Rocco Dichiera

Story

Rocco Dichiera

It was said of Rocco Dichiera that he was born working. He entered the world in 1876 in San Nicola di Caulonia, Italy, the son of Giuseppe Dichiera and Caterina Piscioneri. The only son in a family which included three sisters (two of whom where step sisters), he was expected to work to help provide them with a dowry. After his father broke his hip and became bedridden, responsibility for the family fell upon his shoulders.

In 1892 at the age of 16 he made the first of many trips to the United States of America where he worked in the coal mines in Ohio and on the railways. From his earnings he bought land in Italy, successfully saw his sisters married and in his late twenties married Maria Carmela Simonetta 11 years his junior.

As fate would have it, it wasn\’t until 1946 that he and his wife were able to live and share their lives together uninterrupted by separation, migration and war. Soon after his marriage Rocco left again for America and was away for 7 years. The gaps in the ages of his children birth\’s- Cecilia (1906), Maria (1911), Caterina (1920, lived 9 months) and Giuseppe (1922) reflect the journeys he continued to make.

At the age of 51 Rocco sailed for Australia on the Caprera. He had been sponsored by a friend Vincenzo Roccisano who was working in the mines in Broken Hill. It would be 8 years before he could afford to pay the passage to Australia for his wife and son. His daughter Maria and her family would eventually arrive in Australia in 1951 but he never saw Cecilia again. She emigrated to Argentina with her husband a month after Rocco\’s departure to Australia.

Rocco landed in Melbourne in December 1927 with his brother-in-law Ilario Cirillo and Vincenzo Manno. They took the train to Adelaide and headed for Broken Hill. There was little work at Broken Hill so they went to Mildura were they stayed for a few nights at Virgona\’s Ice Works. (Mr Virgona was known for his generosity to travelling migrants.) From Mildura they obtained work at Werrimull clearing Mallee stumps.

The work was hard and the hours long. They lived simply. Rocco entertained his companions in the evenings with tales from their homeland and his travels. Although he remained illiterate, Rocco was an artist of the oral tradition. He was a joker and storyteller to the end of his days.

The younger men with Rocco were attracted by Queensland and cane cutting. Rocco travelled north with them and found work at Aloomba as a stable hand. He rose at 3 and by 6 am and hand fed and prepared 18 horses for the day\’s work. The farm owner provided him with a small hut and it was to this dwelling he brought his wife and son in 1936.

War broke out and the family became enemy aliens in their adopted land. He became Enemy Alien 89885. His son was enlisted in the Civil Aliens Corps and later interned. In 1942 Rocco was interned at the age of 66. He spent most of his internment at Loveday in SA.

On his release Rocco returned to his wife and Aloomba. Sadly they encountered post war hostility where previously they had been welcomed.

With his son staying in Queensland to marry, Rocco and his wife went to stay with cousins in Adelaide. Eventually he found a 10 acre fruit property in Irymple, Victoria. He was short of the total money required for the block. His son and daughter-in-law, Rosa, decided to move south and contribute to the cost of the place. It was 1948 and Rocco was 72. He celebrated the purchase of Australian property by applying for Naturalisation which was granted in September 1949.

Rocco and Maria Carmela continued to live with their son and daughter-in-law. The children were the blockies and Rocco contributed where he could. He helped with the pruning and picking (picking his last fruit at the age of 85), tendered the garden, chooks and goats, made carved wooden spoons, wove baskets and told his grandchildren stories of the village cradled in the mountains of Calabria where he was born.

Rocco survived cancer but finally died of heart failure on 5 August 1964. Ironically it was a Wednesday, the day he had always set aside for prayer and devotion to the Virgin Mary.

Rocco is still remembered by those who knew him for his stories, his gentleness, warmth and love.

Jenny (Dichiera) McKenry

Granddaughter

February 2009

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