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Those pictured are: Standing: Giosue (Joe) Pretto of Oakville Mo.,, Dennis (Jerry) Pretto,of Columbia, Ill. Susan Pretto Heller of San Diego, Ca., Gloria Pretto Sollee of Hecker Ill., Richard (Dick) Pretto of Columbia, and Laurence Pretto of Columbia, Il. Seated: Sylvia Pretto Moallankamp of Columbia, Ill.and Tommy Pretto of Columbia, Ill. Missing from the photo are : Martha Hoffmeister, Rose Ann Hasek, Alice Klein, William Pretto, John Pretto (deceased). |
| Giosue Pretto was an Italian immigrant who enlisted in the American Military in 1905 at Camp Pike Arkansas, in order to expedite his naturalization to become an American citizen. He moved to the Columbia area shortly after that with his wife, Anna. Mr. Pretto worked his entire adult life at the Columbia Quarry. They had thirteen children. The last one was Tom Pretto, born in 1957 with Down's Syndrome. His prognosis was not good, but on August 5th,2007 , Tom turned 50 years old. The Pretto family reunion this year was a celebration of that birthday! Attached is a photo with eight of his siblings. |