John Rizzo

John Rizzo was born in Chicago, Illinois and he celebrated his birthday as November 11, 1918, however his baptism record at St Philip Benizi says his date of birth was November 10, 1918. His birth record with the state of Illinois was not filed until September 19, 1928 and that is the first known source with the date of November 11, 1918.

November 11, 1918 became known as Armistice Day and later Veterans Day. It is possible that his birthdate was "chosen" 10 years later to align with Armistice Day or it is possible that his baptism record was recorded incorrectly.

John was not given a middle name at birth, however at some point in his life he took on the middle name Charles. According to John's St Philip Benizi baptism record, his family was living at 4112 N Campbell in Chicago at the time of his birth. John's older brother Salvatore Rizzo's baptism record lists an address of 530 Division, so it seems that John's parents and family moved from the Division and Larrabee area of Chicago sometime between the fall of 1916 and December 1918.

According to U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records there is a John C Rizzo born in 1918 that enlisted on November 13, 1941 in Chicago. He was single, 69" tall, and weighed 139 pounds. Unfortunately this indexed record transcription does not give enough details to fully confirm it is the correct John Rizzo, but it does match up with known facts that John Rizzo served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Family members remember him telling stories mentioning New Guinea and contracting malaria during the war.

John Rizzo met his wife Mabel Rizzo when he was delivering Coke to Hammond Organ where Mabel worked.

John and Mabel married on January 10, 1948 and according to photos, their wedding party consisted of:

• George Georges - Mabel's half-uncle
• Ignatius Romano - John's half-uncle
• Jasper "Jay" F Butera
• Victor Rizzo - John's brother
• Boris Stephen - Mabel's 1st cousin's husband
• Paul Rudolph Shlemon - Mabel's brother
• Vincent Rizzo - John's 1st cousin
• Private - Mabel's 1st cousin
• Barbara Joy Piper - Mabel's 2nd cousin
• Alice Babian - Mabel's 1st cousin
• Katherine Rizzo - John's sister
• Private - Mabel's 2nd cousin 1x removed
• Dorothy Sarah Stan - Mabel's aunt
• Private - Mabel's 2nd cousin
• Daisy Phillippe - Mabel's second cousin's husband's niece
• Anna May Baba - Mabel's 1st cousin

John and Mabel first lived together upstairs in an apartment of 4973 Kolmar, the home where Mabel had grown up and had been living with her parents and brother.

Shortly after being married, John and Mabel moved to 9922 N. Karlov in Skokie, Illinois where they raised their daughter Private. John and Mabel lived there until some time after Mabel's step-mother Penna Shlemon passed away.

In 1984, with Mabel's father John Shlemon in his mid 80s and living alone, John and Mabel moved into Mabel's father's home at 8305 Gross Point Rd in Morton Grove, Illinois. This home was also only about a half mile from John and Mabel's daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons where they visited often and was just a short walk away.

In about 1987, John and Mabel moved to a condo in Hamilton Court in Des Plaines, Illinois where he lived until his death.

John Rizzo died on December 20, 1992 from complications due to a heart attack a few days prior. He was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in River Grove, Illinois in his wife's family lot.

USA, Federal Census, 1950 (image 24): https://1950census.archives.gov/search/?state=IL&county=Chicago, Cook&ed=103-3600#.Ykcj_YLGcjp.link

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Aug 22 2021, 5:40:15 UTC