Decimo Ossato

Story

My name is Egidio, the eldest son of Decimo and Lina Ossato.

Dad was born and grew up in the province of Vicenza, Italy. After receiving a letter from his cousin who was working as a logger in Australia, Dad emigrated in 1955 and initially landed a job working as a logger in the Canberra area. Like many young Europeans in the post war era, Dad saw Australia as a ‘land of opportunity’ and was allured by what this country could offer.

In 1957, his girlfriend, Lina Lorenzato came from Vicenza, Italy, and they were married in Sydney. They settled in Queanbeyan where they built their first house and raised 4 children, Egidio, Tiziano, Walter and Sandra. Dad became a successful carpenter/builder while mum worked as a seamstress who devoted much of her time to raising family. Dad worked his own business and built a number of homes and residential units in the region. He also undertook contract work for a number of reputable building and construction companies and worked on well known landmarks such as the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge, King\’s Avenue Bridge and Googong Dam.

During the 1960\’s, a number of Dad and Mum\’s brothers and nephews including Giulio Lorenzato, Giovanni Teragnolo, Gino Teragnolo and Narciso Ossato came to Australia and resided at our house while they worked on the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme.

Dad passed away in June, 2003.

Mum continues to reside in Queanbeyan and now has six grandchildren.

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