we announce the passing of our husband and father
who joined God and the angels in Heaven on Monday
He passed away at home with his family by his side
in Marina di Gioiosa Ionica in the province of Calabria
to Maria Giuditta Restagno Femia and Nicola Femia
He emigrated to Masury in 1957 at the age of 16
where he was educated in the English language
Vincent worked at GATX Corporation in the repair shop for 18 years from 1965
he later was employed by the Teamsters union hall on construction projects from 1983 until his retirement in 2006
He was preceded in death by his parents; beloved sister
whom he married at Our Lady of Mount Caramel Basilica
Nick (Stacey) Femia of Canfield and Melissa (Charlie) Hess of Gilbert
Arizona; and five beautiful granddaughters
Caterina (Giuseppe) Commisso and Rocco (Kathy) Femia of Masury
and Anna Maria (Rocco) Barletta of Hubbard; as well as brothers-in-law
Frank Iaderosa and Donato D’Urso; and sister-in-law
He also leaves his adored nieces and nephews
He will further be greatly missed by many extended family members locally
He was active in the local Italian community as a member of Sons of Italy Lodge 2539
and often played bocce and cards with this group
they maintained and celebrated Italian traditions and culture
always having a cup or two of espresso to complete the evening
He also enjoyed hunting and bowling on the GATX team
and appreciated his occasional trips to the casino
always saving the vino cotto as an ingredient for his sisters to make Italian fig cookies
Vinny was also an avid gardener and could often be found cultivating his crops in his massive backyard garden
he waited for that very first red tomato so he could make a vegetable salad and utilized the bulk of the tomatoes for canning a year’s worth of Italian pasta sauce
He also treasured his return trips to Italia
where he visited his cousins and had the opportunity to share his birthland with his wife
With an astute and curious engineering mind
in combination with his strong hard work ethic
Vince was a problem solver and known to offer his huge heart to help others with their mechanical and electrical projects and challenges
Many regarded him as the smartest man they knew
despite him not attending college or completing high school once venturing to the USA
his greatest joys were his children and grandchildren
and he exuded such pride in their accomplishments
We extend heartfelt gratitude to all those who spent time making beautiful memories with him
A special thank you to Traditions Health Hospice
who did their very best to comfort him in his last weeks
A Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m
Please visit www.kcummins.com to view this obituary and send condolences to the family
Copyright © 2025 Eastern Ohio Newspapers, Inc. | https://www.vindy.com | 240 Franklin Street SE, Warren, OH 44482 | 330-841-1600 | Terms of Service
This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.
You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.
Print Reporting from RIACE
Italy — From the kitchen of their new apartment
Mohammed Ali and Kinda Nonoo watched their children run across a rooftop terrace with a view of the rolling green hills of southern Italy
They could see a shining sliver of the Mediterranean Sea
The tranquility of the scene was a marked change from war-torn Aleppo
which Ali and his family had fled nearly five years ago
and the chaotic situation they had found in Lebanon afterward
And unlike in Lebanon, where the estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees were seen as pulling jobs away from the local population
leaders in this Italian community were pinning their hopes on the refugees helping to rebuild its economy
The family from Aleppo had landed in the southern province of Reggio Calabria
an area that young Italians have largely abandoned in search of better economic opportunities in the north and abroad
leaving behind shuttered schools and fallow fields
In the four-story building the Syrian family now occupied
a flood of migrants and refugees have begun to replace the Italians who left
the percentage of foreign migrant workers in the Italian farm industry nearly doubled to 37% from 19%
according to the National Institute of Agricultural Economics
where Ali and his family settled when they first arrived in Italy
has garnered international attention in recent years for making a deliberate effort to attract migrants from around the world
Immigrants from more than 20 countries now make up one-third of the town’s population of 1,500
The Syrian couple and their five children arrived in Italy in late February via the “humanitarian corridors” program launched a year ago by a pair of nongovernmental organizations affiliated with the Catholic Church and a coalition of Protestant churches
funded by the money Italian citizens divert from their taxes to the churches
has brought about 800 Syrian refugees from Lebanon to communities throughout Italy since February 2016
It will bring 200 more refugees from Lebanon and possibly Morocco
along with about 500 Africans now living in Ethiopia
Many new arrivals cross the Mediterranean on smuggler boats — and many more don’t make it. Last year, more than 5,000 people died in the Mediterranean
according to the United Nations refugee agency
The main aim of the new humanitarian corridors project was to prevent refugees from attempting the dangerous sea crossing
said Paolo Naso of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy
Tahira Yasmine is one of about 500 immigrants living in the small town of Riace in southern Italy
works in a ceramics shop to support her husband and 2-year-old daughter
(Abby Sewell / For The Times) Under the new initiative
the church organizations fly the refugees to Rome and take them to their new homes in communities around the country
that a new generation of workers from abroad could help replace the nation’s shrinking workforce if they can be integrated into Italian society
“Our population is aging and declining and the decay is very severe
Italy has taken in fewer than 1,000 refugees through the official U.N
but has seen much larger numbers arriving in smuggler boats
The arrivals have been met with some surges of anti-immigrant sentiment. Last year, residents of the central town of Gorino put up barricades to block the arrival of a small group of refugee women. But migrants and refugees have also had an influential defender in Pope Francis, who has brought a few Syrian refugees to the Vatican and urged Catholic parishes to take in more
In Riace, the migrants come from sub-Saharan Africa
Immigrants herd sheep in the rolling hills surrounding the town
drive tractors on the winding road leading up to it
sweep the streets in the town square and work alongside Italian residents in the handful of artisan shops in the town’s center
The push to welcome migrants earned Lucano
a spot on Fortune magazine’s list of the world’s 50 greatest leaders last year
Mayor Domenico Lucano of Riace in southern Italy at work at City Hall
(Abby Sewell / For The Times) “We are basically proposing a humane alternative,” the mayor said in an interview at Riace’s City Hall
“This is the message we are sending to this world where closures and barriers are prevailing.”
a Ghanaian who came in a smuggler’s boat from Libya eight months ago
sat on a bench outside the town’s park chatting with a friend as a gaggle of newly arrived African teenagers passed by on the road leading into the town’s center
left her young son with relatives and made the sea journey three years ago
After the boat landed on the island of Lampedusa
then helped supervise children in the local school until it closed because of a lack of enrollment
Now she cooks for unaccompanied minors living in a group home
“The life in Riace is very good for me,” she said
About 100 of the migrants in Riace have settled as long-term residents
find the situation less welcoming and move on
wait in the Beirut airport for their flight to Italy on Feb 26
(Abby Sewell / For The Times) Tears of happinessWhen Ali and Nonoo unloaded their luggage at the airport in Beirut in preparation for their flight to Italy
broke down in tears of happiness and relief
Mais had watched her aunt — Ali’s sister — and five cousins die in an airstrike below the family’s apartment
bears a scar below one knee from a knife attack by a group of older boys
The young men were affiliated with Hezbollah
the Shiite Muslim political party and militia that supports Syrian President Bashar Assad and sees the refugees as enemies
“Even if we wanted to go out to see the doctor
the first thing that has improved is that there is security.”
and the family didn’t get along with the two Ethiopians who served as interpreters and go-betweens with the local authorities
Ali and his family asked to be relocated to a nearby town
Gioiosa Ionica has a smaller immigrant population — about 100 among 7,000 inhabitants — but some local leaders are hoping to attract more
hopes the Syrian families and other migrants will help revive the local farming industry and bring in tourists looking for a quiet retreat amid vineyards and olive groves
the people who came here stayed for just a little time because after a while they saw the condition of this area
there is a high rate of unemployment,” he said
The challenge with these families is to give them a sense of stability and a longer permanency.”
and the language barrier became an additional problem as Mais was suffering from a perplexing medical issue
she had begun to complain of persistent severe headaches and dizziness
the family was able to get her to a hospital
Mais collapsed in the hallway one afternoon
“My head is hurting me!” Zavaglia and an Italian friend happened to be present
who took the girl to a hospital in another town
The family came home several hours later with a referral to another hospital and no answer to what was causing the problem
with the children playing on the terrace after dinner
Ali and Nonoo talked anxiously about the difficulty of accessing medical care in the remote area and in another language
and about the prospects of finding work that would sustain them once they stop receiving the small amount of aid they were getting via the program
but without enough money or a grasp of Italian
but without the language it’s difficult,” Nonoo said
“We love Italy and the Italian people and the language
But the children were happy with their new home
they hadn’t gone to school for most of the last five years
names of fruits and vegetables and were excited to start attending the local public school
A Moroccan man passing by as the boy and one of his younger sisters stood outside a neighbor’s house one afternoon stopped and asked in Arabic
and smiled as he continued down the otherwise empty street
Here’s one way of fighting terrorism that the U.S. may be rethinking under Trump
These Syrians were finally being evacuated to safety. That’s when the bomb went off
Italy offers a glimpse of the international concern over violent extremism in prisons
World & Nation
California
Hollywood Inc.
Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map
Get quality reporting directly into your inbox
Antonio Coluccio was arrested in 2014 in a mafia-related anti-corruption sweep in Italy after which he was charged with extortion and mafia association
Coluccio lived a lavish lifestyle in Toronto with his three brothers in the early 2000’s
he remained in Canada living in a lakefront condo making regular trips to the Italian enclave
Woodbridge (about 30 minutes north of Toronto) in his yellow Ferrari
Coluccio’s landed immigrant status was rejected by the Canadian federal government because he was believed to be tied to the ‘Ndrangheta
The Canadian immigration authorities alleged he was connected to the Commisso clan of the ‘Ndrangheta
The 2014 Italian police operation used wiretaps between Canadian ‘Ndrangheta members and their Italian counterparts as evidence against Coluccio and others
Coluccio’s two brothers were previously imprisoned on mafia-related charges
was murdered several years ago in a mafia-feud in their Italian hometown of Marina Gioiosa Jonica
Support from readers like you helps OCCRP expose organized crime and corruption around the world
you’ll be directly supporting investigative journalism as a public good
You’ll also gain access to exclusive insights and benefits
Luxembourg’s company registry turns up firms controlled by people with ties to the ’Ndrangheta
a court had to requisition a local call center to make room for 355 defendants
A UK-based accountant keeps getting accused of helping the Italian mafia hide its money — and British authorities keep doing..
The Calabrian 'ndrangheta is the most powerful crime syndicate in the West
with ever-expanding investments in global capital markets and collusion of white-collar workers
The biggest ‘ndrangheta trial is underway in the southern Italian region
but Calabrians say only a cultural shift will free them from the clans’ stranglehold
with the southern spine of Italy's Apennine mountains rising in the distance
the latest chapter in the country's long struggle against the Mafia is unfolding inside a sprawling abandoned call centre that has become a bunker courthouse
The trial began in January and is expected to run as long as two years
It is the largest-ever "maxi-processo," an Italian anti-Mafia trial with dozens of defendants
the 62-year-old head public prosecutor who grew up playing soccer barefoot in the local piazza with boys whom decades later he would send to prison
said for him the biggest significance of the trial is shining light on the spreading "grey zone" of collusion around the 'ndrangheta
They evolve and mutate and increasingly resemble the rest of society," said Gratteri
who for the past 30 years has lived and worked under heavy police protection
the Calabrian capital a half-hour drive from where the trial is being held in Lamezia Terme
"What this trial shows is the growing extent to which white-collar workers and professionals are working with the 'ndrangheta."
a name that stems from Greek meaning virtue
only entered the Italian criminal code as a Mafia-type association in 2010
almost 30 years after the Sicilian Cosa Nostra
When the Cosa Nostra found itself in disarray following the historic maxi-trials of the 1980s
'ndrangheta clans seized the chance to expand from their main activity of skimming off public contracts and plundering the federally funded regional health-care system into international arms and drug trade
They forged ties with groups in South America to eventually dominate the cocaine market in Europe
Experts on the 'ndrangheta say the criminal syndicate is now the most financially sophisticated in the West
with capital heavily invested in the world of finance and clan branches firmly ensconced around the globe
including in the Toronto and Montreal areas
Experts estimate the clans' annual income ranges from $50 billion to $85 billion a year
While the trial is not as historically significant as the Sicilian maxi-trials
it involves a high number of "pentiti" or clan members providing testimony against their own
WATCH | A prosecutor enlists key witnesses to testify against the 'ndrangheta Mancuso clan:
Of the 20,000 or so suspected 'ndrangheta members
only several hundred have turned state's witness
a low percentage compared with other Mafias
where the local boss cuts the baby’s fingernails and toenails and pledges him to the clan
"The first thing to know is that the 'ndrangheta calls everyone else 'contrasti' — opposers," Gratteri said
"When a young man aspires to become part of the 'ndrangheta
he is called 'an honourable opposer.' At the end of this trial period
there is a dinner where the young men pledge that from this moment on
Female members of the clans have been killed
disappeared or "suicided" — in one case forced by family members to drink hydrochloric acid — for everything from being in a relationship with the wrong man to trying to flee with their children
drug trafficking and extortion remain the 'ndrangheta crimes that grab most headlines
the toe of Italy's boot and the country's poorest region
deficiencies and eyesores that Mafia dominance inflicts on public space
The region is breathtakingly beautiful: a rugged
pine and fir and rolling hills covered with vineyards
hugged by hundreds of kilometres of sparkling
Half-built constructions stand like starved sentinels around towns
Stretches of highways and main roads are lined with illegal garbage dumps
along with animal remains — including
A special squadron of the military carabinieri police called "Cacciatori" — hunters — patrols the rough interior known as the aspromonte
The platoons were formed in the early 1990s to look for family members of industrialists and local dignitaries the 'ndrangheta began kidnapping in the 1970s
but their mission has since shifted in response to the clans’ activities
"Intimate knowledge of this region is our biggest weapon against the 'ndrangheta," said Cacciatori commander Ivan D’Errico
WATCH | How a specialized platoon of the Italian military carabinieri looks for hideouts
When the Cacciatori took me to see the abandoned tunnels
Stretched across the entrance to the bunker was a dead cat — a message
of the town's displeasure at journalists visiting
Despite the ‘ndrangheta stranglehold over much of the region
there are tenacious pockets of resistance that date back decades
a social worker and the president of Don Milani
a non-profit after-school program in the town of Gioiosa Ionica near the eastern coast of Calabria
is part of one such locus of anti-Mafia activity
learning help for kids of ‘ndrangheta families
assistance for teens in trouble with the law and even support for 'ndrangheta widows or women whose husbands are in jail and who want their children to live a different life
"These are kids who don’t have a childhood
who see their fathers arrested and who have a Mafia culture drummed into them from a very early age," Giocondo said
"They are taught who to show respect to and what words to use
like the Mafia insult 'infame' — vile or villainous — or 'omerta,' " meaning silence or secrecy to cover up for cheating or a crime
Giocondo describes growing up in Calabria as “suffocating
like there was never enough air to breathe.” It’s a feeling
that came in part from having to pass on her way to school chalk outlines of those gunned down on the streets in the local clan wars at the time
her feeling of suffocation also came from not being able to even visit friends in the next town because there was no public bus or train service
That isolation affects Calabria as a whole
with its striking lack of infrastructure — everything from high-speed trains connecting the region to the rest of the country and modern highways to well-functioning hospitals with care at the same level as the rest of Italy
the Mafia culture is a culture of bullying
where the bullies exert their power on every level of society," Giocondo said
"If I have to get a new ID or health card and I don’t want to wait for hours at town hall
I don’t get it because I’m the best candidate
very problematic because I have to answer to them."
The patriarchal structure means women’s power is expressed primarily in shaping their children to conform to the Mafia system
She and Don Milani founder Francesco Rigitano say they try to provide the kids in the program with "antibodies" against the Mafia
as well as a way to read and make choices about their environment — to understand when a club or bar is a money laundering outfit
where criminality ends and where it begins."
For those who take a clear stance against criminality
Antonino De Masi owns a factory that produces olive harvesting machines off the highway on the outskirts of Gioia Tauro
a Calabrian port town on the Mediterranean renowned as a gateway of cocaine trafficking into Europe
Armed guards stand at a military checkpoint outside his factory gate
the walls are lined with awards and plaques in recognition both of his business success and of his Mafia resistance
De Masi appeared as a witness against an ‘ndrangheta boss who had tried to extort him for hundreds of thousands of euros
the imprisoned boss vowed to murder De Masi
his family moved to northern Italy and all five have since been under 24/7 police protection
he flies back and forth between Calabria and northern Italy
De Masi sifts through the dozens of anonymous extortion letters the family business has received over the decades
some written in formal bureaucratize that would be comical if someone hadn’t set fire to the factory or unloaded 44 bullets from a Kalashnikov into his office
our apologies for disturbing you once again," reads one
"but this letter is to communicate we are following up from last month’s letter to urge you not to repeat your foolish behaviour
This time around we are rather seriously mal-intentioned
so if you would like your factory to properly function
Despite the anti-Mafia accolades on his walls
De Masi said standing up to the 'ndrangheta has been an overwhelmingly lonely experience
"Sometimes I think the media depiction of me as a hero is a way for Italians to clear their conscience," he said
"Turning me into a hero implicitly conveys the message that ordinary people cannot do what I do
pretending not to see what they do and failing to report them
"This is a problem for me and this is why I often question what the real effect is that I’m having in this land."
His refusal to pay and being under police protection have meant he has lost family unity — his siblings have separated their parts of the family business from his — and lost friends and support from colleagues
but you've lost all your freedom,' " he said
I gained an intellectual and moral freedom."
Giuseppe motions outside the window to the orange and olive orchards in the distance
and says his dream is not only for the natural beauty to be preserved
but also that jobs for young people are created in a region where almost 50 per cent of youth are unemployed
he plans on moving back when he graduates to contribute to what he calls "a culture of self-awareness" and to help build a legal economy
Many in Calabria are pinning their hopes on the almost $300 billion of European Union COVID recovery funds coming to Italy over the next six years
Forty per cent of those funds have been earmarked for development of the southern regions
wary at the opportunity for further grift this could provide the 'ndrangheta
say the future of the region hinges on infrastructure development
and failure to invest in Calabria would constitute abandonment of the region by the central government
"I've met with high-level politicians and told them
'You take care of coming up with public work projects that will improve the lives of everyday citizens here and we [prosecutors] will take care of the 'ndrangheta,' " said Gratteri
Back at the after-school program in Gioiosa Ionica
Mariaelisa Giocondo stands chatting with kids making beaded bracelets and earrings for their mothers
She said when she left Calabria at 17 to study in Rome
the last place she ever expected to find herself living again was here
But an internship after university at the Don Milani program made her realize that for her region to change
the culture of its inhabitants needs to change from the ground up
She said she wants to help the next generation of Calabrians breathe in the oxygen that she felt starved of as a teenager
"We never know if the seeds we're planting will come to fruition," she said
"But it's important for us to keep sowing."
CBC
Radio-Canada
This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks
The action you just performed triggered the security solution
There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase
You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked
Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page
Another results realized by Citizen Science
Two specimens of Pterois miles scorpion fish sighted in the Calabrian waters
the first captured a few days ago in the locality of 'Le Castella' by professional fishermen at a depth of about 24 metres
the second sighted and photographed on 25 June during a dive along the coasts of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica (RC)
The sightings were promptly reported to ISPRA
the Crotone Harbor Master's Office and the AlienFish project of the Mediterranean Marine Fauna Authority
involved together with the CNR-IRBIM (Institute for Biological Resources and Marine Biotechnology) in the alert campaign called Beware of those 4
The species was reported for the first time in Italy in 2016 in south-eastern Sicily and is one of the most invasive species in the world
known to have invaded most of the western Atlantic coasts with massive ecological impacts
The sting of these thorns can cause serious damage to those who suffer it
The poison remains active from 24 to 48 hours after the death of the fish
so the danger of the species remains high even on specimens that have been dead for several hours
Press release (ita)
Brochure
Rocco Commisso net worth and salary: Rocco Commisso is an Italian American businessman who has a net worth of $3.5 billion
Rocco Commisso was born in Marina di Gioiosa Ionica
and CEO of the 5th largest cable television company in the U.S.
Commisso has also worked for several other companies including Chase Manhattan Bank
In 2017 he became the owner and chairman of the soccer team the New York Cosmos
He graduated from Columbia University and the Columbia Business School and was co-captain of the varsity soccer team
Rocco Commisso started his career working at Pfizer Inc
He serves on the board of directors for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association as well as C-Span and the Cable Television Laboratories
Commisso was inducted into the Cable Center Hall of Fame and has received many awards
© 2025 Celebrity Net Worth / All Rights Reserved