Special members of the Spadoni family discovered in both Italia and U.S.

Off and on for the past six years, I’ve been looking for some Spadoni third and fourth cousins in Italy, with little success. We have met many second cousins who are descendants of Enrico Spadoni, the brother of my nonno Michele. Some of them have even come to visit us in Gig Harbor. But we also know, because of the church records, that the father of Michele and Enrico—Pietro—had brothers and sisters who survived until adulthood: Angelo, Francesco, Abigaille and Gioconda. Most likely their descendants should be living near Montecarlo.

Tanti (so many) Spadoni: Susan, Sauro, Suzye, Paul, Annette, Sharon.

In 2014, I did find Silvano‟Leino” Celli and his brother Emo, great grandsons of Gioconda Spadoni, both living in San Salvatore. It seemed like I should be able to find descendants of Angelo and Francesco, because some of them should still carry the Spadoni surname. My efforts to find them led me to a number of Spadonis, but the closest was fourth cousin Leonello Spadoni, owner of a pizzeria in Chiesina Uzzanese. He was the descendant of the brother of Pellegrino Spadoni (the father of Pietro, Angelo, Francesco, Abigaille and Gioconda).

Suzye getting styled by Sauro Spadoni of Magic Hair.

Over the course of the last six months, I finally hit pay dirt, finding the names of many of the descendants of Angelo. The breakthrough came from DNA testing through Ancestry.com. My brother and sister and I all came up as matches for some family members in Illinois, and in our subsequent contact, we discovered that we are third cousins. I have since enjoyed some interesting correspondence with Eileen Riccomi Lucietto, Alfred Riccomi and Robert Riccomi, all of whom are the great grandchildren of Angelo Spadoni. Their mom, Quarta Spadoni, married Eugenio Riccomi, and the family moved to America in the 1920s.

All of them speak some Italian and have visited their relatives who remain in the Valdinievole area, which encompasses Pescia, Montecarlo and Chiesina Uzzanese. Eileen provided me with many names and dates of birth for Italian family members, and through her information, I have become Facebook friends with several of them.

During our recent stay in Italy (which ended about ten days ago), we had a great experience with Sauro Spadoni, a hair stylist of some renown in Chiesina Uzzanese. Sauro is exceptionally friendly, lively and gracious, and he welcomed Lucy and me with a broad smile and open arms when we dropped in for a visit at his salon, called Magic Hair, in March. We promised to return in April for a longer visit when our daughter Suzye came for a week-long stay in Montecarlo. Suzye is also a hair stylist—she graduated as valedictorian in 2015 from the Gene Juarez Academy of Beauty and is a stylist at Rudy’s in Seattle.

When we went back to see Sauro again, we had not only Suzye with us but also three more visiting American cousins: Annette, Susan and Sharon. Suzye and I returned the next day so that Suzye could get a trim, but Sauro turned the appointment into a full styling that was the highlight of Suzye’s week.

‟Meeting Sauro was such a treat!” Suzye said. ‟I felt an instant connection from knowing that we are relatives who share the same love for hair styling. He greeted me warmly and treated me like family.”

Sauro's patented product.

While Suzye is still at the beginning of her career, Sauro has been styling hair since 1989. He is a consultant for a line of hair care products, Mr. Gio’, and he has developed a patented method and product for hair tinting called E-Form.

‟He’s created a foam square with a circle cut out so it fits on the top of the head,” Suzye said. ‟Along the edges there are notches where you can place hairs so that when you are coloring them they will stay separate.”

Showing Suzye how the E-Form works.

Sauro gives workshops in various cities in Italy to teach his technique to other stylists. Suzye felt honored to receive special attention from such an accomplished professional.

‟He is vastly more experienced than I, as he started his career when I was just 5 years old,” she said. ‟It was so nice to be treated to the full salon experience, as I’m so used to having another coworker quickly cut my hair when there is a lull between clients at our shop.

A thoroughly satisfied customer

‟He started by shampooing me himself, which he doesn’t usually do since he has interns and other employees who are expected to handle that. Then he gave me an edgy new cut topped off with a blowout and style, all the while showing me books of his work and explaining unique techniques that he’s developed. By the end I felt like a princess, and he wouldn’t even let us pay.”

We have yet to meet the other Italian cousins who are descended from Angelo, but that will be a treat for another time. And I still have hope that someday we’ll find some of the descendants of Francesco and Veronica Spadoni.