I have written about the Forese Family before. Specifically covering the story of little Maria 2 (7 years old) who died tragically in a fire in 1919, the passing of Maria’s 2 younger sister Angelina in 1917 and the passing of their mother, Rosa (DeSantis) in 1920, as well as touching briefly on the remaining family.
This week I received an email from Dr. John Sherry. Researching his family, he discovered the blog and contacted me. I am always so thankful to hear from family and so grateful for their willingness to add to our shared family story. John and I connect through the marriage of his grandmother Maria 1(Mary) Forese and my grandfather’s sister Julia Civitano. Julia married Nicholas Forese, Mary’s brother. With Johns help and information it is time for me to revisit his family.
Michele Forese b. 21 Sept. 1873 and Rosa De Santis, b. 1 July 1876 both from Grumo Appula, Bari, Italy married on January 9, 1897, in Grumo.
They had four children born in Italy. First was daughter Maria 1 b.1898, followed by Nicola b.1900 who did not survive past infancy and died in 1900. On the 12 July 1902 son Nicholas 1 (Nicola) was born followed by another Nicholas 2 (Nicola) in 1908. (for the sake of repeating names I have added 1, 2 and 3 to make it less confusing – hopefully)
Father Michele Forese left for New York arriving on April 2nd aboard the S.S. Weimar. He was traveling to his cousin Giovanni Forese living at 240 E. 79th St. N.Y.C.. Rosa, under her maiden name, De Santis, along with her three children Maria 1 (11) under Nicola 1(Nicholas)(8) Nicola 2 (Nicolas) (2) left behind father-in-law Nicola Forese, traveling aboard the S.S. Florida to join her husband. They arrived at Ellis Island, New York on May 9, 1911.
Rosa and Michele added two more daughters to their family once she arrived. Maria 2 was born on Aug 23, 1912 followed by Angelina in 1916. (the daughters who passed away very young)
Their oldest daughter Maria 1, married Michele (Michael) Sinisi. Michael was the son of Nicola Sinisi (abt.1855) and Rosa Rella (abt.1861) both of Grumo Appula, Italy.
Maria 1 (Forese) and Michael Sinisi had 9 children.
Nicholas (Nick) b. 1918, Rose Louise b. 1919, Rose (Dolly) 1924, twins Sam and Michael b. 1925, Elizabeth (Bibit) b. 1926, Joseph b. 1928, Maria 3 b. 1931 and Anthony b. 1938
Below is the wonderful family photo of Maria and Michael Sinisi with all their children courtesy of Dr. John Sherry.
Michael Sinisi Family 1938/39
This is such a precious photo. Maria 3 (Mary) in the front row on the end is John’s mother. I love the boys in the front…so much personality.
Michael Sinisi passed away on October 14, 1951, his wife Maria 1 lived another 17 years before passing away on January 10, 1978, New Jersey. They are together at rest at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, East Orange, New Jersey
Of their nine children, three are still living together. twin Michael Jr., Elizabeth (Bibit) and Anthony. God Bless them!
Nicholas 3 (Nick) was born September 29, 1917 New York. Nicholas 3 served our country in the Army. He enlisted on June 4, 1941, Trenton, N.J.. He was married to Carmella (Mildred) Santucci in April of 1952. Nicholas passed away on February 17, 1995 in Florida. He was buried at Southern Memorial Park in N. Miami, Florida.
WWII Draft registration (ancestry.com)
Rose Louise born October 10, 1919 New Jersey. She passed away at 93 years old on Jan. 20, 2013, Brick, N.J. She had married Salvatore Strafaci.
Rose Laura (aka Dolly) was born in 1924. She went on to marry Nicholas Spano. I was able to locate their wedding announcement using newspaper.com. appearing in The Courier News 16 Jan. 1947 . page 14
If the name Spano rings a bell, it should as Spano is a familiar name in our tree. I tried briefly to see if I could locate a cousin connection for this marriage. I found another researcher with unproven information which showed parents for this Nicholas (aka Rocco/Rocky) who were from Bari, Puglia, Italy.
Next born were twins Samuel and Michael Sinisi. I was able to locate their WWI draft registration, which gave me their birthdate.
WWII Draft Registration (ancestry.com)
Samuel married Florence DeStefano. Samuel passed away on Jan. 19, 2012, New Jersey. He is entombed at St Joseph Cemetery in Toms River, New Jersey.
*after posting I heard from John that Samuel and twin brother Michael had married sisters but he was not sure of her name. I was able to confirm this fact, Michael married Geraldine DeStefano, Florences sister. Their parents were Salvatore and Rose DeStefano.
Elizabeth was affectionately known as Bibit. John shared this photo of Bibit holding him on his Christening day. Also in the photo, his father John Sherry and Godfather George Vainer.
Joseph Sinisi was born on 25 May, 1927 in East Orange New Jersey. Joseph served his country in the Army during WWII. From ancestry.com his draft registration.
Joseph passed on 24 Mar 2004 in Brielle, New Jersey. He is also entombed at St. Joseph Cemetery, Toms River, New Jersey.
Mary Rose Sinisi was John’s mother. She was born on May 9, 1930 East Orange, New Jersey. Mary was the niece of the husband of my grandaunt. John connects to me as the grandnephew of the husband of my grandaunt. I am so thankful for Ancestry easy quick explanations of connection. Mary is the sweet little girl on the left, front row in the family photo above. She married John Sherry in 1957. Mary Rose passed away on March 27, 2007, Dover, New Jersey.
John shared with me that his love for his family history was a shared love with his cousin Lynore Sinisi, daughter of Anthony and Marian Sinisi. Sadly, Lynore passed away on May 24, 2020 due to COVID. John wrote “I have been keeping this going, something we shared together.” Because of Lynore’s passion for her family history not only have John and I connected but I was able to put him touch with a direct line Forese cousin – Ann, his 1c1xr. Thank you Lynore for your love of preserving our family story.
This post is dedicated to the memory of Lynore M. Sinisi
Branches On Our Civitano Family Tree 
How sad that his cousin died from COVID. What a nightmare this has been. But it’s great that John found you and now has a new cousin to share family history with. And oh, wow, that picture with the nine children is incredible! NINE! I could barely handle two most of the time!
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Thank you Amy. Its been a real treat corresponding (as you know) That picture was truly wonderful – to have all nine together and looking so classic was great! I don’t think I could handle nine myself. (5 was a handful!)
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Wow, five! That’s remarkable!
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I raised 5 daughters 🙂
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Mazel tov!
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Hi! Just discovered your blog. Dolly Spano (Sinisi) married my uncle Rocky (Rocco Spano), who was my mother’s brother, and he was also my Godfather. Rocco was his name, not Nicholas; that was a misprint by the newspaper. Nicholas was his father, my grandfather. And, yes, my grandfather and grandmother were from Bari, Italy, but according to my mother, they came to this country when they were very young. My Aunt Dolly and Uncle Rocky had one daughter, Mary Rose, whom I’ve not seen or heard from in decades. While you and I aren’t directly related, it was lovely to see the photos and read familiar names.
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Hello Marie – It was very nice to hear from you. I am glad you found the blog. I actually have the email address for Mary Rose’s son John and if you would like to connect with him I would be more than happy to reach out to him for you. you can email me at nwpaintedlady@yahoo.com
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