By Edwina Cesario Florian
Wanda Skura was very young, about 15 years old, when she met John Cesario (nicknamed Jack), who was the son of Antonio Cesario and Catherine Capeci Cesario. Jack’s father was a very wealthy man. He owned two banks which dealt in international banking between the United States and Italy. Antonio ordered a bride from Italy to come over on a boat to America to marry his son Jack. Jack never even saw the girl. When Jack found this out, he rebelled and eloped with Wanda, who was then 16. Jack and Wanda were married by a Justice of the Peace in Port Chester, NY. Both the Skura and Cesario families were up in arms over the marriage, especially because they were both Roman Catholics. So a week later, Jack and Wanda were married a second time in a church wedding to appease everyone. Jack’s and Wanda’s first child was John A. Cesario born on February 5, 1927. Anthony J. Cesario (Mushy) was born two years later on November 22, 1929. Little Anthony Cesario was a favorite of all the girls. He would snuggle up to them and tell the he loved them. They would respond by saying you are so mushy. The name stuck to this day
Antonio made life very difficult for his son Jack. He didn’t like the fact that Jack married a non-Italian. The Italians strongly believed in respect. Since Jack didn’t follow Antonio’s wishes by NOT marrying Wanda, Antonio believed that Jack had disrespected him. Antonio had animosity against Wanda throughout his whole life. Mushy remembers an incident when he was 4 years old and his father, Jack, had built his brother John Jr. a tent in the backyard, which was made out of canvas and wood. Antonio had owned the property that the tent was built on. Antonio burnt the tent down to show his authority. Jack’s father didn’t have much respect for him, because he had gone against his wishes and married Wanda. Jack and Antonio were not close at all.
Jack served his country in World War I. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and was stationed in Ft. Dix, New Jersey. The Army sent him to officer training school, and he became a second lieutenant, which was very good at the time. Jack spoke 5 languages. He and 4 others, after WWI, were interpreters for President Wilson for the peace talks. During Jack’s service in the Army, he was recommended for the Distinguished Service Cross. The Commander, who wrote up the report of Jack’s fine accomplishments, wrote it up on three pages. The Army turned the request down. The report was supposed to be an eight page letter.
During his life, Jack had worked for the WPA – a federal work group. His father also put him in charge of a twenty room hotel and bar in the thirties. Wanda sometimes helped in the hotel but Jack was very likely to give away drinks to his friends and was known to make bathtub gin called “White Lightning” during the Prohibition years. His father took the management away before Jack died. While he was in WWI, Jack was exposed to mustard gas. He was in and out of the hospital for years. He supposedly died from the Sclerosis of the liver, from drinking too much. In the week before his death, John made his First Communion and went to the hospital with his robes and ribbons to visit. At the funeral, Mush was considered too young, and was sent to the home of his Aunt O’Neill to be looked after by the servants. He was given strawberry shortcake and treated as a prince. Mush felt it was the best day of his life, not realizing what was actually happening. Jack’s father, Antonio, died in February of 1939. He was a diabetic and blind, and may have died of a heart attack. At the time of his death, Antonio owned 65 pieces of real estate in Port Chester, Greenwich, and Rye. Although Antonio died a rich man, he left his daughter-in-law Wanda nothing. However, he did leave John Jr. and Mushy 1/12th of a house on Regent St. in Port Chester, which was held by trustees until the boys were 21. Jack died a broke man at the age of 40, in May of 1935. He was survived by his wife Wanda, his two young children, John and Anthony (Mushy), and his father Antonio.
John and his brother Mushy were raised by their mother Wanda who never remarried. They lived in Port Chester, New York at that time. These were depression years. Mush remembers Wanda making two penny soup. She would send Mush to the grocer’s for 2 cents worth of vegetables, a carrot, a celery stalk and some potatoes. Then he would complete the ingredients by stopping at the butcher’s for a “bone for the dog.” Wanda was also innovative in that she cooked for an older family friend, Joe Snow, who bought the food for the meal.
Jack and Wanda’s son John graduated from Port Chester High School in 1944. In high school, he was nicknamed “Johnny Sass.” He entered into the U.S. Navy and served as a Quarter Master on the U.S.S. Columbus during World War II. He did get to Japan at the end of the war. After the Navy, John went to the University of Miami where he received his Bachelor’s degree in Business. Upon graduation, John entered the profession of the stock brokerage business, which he was very successful at and stayed in until his retirement. (It is believed that he was influenced by his Uncle Santo to get into the brokerage business.
Around 1951, while hanging around the Port Chester YMCA, John bumped into Edwina Harbolick who was there for a teen party. He flirted, but nothing became of that. A short time later, they bumped into each other again at Rye Beach while sunning and swimming. After that, they secretly met several times at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester and a romance blossomed. To make a long story short, they got married in Rye, New York on November 6, 1954. After getting married, they lived on Birch Street in Port Chester until their first child John Jr. was born on June 23, 1957. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Windsor Road where their second child was born, Edwina Marie on May 27, 1959. Laurene was born while living on Windsor Road on October 22, 1961. In the summer of 1967, John and his family moved to Riversville Road in Greenwich, CT, where Edwina still lives to this day.
John was very close to his brother Mushy. Whenever Mushy would visit John from Florida, they would sit around the dining room table, reminiscing over the past. Both of them would be hysterically laughing. They both shared the same sense of humor. When John’s children and grandchildren were over, the evening would usually conclude with a quick game of UNO. Sometimes, if John was in the mood, he would enthusiastically retell his joke about an American fighter plane landing on a Japanese aircraft carrier during WWII. John’s children heard him tell that joke over and over throughout their lives and still would burst out laughing every time that he told it.
John’s daughter Laurie remembers a story when she about 3 or 4 years old. John caught her doing a silly dance that he thought was inappropriate. John was furious and brought Laurie up to his bedroom to punish her with “the belt.” He closed the bedroom door. Laurie was hysterically crying, thinking that she was going to get the belt. John then whispered to his daughter that, “when I hit the belt on the bed, you scream and cry to make it seem like I hit you.” He wanted Eddie and Johnny to think that Laurie was being punished. Laurie was confused. John said to this daughter, “I could never hit you, I could never hit you, just pretend ‘Buggy’.” So, John belted the bed, and Laurie was crying and laughing at the same time.
John’s daughter Edwina (Eddie) gave him 4 grandchildren whom he adored – Thomas, Kiersten, Alex, and Dylan. John loved to see and spend time with them and wouldn’t miss any of their sports games, plays, or concerts. He would always sit on the sidelines giving his grandchildren a thumbs-up sign to encourage them and for confidence. Even if it was in between seasons and nothing was going on, John would drive up from Greenwich to Norwalk just to see his grandchildren practice. John also enjoyed giving his grandchildren tips on how to play their sports better. For example, he would draw diagrams on how NOT to step out of the batter’s box. He also believed that if they struck out in baseball, it was because they were playing too many video games and were losing their eyesight. Kiersten remembers when she was singing a solo in a musical production and “Boppy” (John) would wave to her from the audience. She found it very hard not to laugh in the middle of her song, but would wave back when it was finished. She also remembers going to matinees with Boppy and hearing him snore in the middle of movies.
John’s marriage to Edwina unfortunately ended in divorce. He was remarried on September 19, 1999, to Jomarie Faustine in Las Vegas, NV. John passed away on January 28, 2007, at the age of 79, from complications arising from an unfortunate accident of slipping on ice.
Anthony (Mushy) graduated from Port Chester High School in 1947. He was in the same homeroom with Edwina’s sister Eileen. They graduated together. After high school, Mushy went into the U.S. Navy. When he got out, he went to Rider College in New Jersey. Mushy graduated from Rider College in 1954 with a B.S. in Commerce. After college, Mushy worked for a food broker in Rye, New York called Food Enterprises. From there, he worked in customer service for a while for Saks 5th Avenue. Eventually, Mushy went into real estate. He was a licensed real estate broker for the states of New York and Connecticut. He worked out an office in Greenwich.
Mushy was getting sick of the cold New England weather and eventually moved down to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where he still resides today. There, he worked for the United States Government for the Postal Service for 8 years until his retirement.
Mushy has been very fortunate to have a great friend by his side for decades, Al Billard. Through thick and thin, Al has been there for Mushy and vice versa. Although Al isn’t a part of the Skura or Cesario family by blood, he is a part of the family through years of dedication and support. We all love Al.
Al was born 1/26/1929 and attended St. Luke’s Episcopalian School. His great grandparents immigrated to Canada from England. His grandmother married a gentleman named Glass who left his wife and young son. After nursing a Mr. Billard back to health, they were soon married and Al’s father was adopted by Mr. Billard.
Al served for two years in Korea as a Corporal with six men in his command. They would set up 50 caliber machine guns in no man’s land and be allowed to return to the lines once a day for a hot meal. He suffered frostbite on both feet and one hand. Scars from this remain today. On return home he went to the University of Missouri for two years and then became assistant buyer at Bloomingdales and a manager at Jordan Marsh. Ironically, Al and his family have crossed paths with the Skura/Cesario clan. Al’s father sold real estate and had many transactions going on with John Derick Cesario’s father, Antonio. Also, Barbara Case Skura was the nurse for Al’s father when he was ill. In addition, Al himself had helped John A. in a real estate deal in Key Biscayne, Florida. What a small world it is!
Wanda Skura was very young, about 15 years old, when she met John Cesario (nicknamed Jack), who was the son of Antonio Cesario and Catherine Capeci Cesario. Jack’s father was a very wealthy man. He owned two banks which dealt in international banking between the United States and Italy. Antonio ordered a bride from Italy to come over on a boat to America to marry his son Jack. Jack never even saw the girl. When Jack found this out, he rebelled and eloped with Wanda, who was then 16. Jack and Wanda were married by a Justice of the Peace in Port Chester, NY. Both the Skura and Cesario families were up in arms over the marriage, especially because they were both Roman Catholics. So a week later, Jack and Wanda were married a second time in a church wedding to appease everyone. Jack’s and Wanda’s first child was John A. Cesario born on February 5, 1927. Anthony J. Cesario (Mushy) was born two years later on November 22, 1929. Little Anthony Cesario was a favorite of all the girls. He would snuggle up to them and tell the he loved them. They would respond by saying you are so mushy. The name stuck to this day
Antonio made life very difficult for his son Jack. He didn’t like the fact that Jack married a non-Italian. The Italians strongly believed in respect. Since Jack didn’t follow Antonio’s wishes by NOT marrying Wanda, Antonio believed that Jack had disrespected him. Antonio had animosity against Wanda throughout his whole life. Mushy remembers an incident when he was 4 years old and his father, Jack, had built his brother John Jr. a tent in the backyard, which was made out of canvas and wood. Antonio had owned the property that the tent was built on. Antonio burnt the tent down to show his authority. Jack’s father didn’t have much respect for him, because he had gone against his wishes and married Wanda. Jack and Antonio were not close at all.
Jack served his country in World War I. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and was stationed in Ft. Dix, New Jersey. The Army sent him to officer training school, and he became a second lieutenant, which was very good at the time. Jack spoke 5 languages. He and 4 others, after WWI, were interpreters for President Wilson for the peace talks. During Jack’s service in the Army, he was recommended for the Distinguished Service Cross. The Commander, who wrote up the report of Jack’s fine accomplishments, wrote it up on three pages. The Army turned the request down. The report was supposed to be an eight page letter.
During his life, Jack had worked for the WPA – a federal work group. His father also put him in charge of a twenty room hotel and bar in the thirties. Wanda sometimes helped in the hotel but Jack was very likely to give away drinks to his friends and was known to make bathtub gin called “White Lightning” during the Prohibition years. His father took the management away before Jack died. While he was in WWI, Jack was exposed to mustard gas. He was in and out of the hospital for years. He supposedly died from the Sclerosis of the liver, from drinking too much. In the week before his death, John made his First Communion and went to the hospital with his robes and ribbons to visit. At the funeral, Mush was considered too young, and was sent to the home of his Aunt O’Neill to be looked after by the servants. He was given strawberry shortcake and treated as a prince. Mush felt it was the best day of his life, not realizing what was actually happening. Jack’s father, Antonio, died in February of 1939. He was a diabetic and blind, and may have died of a heart attack. At the time of his death, Antonio owned 65 pieces of real estate in Port Chester, Greenwich, and Rye. Although Antonio died a rich man, he left his daughter-in-law Wanda nothing. However, he did leave John Jr. and Mushy 1/12th of a house on Regent St. in Port Chester, which was held by trustees until the boys were 21. Jack died a broke man at the age of 40, in May of 1935. He was survived by his wife Wanda, his two young children, John and Anthony (Mushy), and his father Antonio.
John and his brother Mushy were raised by their mother Wanda who never remarried. They lived in Port Chester, New York at that time. These were depression years. Mush remembers Wanda making two penny soup. She would send Mush to the grocer’s for 2 cents worth of vegetables, a carrot, a celery stalk and some potatoes. Then he would complete the ingredients by stopping at the butcher’s for a “bone for the dog.” Wanda was also innovative in that she cooked for an older family friend, Joe Snow, who bought the food for the meal.
Jack and Wanda’s son John graduated from Port Chester High School in 1944. In high school, he was nicknamed “Johnny Sass.” He entered into the U.S. Navy and served as a Quarter Master on the U.S.S. Columbus during World War II. He did get to Japan at the end of the war. After the Navy, John went to the University of Miami where he received his Bachelor’s degree in Business. Upon graduation, John entered the profession of the stock brokerage business, which he was very successful at and stayed in until his retirement. (It is believed that he was influenced by his Uncle Santo to get into the brokerage business.
Around 1951, while hanging around the Port Chester YMCA, John bumped into Edwina Harbolick who was there for a teen party. He flirted, but nothing became of that. A short time later, they bumped into each other again at Rye Beach while sunning and swimming. After that, they secretly met several times at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester and a romance blossomed. To make a long story short, they got married in Rye, New York on November 6, 1954. After getting married, they lived on Birch Street in Port Chester until their first child John Jr. was born on June 23, 1957. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Windsor Road where their second child was born, Edwina Marie on May 27, 1959. Laurene was born while living on Windsor Road on October 22, 1961. In the summer of 1967, John and his family moved to Riversville Road in Greenwich, CT, where Edwina still lives to this day.
John was very close to his brother Mushy. Whenever Mushy would visit John from Florida, they would sit around the dining room table, reminiscing over the past. Both of them would be hysterically laughing. They both shared the same sense of humor. When John’s children and grandchildren were over, the evening would usually conclude with a quick game of UNO. Sometimes, if John was in the mood, he would enthusiastically retell his joke about an American fighter plane landing on a Japanese aircraft carrier during WWII. John’s children heard him tell that joke over and over throughout their lives and still would burst out laughing every time that he told it.
John’s daughter Laurie remembers a story when she about 3 or 4 years old. John caught her doing a silly dance that he thought was inappropriate. John was furious and brought Laurie up to his bedroom to punish her with “the belt.” He closed the bedroom door. Laurie was hysterically crying, thinking that she was going to get the belt. John then whispered to his daughter that, “when I hit the belt on the bed, you scream and cry to make it seem like I hit you.” He wanted Eddie and Johnny to think that Laurie was being punished. Laurie was confused. John said to this daughter, “I could never hit you, I could never hit you, just pretend ‘Buggy’.” So, John belted the bed, and Laurie was crying and laughing at the same time.
John’s daughter Edwina (Eddie) gave him 4 grandchildren whom he adored – Thomas, Kiersten, Alex, and Dylan. John loved to see and spend time with them and wouldn’t miss any of their sports games, plays, or concerts. He would always sit on the sidelines giving his grandchildren a thumbs-up sign to encourage them and for confidence. Even if it was in between seasons and nothing was going on, John would drive up from Greenwich to Norwalk just to see his grandchildren practice. John also enjoyed giving his grandchildren tips on how to play their sports better. For example, he would draw diagrams on how NOT to step out of the batter’s box. He also believed that if they struck out in baseball, it was because they were playing too many video games and were losing their eyesight. Kiersten remembers when she was singing a solo in a musical production and “Boppy” (John) would wave to her from the audience. She found it very hard not to laugh in the middle of her song, but would wave back when it was finished. She also remembers going to matinees with Boppy and hearing him snore in the middle of movies.
John’s marriage to Edwina unfortunately ended in divorce. He was remarried on September 19, 1999, to Jomarie Faustine in Las Vegas, NV. John passed away on January 28, 2007, at the age of 79, from complications arising from an unfortunate accident of slipping on ice.
Anthony (Mushy) graduated from Port Chester High School in 1947. He was in the same homeroom with Edwina’s sister Eileen. They graduated together. After high school, Mushy went into the U.S. Navy. When he got out, he went to Rider College in New Jersey. Mushy graduated from Rider College in 1954 with a B.S. in Commerce. After college, Mushy worked for a food broker in Rye, New York called Food Enterprises. From there, he worked in customer service for a while for Saks 5th Avenue. Eventually, Mushy went into real estate. He was a licensed real estate broker for the states of New York and Connecticut. He worked out an office in Greenwich.
Mushy was getting sick of the cold New England weather and eventually moved down to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where he still resides today. There, he worked for the United States Government for the Postal Service for 8 years until his retirement.
Mushy has been very fortunate to have a great friend by his side for decades, Al Billard. Through thick and thin, Al has been there for Mushy and vice versa. Although Al isn’t a part of the Skura or Cesario family by blood, he is a part of the family through years of dedication and support. We all love Al.
Al was born 1/26/1929 and attended St. Luke’s Episcopalian School. His great grandparents immigrated to Canada from England. His grandmother married a gentleman named Glass who left his wife and young son. After nursing a Mr. Billard back to health, they were soon married and Al’s father was adopted by Mr. Billard.
Al served for two years in Korea as a Corporal with six men in his command. They would set up 50 caliber machine guns in no man’s land and be allowed to return to the lines once a day for a hot meal. He suffered frostbite on both feet and one hand. Scars from this remain today. On return home he went to the University of Missouri for two years and then became assistant buyer at Bloomingdales and a manager at Jordan Marsh. Ironically, Al and his family have crossed paths with the Skura/Cesario clan. Al’s father sold real estate and had many transactions going on with John Derick Cesario’s father, Antonio. Also, Barbara Case Skura was the nurse for Al’s father when he was ill. In addition, Al himself had helped John A. in a real estate deal in Key Biscayne, Florida. What a small world it is!
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