Fermino

As the last of my siblings to pass away, Fermino was a Family Patriarch extraordinaire-for a period of more than 33 years-longer than anyone else in the Family. To me, personally, he was like a 2nd Father. When WW II broke out he lead the parade of Brittos to the local enlistment office to volunteer for duty. To his chagrin, he was rejected, due to an eye injury he suffered as a child, as his younger Brothers marched off to war. Fermino, feeling the need to do his part, went to work at a munitions factory in Bridgeport, Ct. During the war years, in the 1940's, the remaining Family members listened nightly, as a group, to war news reports, via radio (no TV in those days). Mom's favorite newscaster was a man named Gabriel Heatter. Mr. Heatter started every broadcast with one of two phrases - 1. 'Aah there's good news tonight' or, in a desperate tone, 2. 'there's bad news tonight'. When the opening line was the latter, Fermino had to calm Mom down and explain that her Son's were safe-which was dependent upon what front the bad news came from. He was familiar with all the war fronts and where Tony, Frankie, Charlie & Given were located.

To ease Mom's burden, Fermino would take Jay, Jackie & myself out to ballgames at Yankee Stadium or various other places-at his own expense-to keep us from getting into trouble or otherwise causing any problems for Mom. He always worked very hard and saved his money. He purchased a late 30's model Buick that had 2 folding chairs between the front and back seats and could hold 8 people. With this car, a first in the Family, he carted the Family to functions such as the Cape Verdean Picnics & Dances in Bridgeport, CT or to visits to relatives in Connecticut. In short, during the WW II years, he did every thing he could, to ease Mom's concerns for her children in the War and the younger ones at home.

After the war, Fermino married the love of his life-Georgia Mitchell. Two children, Paul Andre Britto and Karen M. Britto were born and I was drafted to be their baby-sitter. After a short period of life in Port Chester, NY, Fermino & Georgia purchased a home in Rye, NY- another Family first. For many of my school years Fermino & Georgia provided my main source of extra income by creating tasks for me to perform and always paying me much more than I had a right to expect. When I got my driver's license, Georgia asked Fermino to buy a 2nd car and then provided me with another job-driving Her and 2 workmates to work in Elmsford, NY and picking them up after work. This resulted in my having a car to drive to High School in my Junior & Senior years and getting paid for it- Thanks to the both of them.

When Georgia passed in April, 1968, a big part of Fermino's life was lost. But Fermino, a dedicated Family man, knew his work was not finished, for he had two lovely children to care for. With this on his mind, he still found time to aid his Siblings whenever there was a need. The ways in which he aided Family are much too numerous to list here. Suffice it to say that, at no time, when aid was needed, for a Family member, did he fail to provide whatever assistance that he could. It was Fermino who guided me in to the field of Computer Programming, in 1966, and, because of him, I was able to make a decent living for 36 years.

Fermino, without a doubt, you are the greatest Man I have ever known and being your Brother provided me with the most rewarding experiences of my life. I can not, nor will I ever, forget you.

Rest easy, My Brother and Surrogate Dad,

Your Brother, John.