Dominick Vitale known to all as Mickey is my father.  He was born in 1906 in Newark, NJ to parents who were recent immigrants from Italy.  He left the story of his life in his book, "Never a Teenager".  His dad died during the 1918 flu pandemic. He started working as a shoe shine boy at the age of 9, dropping out of school at the age of twelve.  He lived his life at a time when grit and luck determined your financial success.  Mickey eventually owned many houses in the Fishtown area of Philadelphia. He was proprietor and owner of  Mickey's Restaurant.   Mickey travelled cross country multiple times, alone, after he reached 80.  He loved to talk.  He was opinionated and lived up to both male chauvinism and women's right advocate.  Mickey was a complex character who epitomizes the changes of the 20th Century of our great country.    But most of all, Mickey loved life.  He loved the Phillies and often sat on his folding chair and listened to the broadcast of the game.  And obviously he liked to sing old songs as heard in an old cassette tape found in his personal belonging after his death in 1997.  

– Russell D. Vitale

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant