-
The Measure of Success
- Michigan State University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
43 TheMeasureofSuccess D uring the first wave of immigration in the 1920s some Maltese opened up their own eateries. One place at 972 Michigan Avenue was called the So Different Restaurant, boasting that it was “The best place to eat.” Other eateries followed, such as the Melita Bakery at 2511 Fifth Street, which achieved popularity because it could offer breads baked in the traditional Maltese style.63 Father Attard writes of several other local Maltese businesses during this period. Grech and Brincat operated the General Grocers on Howard Street; John Vella ran the School of Dancing at 1355 Howard Street; and Anthony De Guara, a tailor, cleaned and pressed clothes at Sixth and Porter Streets.64 Most Maltese entering the States after World War II were literate and filled with hope for a better future. The Maltese had been schooled in English prior to coming to America, but now the educational system would require them to use it to gain access to the American Dream. John R. Gatt of Mosta, Malta, arrived in America in 1920. Like many others , he worked hard and raised a family on wages obtained from work in the auto industry. Gatt worked at Ford Motor Company until retirement in 1964. He started as a machinist and achieved the position of process engineer in the Engine and Foundry Division. He married and had five children.65 The opportunity for his children to successfully complete high school 44 Joseph M. Lubig and attend college must have been a point of pride similar to that felt by immigrants. Gatt’s son, Michael, became a production control superintendent with the Ford Motor Company, while his other son, Johnny, earned a master’s degree in business administration and became a career officer at the rank of major in the U.S. Air Force. As Marion Zampa’s family moved within the city of Detroit, the constant in her schooling was attendance at Catholic schools. Support from the nuns and priests at St. Theresa’s, St. Scholastica’s, and Benedictine, and volunteering at the Little Sisters of the Poor, laid the foundation for her eventual choice to enter the convent. In August 1958, one month shy of her sixteenth birthday, Marion entered the Dominican Motherhouse in Adrian, Michigan. Marion’s first assignment after taking her vows was to teach second grade in Escanaba, Michigan. Here she taught drama in addition to her regular assignment . Her assignment also included work on an Indian reservation and work at the Marquette Branch Prison. Marion speaks highly of the people in the Upper Peninsula and the quality of her experiences in the wild outdoors and deep snow. After completing the architectural program at the University of Detroit with the support of scholarships and earnings from the Ford and Dodge auto plants, Victor Zampa entered the U.S. Army near the end of the Korean conflict and served with the Fourth Armored Division. After his discharge in 1955 he used the G.I. Bill to attend night school and earn an M.B.A. Marion Zampa in Silema, Malta, as a young girl. Photo courtesy of the Zampa Family. MAL TESE IN MICHIGAN 45 In 1959 Victor joined the architectural firm of Eero Saarinen, who had immigrated to Michigan from Finland to follow in his father’s fine tradition in the profession. Victor Zampa worked on projects such as Western Union Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey, IBM Labs in Yorktown, New York, the Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Lincoln Center Theater, New York, Dulles Airport, Herndon, Virginia, and the Oakland Museum, Oakland, California. In 1967, Victor worked on the Ingham Medical Center in Lansing, Michigan, which focused his work in hospital design. A departure from this specialization was his involvement in the Royal Saudi Naval Academy near Jubail. Henry (Hank) Zampa applied to the University of Detroit Dental School after being discharged from the army. His friends were all engineers and told him that Ford Motor Company would send him to school and then hire him upon graduation. Hank quickly moved from detailer B to A, and then from designer B to A. Eventually he became a senior design engineer and took early retirement after thirty years of service with Ford Motor Company. After a failed attempt at a restaurant, Hank and his wife Carol became involved in the Amway business. Today they run an Internet-based business under the name Quixtar.com, where they work with countries all over the world.66 Other families with roots...