Ave Maria marks Nursing Home Week
Wood, Coletta are honored for achievements
Moving back to the Northeast, he continued teaching at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and RandolphMacon College in Virginia. While teaching in Virginia, Wood began publishing poems and reviews in student magazines. Later, his stories, poems and reviews were also written for the Georgia Review and Sewanee Review.
After the death of his wife in 1967, Wood returned to Memphis with his two children, Matthew and Suzannah, to be associate professor of English at Southwestern. He remarried and published books of poetry, reviews and critical articles. Retiring in 1989, Wood created the Magnolia Gazette
National Nursing Home Week brought festivities and honors to the staff, family and residents of Ave Maria Home, 2805 Charles Bryan Road, on May 15. Led by activities director Peggy Lichterman, two lifetime achievement awards were presented by Bartlett Vice Mayor Jack Young. The presentation was followed by the annual balloon release, with assistance from the Bartlett Fire Department.
Ave Maria Home resident Dr. Richard “R.C.” Wood was in attendance to receive a lifetime achievement award. Former resident Horest Coletta was honored posthumously; his award was received by son Jerry Coletta. The elder Coletta passed away on April 10 at age 94.
Lichterman read the history of each man and the contribution made, making the lives of others “richer and more rewarding.”
Wood, born April 16, 1925, moved from Rockford, Ill., to rural West Tennessee as a child. He served in World War II and attended Southwestern University, now Rhodes College, in Memphis. In 1948, Wood traveled to New York in pursuit of an advanced degree in literature from Columbia University. After graduation, he put his degree to work teaching at a high school in Arkansas and in the early 1950s at the University of Mississippi. newspaper t hat serves southwest Mississippi, for which he remains literary editor since 1997.
Coletta, born in Vitacuso, Italy, entered the United States at Ellis Island with his parents at age 6 months. His father migrated and settled in Memphis, opening an ice cream shop where he helped and took over operations in the early 1950s. The young entrepreneur added food to the menu. After adding food, he received requests from Navy personnel stationed at Millington for an unusual menu item they were unable to get in Memphis at the time — pizza. The military men had gotten pizza in Chicago and New York, but were unable to get it in Memphis. Pam Dixon, director of food services at Ave Maria Home, helps pass out balloons to the residents, including Snooks Dankins, for the annual balloon release.
Pizza did not go over very well in Memphis. Coletta decided to use the local favorite food, barbecue, as a pizza topping, and the signature Coletta barbecue pizza was born. In 1958, a second restaurant location was opened on Summer Avenue. After a fire burned the restaurant in 1996, building codes prevented the building from being rebuilt with a needed expansion. Coletta decided to open the restaurant at a Bartlett area location with plenty of room for expansion on Appling Road at Stage. The original location on South Parkway was a favorite eatery for Elvis and remains there today.
In addition to bringing pizza to Memphis, Coletta also started the Bishop’s Golf Tournament with his friend, Bill Maler, and the Knights of Columbus. The tournament, in its 22nd year, is a fundraiser for Catholic schools.
Frank Gattuso, executive director of Ave Maria Home, knows how wonderful the residents and staff are at the facility. His mother, Martha Gattuso, was a resident for three years before passing on Oct. 12, 2012, at age 88. Gattuso, along with other staff members, helped to pass out balloons released by residents, friends, family and staff of Ave Maria Home, bringing smiles, joy and thankfulness for those assisting and being assisted at nursing homes everywhere.