San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
A son celebrates the legacy of his immigrant father’s quest for the American dream
SAMMY LOUIS NESTICO: A BOY FROM ITALY MOVED TO PITTSBURGH AND FELL IN LOVE WITH THE U.S. Luigi’s loyalty and love for this country was a constant source of conversation in their home, and his family nicknamed him the “Yankee Doodle Boy.”
Once upon a time, in the spring of 1911, a 14-year-old boy embarked on the ship Madonna from Naples, Italy. Per the instructions of his mother Francesca, his destination was Ellis Island, America. Luigi was never to see his siblings, his parents or his homeland again.
The combination of desperation and dreams, plus the promise that America held for peasant farmers in Calabria, was reason enough to make the hopeful journey.
Shortly after his arrival in Pittsburgh, he enrolled in a correspondence school to learn the English language. Soon Luigi was working at a brickyard and then later in a power plant for the Pennsylvania Railroad.
A few years down the road, when America entered the Great War, Luigi wanted to enlist in the U.S. Army. His first attempt failed, as he was much too young. His next registration was June 5, 1918, and this time he was accepted. He was scheduled to be shipped overseas when the armistice was declared.
After his discharge from the Army in 1919, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy as Fireman 2nd class. Upon completion of his four-year tenure, he returned to Pittsburgh, where he was employed for the next 40 years by the Pennsylvania Railroad.
In Pittsburgh, he met a young girl named Frances Mangone, who was only 15 years old and a student at Allegheny High School. As was the custom in his hometown of Soveria Simeri in southern Italy, Luigi went to her mother to ask for her hand in marriage.
Frances’ mother was a working widow with five daughters and was happy that someone was willing to relieve her of the responsibility. It would give her one less daughter to worry about.
Frances was not in favor of the idea, and I am still not sure that 60 years of marriage ever completely changed her mind.
The Italian language was never to be spoken in their home, as Luigi professed: “This is America! We speak only English here.” Luigi’s loyalty and love for this country was a constant source of conversation in their home, and his family nicknamed him the “Yankee Doodle Boy.”
Ten months into their marriage, on Feb. 6, 1924, on Brighton Road in Pittsburgh, their first son was born in Frances’ sister Alvina’s second-floor bedroom.
They would named their firstborn Samuel Luigi Nistico. Samuel was taught loyalty, honesty, moderation and the value of the work ethic. Upon retiring, Luigi had a clean record of never having missed a day of work from the Pennsylvania Railroad.
One day, Samuel discovered that his dad’s Navy bible had his name misspelled on its cover. It read: “Luigi Nestico.” Samuel decided to adopt this new spelling, since there were so many incidents of mispronunciation of the family’s name.
At the age of 18, Samuel was drafted into the U.S. Army and would eventually transfer to the Army Air Corps as the musical arranger for the newly formed Air Force Glenn Miller Orchestra. In the last five years of his career in the service, he enlisted in the United States Marine Band and became the chief arranger and White House director for “The President’s Own,” under President John F. Kennedy and eventually President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Who would have thought that Samuel, son of an immigrant, would grow up to become a world-renowned composer, arranger and educator, fulfilling the dream of his grandmother Francesca, on the day she sent her oldest son Luigi to embark across the ocean to pursue the American dream.
Luigi Nistico was my father.
Sammy Louis Nestico, who in 2017 was nominated for his ninth Grammy, has worked on arrangements and projects with some of music’s biggest stars, from Bing Crosby and Count Basie to Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand. Nestico, who is now 96 and lives in Carlsbad, wanted to celebrate the legacy of his immigrant father. So with friend and filmmaker Diane Estelle Vicari — who has been documenting his life for the past 19 years — he wrote this article, using some excerpts from his 2009 memoir, “Sammy Nestico: The Gift of Music.”