Carmine was born in the village town of Sant’Agata di Puglia in Italy and is the eldest of seven children. In his early years, he helped to support his family by working as a farm hand on local properties and farms in nearby provinces before serving in World War 2. He was drafted into the Italian Army in 1943 and served with the Transport Corp.
After the war and with a shortage of regular employment, Carmine migrated to Australia in 1952 under the Australian Migration Scheme. On his arrival to Australia, he was sent to the immigration camp at Bonegilla in Victoria for a few months until there was an opportunity to move to the Riverland in South Australia to help with fruit picking. He later managed to find work with E&WS and spent a lot of time in Port Lincoln, Murray Bridge and Gawler, living in various workers camps. Eventually, Carmine moved to Adelaide and worked at ETSA as a storeman and forklift driver for the next thirty-five years until his retirement.
Within three years of arriving in Australia, he was able to purchase his first home in Kent Town and then married his wife via proxy. Carmine’s wife, Pina, soon joined him in Australia in 1955 and together they had four children. The family later moved to Kensington Park and eventually moved to St Morris where Carmine built a new home. He also has eleven grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Carmine was a great handyman and also fixed just about anything. His shed had an array of tools and equipment which he used for his many projects. One project, which was a highlight to his then three young children, was when he built a figure 8 three lane slot car race track from scratch. It was a real work of innovation which included laying down three twin rows of copper braid which powered the slot cars via a 12V battery supply. It provided the family with many hours of fun.
His passion was wine making and he was always proud to share his drop with everyone. In the early years, he always made red wine, using either Shiraz or Cabernet grapes from the Riverland. Later he started making mostly white wine and would pick his own grapes from a winery in McLaren Vale. He also enjoyed photography and spent many hours taking photos and developing the negatives and prints himself at home with photographic equipment he had purchased over the years.
Spending time with the family is Carmine’s favorite thing. His wife Pina, during their life together, loved to cook. There were many get-togethers for Sunday lunch and the family was entertainmed by Carmine’s anecdotal stories of his life insights.
