The Corradetti Family: Annibale Corradetti, Antonia (Serani), Flavia (Cardellini) and Angeladea (Sabattina)
Updated: Oct 13
By Louie (Luigi) MiottiAs told to me by my mother, Olanda Miotti (1917–2004)
My connection to the Corradetti family begins with Annibale Corradetti, my step‑grandfather. I was only four years old when he died in 1952, so my own memories of him are limited, but I grew up hearing stories about him and the family he built in Calgary. As I learned more over the years, I came to understand that Annibale’s story cannot be told without also telling the stories of the three women who shared his life.
Annibale Corradetti
Annibale was born in Italy on July 12, 1867. One story passed down in our family concerns Annibale's brother, who came to Canada in 1899 but returned to Italy in 1902. I was told that he complained that Canada's winters were too cold, the flowers had no scent, and the women were not as beautiful as those back home. According to the family story, Annibale replied, "I think I can do better," and came to Calgary in 1903.
Whatever motivated his decision, Annibale remained in Calgary for the rest of his life and became one of the city's early Italian settlers.
Annibale worked for the City of Calgary, helping clear railway ties to prepare for the new electric tram system. Family accounts also describe him salvaging logs from the Bow River, milling them into lumber, and using that material to build rental houses. By 1929, he had constructed nine such houses, a record that reflects the practical, entrepreneurial spirit that shaped his life in Calgary.
I also learned that Annibale was a builder. In 1912, he constructed a commercial building that still stands today. The inscription is sometimes read as "Cannibale," but the family account I was given says that it reads "C. Annibale."
Records also show his strong ties to Calgary’s Italian and Catholic communities, including involvement with the Italo‑Canadian Lodge, the John Cabot Lodge, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.
Antonia Bernadina Serani
Annibale's first wife was Antonia Bernadina Serani, born in 1882 in Rieti, Lazio, Italy, to Giovanni Serani and Vittoria. Through my research, I learned that her family had connections in central Italy and that her younger brother, Serafino, known as Sam, was born in L'Aquila in 1884.
Antonia came to North America in 1907, arriving in New York on August 30. She soon continued to Calgary, where she married Annibale later that same year. Together they started their family in a city where the Italian community was still in its early stages.
Their children were Ginevera (Jean), born in 1908; Caesareno (Reno Joseph), born in 1911; and Angelino (Gerry), born about 1912.
Antonia's life in Calgary was tragically short. Records show that she died on December 26, 1916, at 35 years of age, leaving three young children. For Annibale, her death meant that he was left to raise a young family while continuing to establish himself in Calgary.
Flavia (Furbia) Cardellini
Annibale's second wife, Flavia Cardellini, brought another story of loss and immigration to the family.
Flavia was born around 1879 in Italy. Before coming to Canada, she married Sabato Cioni and had two sons, Genesio and Sabatino. Sabato died when Flavia was still a young woman, leaving her to care for her family.
I was told that Flavia's connection to Calgary came through her daughter Gisa, who had already gone to Calgary as a young girl and married Ricardo Santopinto. Through letters home, Gisa described life in Calgary and the opportunities she had found there.
Adriana A. Davies’ book From Sojourners to Citizens: Alberta’s Italian History provides further details on how Flavia came to Canada. Davies describes how Gisa’s letters painted a positive picture of Calgary and encouraged Flavia, who was struggling in Italy, to consider immigrating. Relatives subsequently helped arrange a marriage between Flavia and Annibale Corradetti, and Flavia came to Calgary around 1917.
Flavia's move to Canada did not mean leaving her children behind permanently. Genesio and Sabatino initially remained in Italy. The family history I was given tells that Flavia worked to bring them to Canada and saved money from household expenses to help make this possible. Her son Genesio (Gene) eventually came to Calgary in 1923 at the age of 16. Sabatino remained in Italy.
Flavia and Annibale also had four children together: Nick "Blackie," Marian, John, and Sylvia. Flavia therefore became part of a large blended family that included her sons from her first marriage and the children she had with Annibale.
I later learned that Gene established his own life in Calgary. He married and had two children, Maria Cioni, who became a historian, and Gary Cioni, who went on to become a Calgary judge.
Flavia's time in Calgary was brief. She died on February 17, 1926, at age 47. Annibale was once again a widower, now responsible for a large and complicated family.
Angeladea Sabattina
After Flavia’s death, family accounts say that Annibale once again needed to find a way to care for his household. Family recollections say he wrote to his hometown of Antrodoco, seeking a woman willing to come to Calgary, marry him, and help raise his family. That woman was Angeladea Sabattina, who became my grandmother and stepped into the role of caring for the children and rebuilding the household.
Angeladea was born on March 15, 1887, in Antrodoco, in the Province of Rieti, in Lazio, Italy. I was told that she was herself a widow and that her first husband had died of typhoid fever. She had two daughters, Olinda Dahlia Boccacci, born about 1913, and Olanda Maria Boccacci, known as Yola, born October 15, 1917.
Angeladea came to Calgary in 1927 and married Annibale that year. Her arrival brought another family into the increasingly large Corradetti household.
Angeladea’s efforts to reunite her family did not end with her own arrival in Calgary. Through the immigration records, I learned that in 1930 she applied to bring her daughter, Olinda Dahlia Boccacci, who was still in Italy, to Canada. The immigration file shows that the application was initially approved and that Angeladea and Annibale were considered financially able to support her. Before Olinda could make the journey, she turned 18, which created a problem under the immigration regulations then in effect.
The matter was subsequently considered at the federal level, with Dr. G. D. Stanley, M.P., recommending Olinda's admission. Her entry was ultimately authorized by Order in Council, allowing her to come to Canada despite the difficulties created by the applicable regulations. Olinda arrived in Canada in October 1931.
For Angeladea, this was more than an immigration matter. From the family history passed down to me, I understand that she was determined to have her daughter join her. The effort took several years and required intervention through the immigration system, but ultimately mother and daughter were reunited in Calgary.
In 1934, Olinda married Luigi Fabbi of Trail, British Columbia, and together they raised three children. Angeladea's other daughter, Olanda, came to Calgary in 1927. She attended St. Angela School and later worked at Holy Cross Hospital. I was told that she enjoyed attending dances at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, where she met Attilio Miotti, my father. They married in 1937 and raised two sons, Alexander and Luigi.
That connection is an important part of my own family history. Angeladea was not simply Annibale's third wife; she was my grandmother, and her daughter Olanda became my mother. I later learned that Angeladea established her own life in Calgary. Her 1958 obituary records her involvement with the Catholic Women’s League and the O.I.F.D.I. Lodge (Ordine dei Figli d’Italia, or Order of the Sons of Italy), part of the Italian fraternal tradition that provided social and mutual support within immigrant communities. She died on October 6, 1958, at the age of 71, and was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery.
A Large Blended Family
By this time, Annibale's life had brought together people whose stories stretched from Italy to Calgary. His family included children from his marriages to Antonia, Flavia, and Angeladea, as well as Flavia's children from her first marriage.
I learned that the children went on to establish their own lives in Calgary. Caesareno (Reno) became a plumber and later a photographer. Angelino (Gerry) became a real estate broker. Nick became a contractor, while Johnny worked for the City of Calgary for many years. Mary and Sylvia were also part of the family.
The family’s home in Calgary stood at 622 2nd Avenue N.E., and many of their extended family are now buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Calgary.
Remembering Annibale
I was only four when Annibale died in 1952, but the stories about him have stayed with me. During the Great Depression, I was told that he helped anyone who came to his door in need. He offered food, though he never gave out money. Family stories also describe him as very practical in business.
One family story concerns a tenant who failed to pay the rent. According to the account passed down to us, Annibale would remove the front door and return it only when the rent was paid. It was certainly an unusual way to collect the rent.
I would not describe Annibale as particularly community-oriented. Although the historical records show that he belonged to Italian and Catholic organizations, my family recollects that his main concern was his immediate family.
Annibale spent nearly fifty years in Calgary, working for the City, building property, raising a large blended family, and enduring the loss of two wives before eventually marrying Angeladea. Annibale retired in 1940 and died on May 18, 1952, at age 84. Angeladea remained in Calgary for another six years before she died in 1958.
Looking back, I see their story as part of the much larger story of Italian immigration to Calgary. These were people who left Italy, faced loss and uncertainty, built new families, brought relatives across the ocean, and established themselves in a growing city.
For me, however, it remains a family story. I may have been too young to remember much of Annibale personally, but the stories passed down through our family have kept his memory alive. And as I learned more about Antonia, Flavia, and Angeladea, I came to appreciate that each of these women had her own story of loss, family, immigration, and adaptation. Together, their stories form an important part of the Corradetti family's history in Calgary.
Sources & Notes
Family Oral History
Louie (Luigi) Miotti, personal recollections and family oral history concerning Annibale Corradetti, Angeladea Sabattina, and the Corradetti family, as conveyed to the Calgary Italian Historical Project.
Family recollections and stories passed down through the family are identified in the story where they provide personal memories, family traditions, or details that have not been independently verified through documentary sources.
Historical Sources
The Calgary Herald, December 26, 1916, pg.3 death notice for Antonia Corradetti.
The Calgary Herald, February 19, 1926, pg. 2 death notice for Furbia Corradetti
The Calgary Herald, May 20, 1952, pg. 26, obituary for Annibale Corradetti.
The Calgary Herald, October 8, 1958, pg. 27, obituary for Angeladea (Angela) Corradetti.
Library and Archives Canada — immigration and Orders in Council records, including the 1930 application concerning Olinda Boccacci.
Adriana A. Davies, From Sojourners to Citizens: Alberta's Italian History — historical background concerning Alberta's Italian community, including the Cardellini/Cioni family and the circumstances surrounding Flavia Cardellini's immigration to Calgary and her marriage to Annibale Corradetti.
Editorial/Research Note
Angeladea's 1958 obituary identifies her as a member of the O.I.F.D.I. Lodge. Historical references use O.I.F.D.I. for Ordine dei Figli d'Italia (Order of the Sons of Italy), an Italian fraternal organization that provided social and mutual support within Italian immigrant communities. While this appears to be the organization referred to in Angeladea's obituary, the specific history of the Calgary lodge and its local activities have not yet been confirmed and remains an area for further research.
Editorial Review: Reviewed and formatted by the Calgary Italian History Project for web publication