Quinto Odorizzi and Rita Leonardi

In 1955 Quinto Odorizzi boarded the ship Queen Frederica in Naples Italy. After sailing for 8 days he landed in Halifax Canada at Pier 21. He left Halifax by train and spent 5 days traveling to Edmonton Alberta. When he arrived he tried to find a job. At one point he became quite discouraged as someone asked him how he expected to find a job as he did not know the language. He would have gone back to Italy if he could have. As this was not an option, he became determined to find a job and he did. Quinto started working with the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Quinto’s home town, Tuenno Italy, is located in Northern Italy near the Dolomite Mountains.  Quinto was quite disappointed that Edmonton was flat and had no mountains.  So when someone told him there were mountains further west Quinto went to find them.  He traveled to Jasper, Alberta and fell in love with the Rocky Mountains.  In June of 1955 he became a section-man for the Canadian National Railway at Miette.  In March of 1956 Quinto was transferred to Jasper to work in the CNR carmen shops.  He was very happy to make Jasper his new home.

A year and a half later, Quinto went back to Tuenno for a visit. This is when he met Rita Leonardi. Rita was also from Tuenno, she grew up in a house not far from Quinto's. She had a very large family of 8 brothers and 4 sisters. Quinto and Rita spent a lot of time together. Just before it was time for Quinto to return to Canada, they became engaged and made plans for Rita to immigrate to Canada the following year.

On September 1, 1959 Rita boarded the Saturnia in Naples to make the trip to Pier 21 in Halifax. She made the trip with Quinto's brother, Bruno. From Halifax they took the train to Edmonton where Quinto was waiting for them. On September 15 Quinto and Rita were married in Edmonton at the Santa Maria Goretti Church. Together the made the trip to Jasper and their new home. Quinto had worked extra hours as a carpenter to help purchase the home.

They were very busy the first few years with Quinto working his two jobs and Rita looking after their new home. Besides having other Italians as boarders, they started their family.

With Susan, Janet and Marina, they became a family. To accommodate the bigger family, in 1968, they purchased a bigger home in which they still reside. The newer home had room for a big vegetable garden. Gardening is still one of their passions today. Some of their other passions included hiking, cross country skiing and fishing.

Quinto and Rita were also very involved in the community of Jasper. Quinto served on the Jasper School Board for many years and also served on the Family Community Social Services Board. He has also been a Lions Club member for over 30 years. Rita was involved with a knitting group, hiking group and still sings in the church choir. In the past few years Rita has been busy fundraising for a new Assisted Living building in Jasper. Once the girls were in school, Rita went to work outside of the home.

Now Quinto and Rita are able to enjoy their retirement. They spend their time hiking, gardening, fishing, and traveling the world. They go back to Italy often to visit family and also enjoy it when family and friends from Italy come to visit here in Canada. Their biggest passion is spending time with their 3 daughters and families, which include 7 grandchildren. They have attended as many school concerts, sports events, and graduations as possible. They continue to be very sociable and hospitable with their friends and neighbours and are still actively involved and supportive of their community.

Their family has grown to include:

Susan and husband Jim Richards-children Christopher and Justin

Janet and husband Robert Block-children Kendall and Jarrett

Marina and husband Ron Gosselin-children Stephanie, Nathaniel and Tristen

Everyone has made the trip back to Italy to visit relatives and become aquainted with their heritage.