorgio, graduated in piano at the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome; Ida, in 1959 was a teacher in a high school in north of Italy. It is not excluded - nor proved - that by doing so her children fulfilled their mother’s will, as the oral tale of the disaster handed down during the years. Maria Fermi Sacchetti is buried in the cemetery of Olgiate Olona since June 29, 1959.

(1959) Extracts from messages of thanks sent to Olgiate Olona mayor Carlo Ferrari after the plane crash:

«In this very sad time for us, the courtesy you have used towards us was really comforting»
(Maria Fermi’s children).

«We were really touched by the commitment of the Authorities and the people in helping the relatives of our beloved in every way, just like a friend would do with his friend and a relative with his relative. We will always remember and be grateful for all that has been done»
(notary Ernesto Fermi).

On June 26, 2009, Gabriella Sacchetti, daughter of Maria Fermi Sacchetti (the only one living of her three children), returned with her husband to Olgiate Olona to attend the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the plane crash and to pray at the grave of her mother. For this anniversary the mistake done on the tombstone of the grave in 1959 was corrected - the date of birth that is visible today, April 12, 1899, is correct; a marble plaque was added, it reads: “In memoria di Maria Fermi Sacchetti vittima del disastro aereo del 26 giugno 1959 il Comune di Olgiate Olona coi familiari pose venerdì 26 giugno 2009 nel 50° anniversario” (translation: in memory of Maria Fermi Sacchetti, victim of the plane crash of June 26, 1959. The Municipality of Olgiate Olona together with her family posed on Friday, June 26, 2009 on the 50th anniversary).

(2009) Gabriella Sacchetti told:

«I wish my mother to be remembered for her selflessness and bravery. During the Nazi occupation of Rome she hosted six Jewish people in her modest house by saving them from deportation: two teenage boys, a mother with a small child, a middle-aged lady and an old man. She also tried to save the old jew father of her sister in-law, Mr. Capon. Having received information that the Nazis would have gone in many homes of Jews on a Saturday, she went to him three days before trying to convince him to come to our house. The old man refused not wanting to believe in such brutality of the Nazis; so he was deported three days after and died in the gas chambers. For this reason, in Israel there is a tree with the name Maria Fermi. When in 1959 she decided to go to Chicago to meet her sister in law, the widow of her brother Enrico, the officials did not want to give her a visa to enter the USA, because she had taken great care of Danilo Dolci [sociologist, poet, nonviolent activist born in 1924 and died in 1997: in 1943 he escaped from Nazi-Fascists, in 1950 he joined Nomadelfia of Don Zeno Saltini, in 1952 he moved to Sicily where he promoted nonviolent struggles against mafia and underdevelopment and for rights and labor; he was called the Gandhi of Partinico and suffered persecution and processes, ed] and therefore she was considered a dangerous person. My mother wrote in one of her last letters, “It’s good if I go, good if I stay”. An important person of the U.S. government intervened at the last moment: finally she got the visa, as the sister of Enrico Fermi. In her last phone call from Malpensa Airport she told me that she had spent the first few hours of the flight from Rome to try to console the lady who was sitting next to her, a peasant from Puglia who was terrified by the airplane [ie, Mrs. Francesca Pellecchia Mariani]. My mother was a teacher of literature at high school. Many students remembered her readings and explanations of Dante. At school she was known for her calm attitude in the classroom. No one ever heard she raising her voice. She had a beautiful voice that sounded particularly good even from a distance without being sharp. Our mother was widowed with three children, the last one was less than a year. When we were kids she was too severe with us, but when we became teenagers she let us educate her and then she was transforming with us. She had a beautiful open smile. In these 50 years after her death, neither I nor my brothers (now dead, too) have visited her grave. During this time she has always been with us. I never thought of going to look for her grave. However, and this may seem like a contradiction, I had great pleasure in knowing that a lady of Olgiate Olona brought fresh flowers to her grave. When I heard this I was moved, because this lady of Olgiate, without having ever known my mother, imagined something of my mother, something that was to be honored. In fact this is true. How I regret I cannot thank this sensitive lady!».

Ferrando Fratelli (age 61)

Born June 16, 1898, in Milan (Italy), son of Giuseppe Fratelli and Filomena Spoltini. Art merchant, married to Lucienne Imbérj, resident in Milan and domiciled in Paris, the center of his business for thirty-two years. He was known among antiquarians in Milan and France and among the producers of short films. Together with his partner Mario Restelli, Ferrando opened a studio in Brescia square where he usually stopped to sleep when he was in Milan: indeed as a sign of gratitude, before leaving for the airport he gave a golden necklace to his partner’s sister in law.

Taking advantage of the holiday weekend of June 26, 1959, Ferrando was returning to Paris where he lived with his wife. He boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. He was an experienced traveler and often confided to friends that during air travels he only feared the lightning - a very curious and tragic detail in retrospect: that lightning on the afternoon of June 26, 1959 was fatal. His nephew Mario Fratelli that day was on holiday in Cannero (Maggiore lake, Italy) and he heard his uncle Ferrando talk about his journey to Paris and the Super Constellation a few hours before. He learned the tragic news from television and rushed to Malpensa Airport by car; when he was confirmed the death of his uncle, he fainted. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, Ferrando’s remains were sent to his town of residence in France. Ferrando Fratelli was survived by his wife Lucienne.

Gian Pietro Giordana (age 46)

Born September 25, 1912, in Rome (Italy), son of Tullio Giordana - jounalist and former editor of La tribuna and La gazzetta del popolo newspapers - and Clelia Bertollo. Law graduate, editor and journalist in Milan, brilliant and well-known professional journalist, Gian Pietro Giordana lived with his wife Bianca Maria Torrani and their five children in an elegant apartment in Milan. Former editor of Settebello weekly comic, he was head of Montecatini press and since 1948 managing director and CEO of the publisher Selezione, the Italian version of Reader’s digest. After September 8, 1943, during the World War II, officer Gian Pietro Giordana was parachuted among the partisan forces in Piemonte (Italy) and was decorated with the bronze medal for military valor.

On June 26, 1959, he reached Milan Malpensa Airport by car accompanied by his wife - who greeted him before boarding the plane - and the driver Vittorio Castagnaro. Meanwhile, his children Franco and Barbara were in Milan and were about to leave for a course of summer skiing, while Marco Tullio and Emanuele were on vacation in a villa near Crema (Italy). For business purposes Giordana was used to transoceanic flights bound for the U.S.; at Paris-Orly Airport he would have left the Super Constellation, having booked a flight to New York with another TWA aircraft. Before the solemn funerals of June 29, 1959, his remains were sent to Crema in whose cemetery Giordana was later buried. Gian Pietro Giordana was survived by his wife Bianca Maria and their five children, Franco, Barbara, Claudia, Marco Tullio (who later became a famous film director) and Emanuele.

(2014) Testimony of Emanuele Giordana (son):

«I was six years old at the time and I saw and heard the news of the plane crash on the evening news on June 26, without fully understanding what had happened. My maternal grandmother (I was with my brother Marco Tullio) drove us immediately to bed, and then I experienced the pain of my mother, the long funeral, the death of my dad as a kind of lucid nightmare that perhaps I tried to keep my distance from ».

Pasquale Graffeo (age 64)

Born March 22, 1895, in Palermo (Italy), son of Emanuele Graffeo and Antonina Cerasola. A goldsmith and silvermith by profession, he lived in Palermo together with his wife, the former Vincenza Pisciotta, and a daughter.

After having visited two of his sons who lived in Lombardia, on June 26, 1959 Pasquale boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa Airport. He was on his way to Chicago for meeting the other two sons: one was a catholic priest graduated in medicine, the other was owner of a silverware factory. In order to take this particular trip, Graffeo boarded a plane for the first time in his life: unfortunately, for a fatal coincidence, it was the only and the last one. After the plane crash his remains were sent to St. Stephen church in Sesto San Giovanni (Milan). Pasquale was survived by his wife, Vincenza, and their children Concetta, Emanuele, Antonina, Guglielmo and Andrea.

(2009) Pasquale Emanuele Graffeo (grandson) remembered:

«On that day I was in Olgiate Olona during that tragic event, even if I don’t remember absolutely anything because I was two year old only. My father Andrea told me that we were in Malpensa Airport to greet my grandfather Pasquale who was leaving for America to meet his two sons who he had not seen for a long time. Then we heard the news of the accident right after the plane departed. Three children of my grandfather Pasquale are still alive: my father, my uncle Guglielmo who lives in Chicago, and my aunt Antonina who still lives in Palermo; unfortunately, other two children, my uncle Emanuele and my aunt Concetta, died recently».

Eleonora Kraft Fantoni Sellon (age 48)

Born November 10, 1910 in Florence (Italy), daughter of Gerard Franz Konstantin Kraft and Marie Louise Antoinette Vogt. Originating from a wealthy family, Eleonora Kraft was married to Giovannangelo Fantoni Sellon and lived in Florence. Eleonora was a well-known person in the Tuscan capital, in Italy and in Europe. In fact, Kraft was (and descendants still are) a prestigious and well-known family of hotel entrepreneurs. Together with her father Gerardo - she was his only child - her uncle Emilio and her cousin Hermann - eldest son of Emilio - Eleonora (known as Nora) was managing two luxurious hotels in Florence, Hotel Italia and Grand Hotel, opened by her grandfather Gerard Bernardo in the late nineteenth century, famous for hosting European sovereigns and illustrious Italian and worldwide personalities.

Aiming to increase business and prestige, Eleonora and her cousin Hermann were planning to acquire a luxury hotel in Paris and to manage it together; therefore, she boarded the Super Constellation on June 26, 1959, bound for the French capital. Eleonora’s relatives remembered that she arrived late at Malpensa Airport and the crew had to reopen the airplane door. That trip aimed to evaluate new and ambitious business opportunities was fatal for Eleonora Kraft’s life and for the fate of her two famous hotels: in 1959 - few weeks after the plane crash and as direct consequence of the disaster - the hotels were sold to Compagnia italiana grandi alberghi (Ciga) company. Eleonora’s remains were among those hard to be identified, however they were taken from the St. John the Baptist church of Busto Arsizio before the solemn funeral rites of June 29, 1959, and then sent to Florence. The funeral rite was celebrated in the Protestant Waldensian Church of Lungarno Soderini; then Eleonora’s remains were buried in the Cimitero agli allori cemetery in Florence. Unfortunately this operation - probably made in haste and inaccurately - caused a serious mistake: the exchange of mortal remains. So, later, the coffin buried in Florence on June 29, 1959, was disinterred and the real woman’s body was handed over to her family members.

Francesca Mariani (Francesca Pellecchia, age 61)

Born March 17, 1898, in Ceglie del Campo, Italy, daughter of Nicola Pellecchia and Santa Catella. Widow of Francesco Mariani, Francesca Mariani was resident in Bari where she worked as farmer.

On June 26, 1959, she boarded the Super Constellation at Ciampino airport in Rome; she was on her way to join her relatives immigrated to the United States. Terrified by the plane, during the flight from Rome to Milan she was comforted by the person sitting next to her, Maria Fermi Sacchetti. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, her remains were sent to her hometown.

Valerio Reggiani (age 29)

Born July 4, 1929 in Selvino (Bergamo, Italy), son of knight of labor Arnaldo Reggiani and Beatrice Giulia Von Wunster. Valerio Reggiani was a textile industrialist, nicknamed “Levo” from his family, friends and acquaintances, including many textile manufacturers in Busto Arsizio and the region of Varese. Unmarried, a graduate in chemistry, he lived in Bergamo and was the managing director along with his brother Duccio of the big firm Reggiani Manifattura S.p.A.; he was considered one of the wealthy and brilliant young men of Bergamo high society. Together with his brother Duccio, “Levo” Reggiani was among the supporters of the Valli Bergamasche (also called La Valli), the motorcycle race of regularity organized by the Moto Club Bergamo for the first time in 1948 which became a classic race within a few years and in 1969 was included among the races of the Enduro European Championship (note: later the race will be named Levo and Duccio Reggiani Trophy in memory of the two brothers).

Having refused the proposal of his brother Duccio to spend the weekend with friends at the sea, Valerio opted for a holiday in Paris and - given the persistent bad weather - decided to go to the French capital by plane instead of by car. On June 26, 1959, he traveled from Bergamo to Milan Malpensa Airport by car: he took the wheel in place of the driver of the company, Giovanni Sperani, who was with him. They arrived late at the airport; Reggiani was the last to register and was invited by the TWA staff to wait for the next flight. However he ran toward the Super Constellation which had the engines already running, and since he was used to leaving from Malpensa Airport on Friday he was recognized by the crew members: the staff approached the ladder to the aircraft once again, the crew members opened the door and then took him on board. While traveling back to Bergamo along the motorway, the driver Sperani saw the plane falling down; with bad feelings he went back to the airport where he received confirmation of the tragedy.

Family and friends commented about Reggiani’s fate: «He was late, but not enough». On Saturday June 27th the workers of his company put a bouquet of red roses on his worktable. Valerio’s remains were collected from the church of Busto Arsizio before the solemn funerals of Monday June 29th and were sent to the Protestan Waldesian Church in Bergamo.

Emilio Sarchi (age 34) and his wife Natalina Suardi (29)

Emilio Sarchi, born June 16, 1925, in Milan (Italy), son of Giovanni Sarchi and Teresa Botticelli. He was manager of the factory Sarchi Giovanni e figli - Emilio was the holder together with his sister Adele - specialized in supplies for watchmakers. Natalina Suardi, born August 1, 1929, in Milan (Italy), daughter of Francesco Suardi and Cesarina Gualdoni. Housewife, she was a former champion of skating on wheels.

The young spouses were living in Milan and taking advantage of the lively weekend [June 29 was still public holiday in 1959] Emilio convinced Natalina to go together in France, combining a business appointment and a short vacation. Thus, they left their apartment in Milan and entrusted their six-year-old child Giorgio to their grandparents and the maid. Emilio and Natalina, both practicing sport, had been married for ten years; for that long desired short trip they decided to return to Paris, which was the destination of their honeymoon. They were finally realizing a dream, but the opportunity to relive the honeymoon that started their life together took them - always together - to close their earthly adventure. Their relatives came to Olgiate Olona at around midnight on June 26, 1959, and wanted to face the tragic vision of the fuselage containing the charred remains of the victims. The same relatives remembered that Emilio, while he was cutting from a newspaper an article about the tragedy of the “great Torino” football team, commented: «It must be terrible to die on an airplane». The remains of the spouses left Busto Arsizio and were taken to the Monumentale cemetery in Milan.

(2009) Giorgio Sarchi (son) told:

«It was a summer day in 1959. I had just finished my first school year. I was living with my parents on the fourth floor of a building in Viale Papiniano in Milan; my uncle and aunt with my cousin Alberto were living on the floor below. Me and my cousin Alberto had pretty much the same age, forty days of difference; we were always together at school, at home while playing or on holidays, as well as our parents who worked together in the company founded by our grandfather ten years earlier. We were pratically brothers. That day, June 26, my mom was trying some clothes to take with her for their first trip alone after my birth. I don’t think I asked to take me with them. It was just a weekend after all. Instead I Insisted that she took the black dress with red roses that I liked so much. This is my last memory of my parents. Then I remember a great agitation with all my grandparents in our house: I was struck by their expression of pain that I could not understand. And the question that I must have asked countless times: but when are they coming back? I don’t remember their answers. I remember however that someone told me after an interminable time: «They won’t come back anymore, they are in heaven». And so in a moment, my uncle, my aunt, my cousin and their home have become my new family, simply and for love. I can not say I have suffered any particular trauma for this: it is as if I had been transferred into an environment that was already mine. Since then I grew up as if I had not lost my parents; even I remember that my uncle asked me a few years later: «Do you want to call me dad and your aunt mom?». It is maybe the most beautiful question that I have been asked. I have been very lucky. For years my new dad and my new mom had been fighting a difficult case for damages against the TWA on my behalf: and they won in the end allowing me to have a base for the future. I’ll never be grateful enough to them: I lost and found a family at the same time. I think that for a child of six years this is all that matters».

Friday June 26, 2009, Giorgio Sarchi attended the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the plane crash in Olgiate Olona together with his uncle who became his “new dad” after the tragedy.

George Ellis (age 48) and his wife Marguerite Cambet (51)

George Ellis was born September 2, 1910, in Walthamston (London, U.K.), son of Isaac Ellis and Elizabeth Quail, both from Belfast, U.K. He joined TWA in 1946 after seven years military service; he had been cargo sales supervisor since 1952. His wife, Marguerite Cambet, was born November 15, 1907, in Paris, daughter of Marius and Louisenicole Cambet.

On June 26, 1959, they boarded the Super Constellation in Athens; their remains were identified with difficulty and then sent to Paris. George and Marguerite Ellis were survived by their adopted three-year-old daughter.

Percy Charles Nicholls (age 44)

Born March 23, 1915, in London, England, son of Ernest and Clare Nicholls. Percy Charles Nicholls was the director of the design department of Simpson’s, the Piccadilly tailors, London.

On June 29, 1959, Percy Charles (Nick) was flying on the plane with his colleague and friend Albert John Palmer: they lived seven doors from each other in Morshead Mansions (London) and were returning from a business trip in some big European cities. Paris would have been their final destination. Percy Charles was survived by his wife Irene Amelia and three children.

F. Brame - deputy managing director of Simpson’s - said: «Albert and Percy had brilliant futures in the business and their deaths are a tragic loss to the firm. They were two of our most efficient young men».
Since the remains of Nicholls and his colleague Palmer were not identified, a metal plate bearing their names was placed over the coffin containing the remains of mortal bodies not related to any of the victims of the plane crash. The coffin - marked with the number 67 – was buried in the cemetery of Busto Arsizio (Italy) on July 5, 1959, and later, on July 24, 1980, it was moved in a niche of the same cemetery. The remains of U.S. victims Corinne and Michael Martino - buried in the cemetery of Busto Arsizio on July 5, 1959 – were also placed in that same niche on July 3, 1997. These historical elements were ascertained only during the reconnaissance of the niche occurred in 2010.

Sophie Bailie - granddaughter of Percy Charles Nicholls, with Jennifer Ann and Jeremy Nicholls (Percy’s daughter and son) and Frédéric, India and Timothy (Percy’s grandchildren) - wrote in June 2010: «I don’t know how can I and my family thank enough all the involved persons have done to remember the victims of this plane crash. I just told my mum what you found out about Percy, I can tell you that we are all in tears here! But good one! We are so happy. We would be very happy to come to your town to meet you. I have to admit that we are really experiencing an intense emotion, because fifty years have passed and I personally have never known my grandfather, but these researches have opened up a hole in my heart and in the hearts of my mother and my uncles: it is difficult to interpret in writing!».

On June 19, 2010 - in the presence of Jeremy and Jennifer Ann and their children: Frédéric, Sophie, India and Timothy - Irene Amelia Nicholls’ ashes were buried near the remains of her husband Percy Charles in the cemetery of Busto Arsizio: so Irene’s last wish was fulfilled.
That same day, the relatives of Percy Charles were welcomed in the town hall of Olgiate Olona by the mayor Giorgio Volpi; later they all visited the memorial of the air disaster in street “via 26 Giugno”.

The day after the visit to Olgiate Olona and Busto Arsizio, Sophie sent this message:

«I wish to thank you sincerely for your welcome on June 19, 2010. Thank you once more for all your help and efforts to reunite Irene Amelia and Percy Charles together. I’m happy to know that they both rest in the same place now. I spent a wonderful day, your telling about the tragedy of the air crash filled me with emotions. I never knew my grandfather, but thanks to your research, your book, he is part of my life for the future. I hope to meet you very soon and thank you again for everything».

THE HIDDEN TRUTH EMERGED AFTER THE DEATH OF IRENE AMELIA NICHOLLS AND HER DESIRE TO BE REUNITED WITH HER HUSBAND

In the second decade of June 2010, upon request of the relatives of Percy Charles Nicholls - one of the four victims of the plane crash who have rested in the cemetery of Busto Arsizio since July 5, 1959 - Alberto Colombo took care to organize their welcome to Olgiate Olona and to check the feasibility of their wish: to reunite Irene Amelia Nicholls’s ashes - who passed away on February 2010 - and Percy Charles’ mortal remains.

Thanks to the precious and friendly collaboration of Gaetano Carbonara and his funeral service company Caccia Services, Alberto Colombo contacted the managers of Cemetery Services of Municipality of Busto Arsizio who confirmed the impossibility of placing Irene Amelia Nicholls’ ashes in the same loculus containing the remains of Percy Charles Nicholls; as an alternative they proposed the possibility of placing the ashes of Irene Amelia Nicholls and the remains of Percy Charles Nicholls together in a new cell.
For this purpose, on June 17, 2010 afternoon the Cemetery Services of Busto Arsizio performed the reconnaissance of the burial niche located in the E7 archway containing the remains of four victims of the plane crash of June 26, 1959, in the presence of Alberto Colombo that was delegated by Percy Charles Nicholls’ family. This operation led to an unexpected discovery which revealed a historical novelty: two British colleagues perished in the plane crash of Olgiate Olona, Albert John Palmer and Percy Charles Nicholls were never identified. The big zinc casket manufactured in the Fifties carrying a metal plate with the inscription “Nicholls Percy Palmer Albert” turned out to be the coffin marked with number “67” in 1959 and defined “casket with human remains” by the judicial Authority, that one containing body parts belonged to several victims of the plane crash of June 26, 1959 and not related to anyone of them in particular.

Percy Charles Nicholls’ relatives reached Olgiate Olona in the evening of June 18, 2010. Percy’s daughter (Jennifer Ann Marchand, living in Switzerland) and son (Jeremy Nicholls, living in Canada) were leading the group.
The next morning Alberto Colombo explained the situation and the outcome of the reconnaissance to the relatives of Percy Charles Nicholls and confirmed the impossibility to reunite the mortal remains of Percy Charles and his wife Irene Amelia.

On June 19, 2010 the relatives of Percy Charles Nicholls together with Alberto Colombo attended the repositioning of the mortal remains of four victims of the plane crash in the niche of E7 archway and the subsequent sealing of the tomb; then they attended the burial of Irene Amelia Nicholls’ ashes. The tombstone over the cell says: “Irene Amelia Nicholls (1920-2010) wife of Percy Charles dead in the plane crash of Olgiate Olona 1959”.
After the stop at the cemetery of Busto Arsizio, Percy Charles Nicholls’ relatives still accompanied by Alberto Colombo were welcomed by mayor Giorgio Volpi at the town hall of Olgiate Olona; later they visited the memorial in “via 26 Giugno” street together.

Link to the full document:
Percy Charles Nicholls and Irene Amelia Nicholls reunited - The unpublished historical truth

Albert John Palmer (age 42)

Born June 1, 1917 in London, United Kingdom, son of Albert and Rosa Palmer. Albert John Palmer was the design manager and a member of executive committee of Simpson’s, the Piccadilly tailors, London; he had worked for the company for 21 years.

On June 26, 1959, Albert John was flying on the plane with his colleague and friend Percy Charles Nicholls: they lived seven doors from each other in Morshead Mansions (London) and were returning from a business trip in some big European cities. Paris would have been their final destination. F. Brame - deputy managing director of Simpson’s - said: «Albert and Percy had brilliant futures in the business and their deaths are a tragic loss to the firm. They were two of our most efficient young men». Albert John was survived by his wife Patricia and his son Christopher.

Since the remains of Palmer and his colleague Nicholls were not identified, a metal plate bearing their names was placed over the coffin containing the remains of mortal bodies not related to any of the victims of the plane crash. The coffin - marked with the number 67 – was buried in the cemetery of Busto Arsizio (Italy) on July 5, 1959, and later, on July 24, 1980, it was moved in a niche of the same cemetery. The remains of U.S. victims Corinne and Michael Martino - buried in the cemetery of Busto Arsizio on July 5, 1959 – were also placed in that same niche on July 3, 1997. These historical elements were ascertained only during the reconnaissance of the niche occurred in 2010.

THE HIDDEN TRUTH EMERGED AFTER THE DEATH OF IRENE AMELIA NICHOLLS AND HER DESIRE TO BE REUNITED WITH HER HUSBAND

In the second decade of June 2010, upon request of the relatives of Percy Charles Nicholls - one of the four victims of the plane crash who have rested in the cemetery of Busto Arsizio since July 5, 1959 - Alberto Colombo took care to organize their welcome to Olgiate Olona and to check the feasibility of their wish: to reunite Irene Amelia Nicholls’s ashes - who passed away on February 2010 - and Percy Charles’ mortal remains.

Thanks to the precious and friendly collaboration of Gaetano Carbonara and his funeral service company Caccia Services, Alberto Colombo contacted the managers of Cemetery Services of Municipality of Busto Arsizio who confirmed the impossibility of placing Irene Amelia Nicholls’ ashes in the same loculus containing the remains of Percy Charles Nicholls; as an alternative they proposed the possibility of placing the ashes of Irene Amelia Nicholls and the remains of Percy Charles Nicholls together in a new cell.
For this purpose, on June 17, 2010 afternoon the Cemetery Services of Busto Arsizio performed the reconnaissance of the burial niche located in the E7 archway containing the remains of four victims of the plane crash of June 26, 1959, in the presence of Alberto Colombo that was delegated by Percy Charles Nicholls’ family. This operation led to an unexpected discovery which revealed a historical novelty: two British colleagues perished in the plane crash of Olgiate Olona, Albert John Palmer and Percy Charles Nicholls were never identified. The big zinc casket manufactured in the Fifties carrying a metal plate with the inscription “Nicholls Percy Palmer Albert” turned out to be the coffin marked with number “67” in 1959 and defined “casket with human remains” by the judicial Authority, that one containing body parts belonged to several victims of the plane crash of June 26, 1959 and not related to anyone of them in particular.

Percy Charles Nicholls’ relatives reached Olgiate Olona in the evening of June 18, 2010. Percy’s daughter (Jennifer Ann Marchand, living in Switzerland) and son (Jeremy Nicholls, living in Canada) were leading the group.
The next morning Alberto Colombo explained the situation and the outcome of the reconnaissance to the relatives of Percy Charles Nicholls and confirmed the impossibility to reunite the mortal remains of Percy Charles and his wife Irene Amelia.

On June 19, 2010 the relatives of Percy Charles Nicholls together with Alberto Colombo attended the repositioning of the mortal remains of four victims of the plane crash in the niche of E7 archway and the subsequent sealing of the tomb; then they attended the burial of Irene Amelia Nicholls’ ashes. The tombstone over the cell says: “Irene Amelia Nicholls (1920-2010) wife of Percy Charles dead in the plane crash of Olgiate Olona 1959”.
After the stop at the cemetery of Busto Arsizio, Percy Charles Nicholls’ relatives still accompanied by Alberto Colombo were welcomed by mayor Giorgio Volpi at the town hall of Olgiate Olona; later they visited the memorial in “via 26 Giugno” street together.

Link to the full document:
Percy Charles Nicholls and Irene Amelia Nicholls reunited - The unpublished historical truth

Farid Geargeoura (age 47)

Born October 11, 1911, in Alexandria (Egypt), son of Towsic Geargeoura and Rosa Asaad. Married, at the time of the plane crash Farid Geargeoura was living in Le Chesnay Seine-et-Oise (France).

On June 26, 1959, he boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, Farid’s remains were sent to his place of residence.

Jacques Rock (age 32)

Born September 11, 1926, in Paris, France, son of Maurice Rock and Marguerite Durot.

On June 26, 1959, Jacques Rock boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to Paris, France, with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959.

Ernest Rotter (age 51)

Born June 9, 1908, in Mo Kré (Poland), son of Max Rotter and Regina Manneberg. Ernest (Ernie) Rotter was a graduate in law - he studied in Breslau, Vienna and at the University of Paris; he also worked as a judge. In 1940 he left France and departed for North Africa by joining the Foreign Legion. In November 1942 he helped the American troops in the North African war. Ernest joined the American Red Cross in Casablanca as an administrative assistant in March 1943 and a few months later he was integrated into U.S. Military Aviation Command. Resident in Paris, unmarried, he joined TWA in 1946 as a manager of air traffic at Paris-Orly Airport and later became responsible for overseas industrial relations. Ernest was always appreciated for his creative spirit and enthusiasm. TWA Skyliner magazine remembered among other things his role of Santa Claus during the Christmas party at the club of TWA employees.

On June 26, 1959, Rotter boarded the Super Constellation in Rome Ciampino airport. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to France with TWA special flight 9099/02 on Friday July 3, 1959, together with those of the other six French victims of the plane crash of June 26, 1959. Ernest were survived by his brother, Herbert Rotter of Haifa (Israel).

Jeann Renée Rousseau (age 23)

Born December 28, 1935, in Oran (Algeria), daughter of René Rousseau and Simonne Ragot.

On June 26, 1959, Jeann Renée Rousseau boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, her burial was arranged by her sister who lived in Paris, France.

Sonia Labbe Quinteros (age 24), her son Luis Quinteros Jr. (7)
and her daughter Pilar Quinteros (5)

Sonia Labbe was born January 25, 1935, in Santiago of Chile, she was daughter of Florencio Labbe and Elena Perez de Echeverria. On June 26, 1959, she boarded the Super Constellation in Athens with her son Luis Quinteros Jr. (born in 1952) and her daughter Pilar Quinteros - born April 16, 1954, in Santiago of Chile. They were the wife and the children of Luis Quinteros, Chilean consul in Tokyo (Japan). After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, their remains were sent to USA with TWA special flight 9099/02 on July 3, 1959. Sonia and her children’s remains were then sent to their hometown.

We report an article published in the Texan newspaper San Antonio Express and News of Sunday June 28, 1959:

Olgiate Olona, Italy (Reuters) - The remains of an infant in arms were found unexpectedly Saturday night - in the twisted wreckage, of a Trans-World airliner, bringing the total number of victims to 69. The tiny, charred body, in the embrace of its dead mother, was one of the last to be extricated from the wreckage by Italian Red Cross workers in this north Italian village. Officials had believed there were only 68 persons - 59 passengers and a crew of nine - aboard the Super-Constellation which crashed Friday. The infant had not been registered on the passenger list. Its mother, Mrs. Quinteros, is believed to be the wife of the Chilean consul in Tokyo. (...)

Considered that the name of Luis Quinteros Jr. was in the passengers list of some journeys between 1952 and 1957 together with the names of Luis, Sonia and Pilar - all in possession of diplomatic passports - it is virtually certain that this infant is the unnamed passenger perished in the plane crash of Olgiate Olona and found in the embrace of Sonia Labbe Quinteros.
Being the son of the Chilean consul in Tokyo explains how it happened that his name was not listed on the register of boarding of TWA, and the non-disclosure of the identity of this passenger in any official document or to the mass media; an exception to the rule was made in this case: his identity was inexplicably missed by other mass media (including the local newspapers) but not by the Reuters agency correspondent; also this event was inexplicably silenced by a diplomatic person.
In these circumstances, for the registry office, Luis Quinteros Jr. has never died.

Hermann Zwi Carmely (age 53)

Born December 21, 1905, in Berindia (Romania), son of Samuel Chilewitz and Sarah Feinkuchen. Hermann Zwi Carmely was among the survivors of his family decimated during World War II and the Holocaust of the Jews in Eastern Europe. He moved to Italy after the war. At the time of the plane crash he was living in Milan with his wife, Shoshana Aranka Licht (1910-2001), and their son Ted. Their daughter, Lea, got married in 1957 and moved to the USA. Carmely was a known and respected member of the Jewish community in Milan, he was a merchant of cloths and raincoats and his company was located in via Agnello in Milan.

On June 26, 1959, he boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. His remains were collected from the church of Busto Arsizio before the solemn funerals and were sent to the synagogue in Milan first, then to Tel Aviv.

Peter Fröhn (age 37)

Born April 27, 1922, in Aachen (former West Germany), son of Lambert and Magdalena Maria Fröhn. At the time of the plane crash, Peter Fröhn was married and resident in Columbus, Georgia, USA.

On June 26, 1959, he boarded the Super Constellation in Milan Malpensa airport. The days following the plane crash, some mass media reported his name wrongly, as “Fröhm”, by stating that he was of Austrian nationality. To avoid misunderstandings, on June 28, 1959, the Municipality of Olgiate Olona sent a telegram of condolence to the Austrian consulate. After the solemn funerals in Busto Arsizio, Italy, his remains were sent to his country of residence.

Jean Georges Brahamsha (age 25)

Born May 10, 1934 in Ondurman (Khartoum, Sudan), of Egyptian origin, son of George Brahamsha and Alice Shahme.

After the plane crash his name was reported incorrectly in some newspapers: Brahamanche. His remains were sent to his hometown, Khartoum.