Helen Streu/Sam Cimo
Salvatore Cimo was born on September 4, 1894 in Sicily. He arrived in America on May 3, 1913 on the San Giovanni. He made his way to Michigan to join his brother Pasquale. He settled in Bay City and later met……..
Helen Streu was born on January 23, 1908. She was the daughter of Margareth Streu nee Schmidt (5/27/1887 – 2/1/08 daughter of Maria B. Feinhauer) and John Streu (7/18/1875 – ?)
Helen and her brother Arthur lost their mother shortly after Helen was born. Their father married their aunt Maria Schmidt shortly thereafter. They went on to have Erwin, Margaret, Edward, Floyd, John and Lester.
She and my grandfather (now called Sam) spent many day hiding their fling from her family. They did marry and lived happily every after. They would tell us that he only spoke Italian and she only spoke German so they had to speak the language of love. I know now that it was not true but it makes a good story. We never learned any German from her or any Italian from him. “Tell us about Italy”, we would say. “Like what?” he would ask, “Venice?” we would shout, “It’s a sewer” he would reply. Grandma loved her brothers and sisters but would never tell us about her childhood, “It was horrible”, she would tell us. Together they were happy, their lives were meant for each other.
They had four children:
Donald (4/26/28 – 5/28/01)
Arthur (11/8/32 – 8/28/59) Married to Elizabeth Remsing 6/30/56
Prudence Mary (7/15/38 – 4/25/09) Married to Donald Bordon Yochim on September 20, 1958
-Donald Arthur (’61) Married to Phyllis Collins
***Charisse Scussel Married Gary Howell
#####Charlotte Joan ’08
*** Donald Vernon ’88
*** Samantha Ann ’90
-Michelle Elizabeth ’62
-Jill Marie ’67
***Stephanie Marie ’88 (from Ricky Ball)
***Nicholas John ’96 (from Tom Rebar)
Helen 1943 Married Sam Agrusa
***David Joseph
***Salvatore Joseph
####Tabitha
####(Carley)
####Sierra
####Sam
-Robin Ann Married Mark LuMarque
####Joshua
####Miranda
-Christopher Joseph
qtrixie
joyce45
peteandtillie
Karen said,
October 22, 2009 @ 1:07 pm
Hi: I’m researching the Cimo family from Sicily. My husband’s great grandfather, Giovanni Cimo, came to America several times before staying here and settling in Rochester, NY. His son, Gaetano, was born in Chicago in 1912, so I assume they were there for a while before coming here. Think they’re related? They were from the same city in Sicily.
qtrixie said,
October 22, 2009 @ 2:38 pm
Could be. I will try to load some pics of Sicily and the family this weekend (link is under photos on sidebar of
main page) I will add an album for Cimo. Maybe we can find common pictures.