Kate interviews Joseph Russo

Kate interviews Joseph Russo

I was recently graced with the opportunity to meet an inspiring man. Standing at about five feet with a pearly white smile, all of which are his original teeth, Joseph Russo greets me at the front door. This is a man about to celebrate his ninety-eighth birthday on October 17th. Joseph Russo was born and raised in Middletown, Connecticut, where he still resides today. He lives alone, a widower, in a neatly kept apartment, self-sufficient regardless of his legal blindness. Russo tells me his secret to youth is never having smoked or drank. He explains that he was surrounded by many a drunk but chose a cleaner path for himself.
Russo chats cheerfully about his lengthy and exciting career as a saxophonist in a symphonic big band. He shows me many photos dating back as far as 1926. He speaks fondly of his wife Charlotte and his children who live nearby and are all very successful. He talks about the devastations of the late twenties and thirties but he remembers mostly Prohibition which affected him because the clubs where he performed were shut down after alcohol distribution stopped.
We sit at the kitchen table quietly when Russo begins to weep. He apologizes and says that it is difficult at times to recall living in such poverty as a child. We discuss the struggles of his poor Italian family. Thankfully, his father, being a mason, did not go without work. However, being one of five children, there was little to share. He holds his mother and her cooking in high regard, talking about the fifteen cent chickens she would buy, kill and cook. Russo recalls neighbors coming to their home to see his mother, Rossina, because she would read and write their English for them.
After, WWI, the Big Bands died out and it was time for Russo to pursue a new career. Without having much direction, he stumbled upon a small store for rent in downtown Middletown. He decided to go to Hartford and purchase pastries and then sell them at a profit. Russo states “It all started with $20!” This little delicatessen, first of its kind, would run under his ownership for about thirty years. I feel enriched and grateful that Joseph Russo shared his time and memories with me and added to that, Joseph Russo carries the exact same name as my late father. In the search for important historical information, I found a mentor and a friend.