JOHN AND GINA FALLON
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John & Gina Fallon are the authors of A Remembrance of World War II: An Italian-Irish Romance. Order your copy here: http://bit.ly/e3AtBv
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Gina Sberna Fallon was born in Virle, province of Brescia in Italy. Her father, a sculptor in marble was well known in both Italy and France. When Gina was two years of age, her father took the family from Italy to France.
Although Gina’s family had been welcomed in France – particularly given her father’s proficiency in marble, they were forced to return to Italy during World War II. Gina, then a teenager, had to face the challenges of more schooling, language learning, and then finding a place in her new environment. She eventually landed a position in the office of the Mayor in Rezzato. She subsequently enrolled in nursing school in Switzerland, at first taking courses in German and then later, after transfer to Neuchatel, in French.
English was the next language that she mastered after moving to the United States. In order to become a nurse in the U.S., she had to once again go to nursing school. She completed the necessary classes, passed all the New York State tests, and received the license as a nurse in New York State.
She worked as an assistant in a hospital in Brooklyn and later as a nurse in Ozanam Hall, a medical and residential setting in Queens for ill or disabled individuals who needed daily health care as well as for those who were living through the vicissitudes of age.
When she retired after her children had completed their education, she volunteered at North Shore University Hospital in Long Island and participated in community welfare groups as well as social and church activities.
She is a member of New York University’s Casa Italiana, as well as the Cellini Lodge of the Order of Sons of Italy in America. She also participates in the many Irish cultural and social organizations in which her husband is active.
With her husband John, she raised three children, Donnadella, Brian, and Debra.
John J. Fallon was born in Mountbellew, County Galway, Ireland. His father Anthony Fallon had left their ancestral home, Netterville Lodge, when he married in 1916. Anthony and Bridie had 4 children, Moira, John, Therese, and Magdela. John’s parents left Ireland in 1928 and brought their children over in 1929.
Despite the Depression, Anthony, a lawyer, and Bridie, a legal stenographer, both were employed in a prestigious admiralty law firm in New York.
John is the author of A BETTER DEED, a story of difficult times in Ireland. He is also coauthor of educational books, and articles in the local papers and in educational journals. He served in the Fourteenth Infantry Regiment of the New York National Guard, and then, having registered for the draft, he was inducted into the U.S. Army before Pearl Harbor.
Having served in Fort Belvoir in Virginia, Fort Bragg in North Carolina, and Camp Gruber in Oklahoma, he was then sent as part of the 88th Infantry Division to North Africa and subsequently to the front lines in Italy. It was in Italy that John met Gina.
At the end of World War II he worked in the Veterans Administration while preparing for a teaching position. Working with the New York City Board of Education, he became a teacher and subsequently supervisor and Principal of Bay Ridge High School in Brooklyn, New York.
John belongs to several Irish organizations: The Galway Association of New York, The American Irish Teachers Association, New York University Ireland House, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He also participates in the many cultural and social Italian organizations in which Gina is active.
