Growing up, and even more so as he got older, Richard Leto often found himself reflecting on what it truly meant to be a third-generation Italian American. “I knew what it meant on paper – that my grandparents emigrated from Italy and built their lives in America. But what did it really mean to carry that legacy?”
Through early genealogy research, he traced his family roots back to the towns where his story began. “My paternal grandparents Francesco and Caterina (Tropiano) Leto came from Santa Caterina dello Ionio in Calabria. My maternal grandparents, Aniello and Elisa (Basile) Lucera, were from Biccari in the province of Foggia, Puglia. All four were part of the Great Arrival and ultimately settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
