80e-Frank and Emily’s Wedding Day, May 6, 1950

Introduction

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s front page of the Saturday, May 6th, 1950 edition reported that the weather would be “Foggy today with scattered showers; fair tonight.”  Storms that originated in the Mississippi Valley worked their way up north to Wisconsin where the lightning storms were reported as “spectacular” by the Eagle’s reporter.  Meanwhile a tornado raged in Texas while in Iowa the storms downed power and telephone lines.  The local weather in the New York City area lacked the drama of the Midwest but brought its own hazards.  The Eagle informed readers that, “The heaviest fog in years rolled over the city today.  It made driving dangerous, closed LaGuardia Field and snarled shipping, but it had no effect on municipal ferries.”  This is because New York City ferries were using radar to navigate.  This was a new development that was working out very well and ensuring the safety during the crossings.  Fog and drizzle were predicted to continue all of Saturday.  The prediction for Sunday, May 7, 1940 was for fair skies and temperatures in the 70s.

Over on the West Coast, in the world of the Hollywood celebrities, concerns about the weather were not foremost on many people’s minds.  A young and beautiful actress named Elizabeth Taylor, aged 19 was going to wed hotel heir Conrad Hilton, 23 years of age, on that Saturday.  In the year before this wedding came to be, Liz went through two engagements that did not work out.  Upon meeting Hilton and being swept away in a whirlwind romance, the third time proved the charm for Liz.  She was reported to have a cold but told reporters absolutely nothing was going to postpone the wedding.  Liz and Conrad were married at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, California.  The reception followed at the Bel-Air country club.  After a weeklong honeymoon the newlyweds were off for a three month jaunt in Europe.

On the East Coast another wedding and honeymoon was about to take place.  It was not of celebrity status nor was it covered in the newspapers.  But for us it was a very important wedding.  In the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe (link to previous posting), located on the borderline of Bensonhurst and Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, New York Frank and Emily’s wedding took place. This day was the culmination of three years of planning and a major accomplishment for the newlyweds:  they succeeded in bringing their vision to fruition and did so on their own.  Frank and Emily paid for the wedding ceremony, the reception, the photographer, the invitations and thank you cards–in other words the entire event–by themselves.  In taking control of the financing and planning of the wedding they worked closely and in cooperation with each other.  It was a big step forward for both as they learned how to balance their choices and decisions with the need to make some sacrifices.  They took this manner of making changes in a gradual, planned progression into their vision for married life.  This gave them both a confidence to buck the current trends and pressures put upon young veterans and young women to marry right away and have lots of children.  Frank and Emily were going to stay focused on their own approach to the future.  Instead of staying home after the honeymoon, Emily returned to her position at a law firm and Frank resumed working at an importing company in Lower Manhattan.

Relationship Notes

Emily Leatrice Serrapede was the daughter of Sam and Josie Serrapede.  When she got married she was 19 years old and had a little brother, aged 7, everyone called Junior.  His name on the block was Sammy and among the family Sabbatino (a derivative of Sabato, his father’s name).  Emily’s cousin and one of her best friends, Rita Errico Bishelany, was Matron of Honor at the wedding.

Frank J. Terry* was the son of Blanche and Al Terry.  He was 23 years old at the time of his marriage.  Upon his return from serving in the U.S. Navy he met Emily.  Frank’s siblings and Emily got along very well and his parents liked her very much.  Al and Blanche socialized with a very diverse and lively group of relatives and business contacts with frequent get-togethers on weekdays and weekends.  Early on Emily was drawn into the circle of activities organized and hosted not only by Blanche and Al but Al’s family, too.  Frank’s siblings were Alfred Anthony, Robert Edward and Maureen.  Alfred was best man for the wedding.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Roman Catholic Church is located in the parish where Frank’s family lived.  The wedding ceremony is usually held at the church in the Bride’s parish.  In 1950, though, the church of Regina Pacis (Queen of Peace) was under construction.  The mother church (original building and parish) was St. Rosalia’s Roman Catholic Church.  It was a very small church that would not be able to hold the number of guests and neighbors who came to the ceremony.  For this reason, Emily and Frank chose to have the ceremony at Our Lady of Guadalupe.

*See Note before Resources section.

Family Story:  The message from the father of the bride

Everyone in the Serrapede family remarked on how handsome Sam looked on the day of the wedding.  Emily rarely saw her father in formal dress since he worked as a shoe shiner and all-around-go-to person at a local barber shop.  At the wedding Frank’s family were equally impressed by Sam’s dignified demeanor.