Young Vito
Vito Salvatore Sammartano in the early 1930’s. As he would describe himself, young Vito was a high energy, mischievous and rambunctious kid. His sisters all agreed.
US Navy
Vito served in the Pacific as a cook on a mine sweeper. Dad always talked about lying on his papers and joining the Navy in early 1945 when he was still 17 years old. He wouldn’t be of age until July of 1945 and was discharged soon after as the war ended on September 2, 1945.
Vito in LA
He was painting while living in LA, and his roommate was an aspiring actor. Vito wrote on the back of the photo, “L.A. Summer of ‘52”
Malibu Beach
Summer 1952.
Art Student
Vito attended the Vesper George College of Art as well as Lacedra School of Art in the early 1950’s. He would later take classes at Wellesley, then earn a BS in Art at Massachusetts College of Art, and a Master’s Ed. at Westfield State College.
The background painting would put the date of this photo somewhere in the late 1950’s.
Young Marie Sammartano
Marie and her big brother Vito at some sort of Catholic ceremony that might put her at 13 years old. Vito would have been 18 or 19 and may have just come back from the war.
Vito as a Young Man
Date and age unknown.
First Marriage
Vito marries Carolyn (Lyn) Clark in September of 1955 in Boston, MA. Lyn was a junior at Wellesley College where they met in 1954. Lyn’s parents did not approve of the relationship or marriage, and not only didn’t attend the ceremony, but would distance themselves from the new couple in protest.
Lyn and Vito
Mr. and Mrs. Vito Sammartano relaxing together some time in the very early 1960’s.
Nurturing Father
Vito as Dad was a very caring, loving, and fun parent. Dad and his son Danny on the beach on Cape Cod in July, 1961. Danny is just over 2 yrs-old.
Beachcomber
Vito and his son Danny on the beach on Cape Cod in July, 1961. Vito was a compulsive collector of things on the beach. His home and studio were filled with shells and rocks and driftwood.
The Dad
Vito holding baby Danny while Chris mugs for the camera.
Dad and Danny
1959
Picnic
Vito, his two sons and an unidentified child, 1961.
Vito the Photographer
As a natural extension of his painting, Vito took thousands of photographs that either inspired his work on canvas, or stood alone as print art.
Vito the Fisherman
Vito grew up in Natick, Massachusetts, not exactly a country setting. Set just outside Boston, his activities were mostly in urban or dense suburban environments. So it was surprising to know how much he enjoyed fishing. He took the sport fairly seriously in his early family years, but fished less and less as his teaching, painting and running the tennis club kept him busy doing other things instead.
Vito's White T-Shirt Days (Haha)
Vito in the early 60’s.
Vito on Cape Cod
In 1962 or 1963, Vito, Lyn and the three kids moved to 13 Red River Rd in Harwich, Massachusetts. This is Vito holding Val on a windy and cloudy day at the shore.
Vito and Val at the Beach
This might be Red River Beach in Harwich. This is where we were all inoculated with salt water. Danny lives only a couple miles away in Chatham almost 60 years later.
Vito the Cook
Vito was a cook and everyone knew it. He was probably as famous for a while for his cooking as he was for his artistry. In the early 1960’s he was teaching at Chatham High School, and in the summers he would manage the Chatham Beach and Tennis Club. For 20 years he would feed the rich and famous, and provide for the smooth operation of a private tennis club. In this photo Vito is cooking swordfish (pipe in mouth) for over 100 people for what was known as the Thursday Night Buffet. These dinners took place every Thursday night, every summer, for the 20 years he managed the Club.
4 Avon Street, Natick, Mass
The house at 4 Avon Street would serve as the center of the Sammartano’s for over 70 years. Vito grew up in this house, and his mother and sister Marie would live there through the 60s and 70s until Nonna’s death in 1981. Marie and Uncle Jim Ellis would remain at 4 Avon Street until the 20-teens. Danny and Chris lived there briefly when Danny was a baby, and all the cousins would meet here for the major holiday celebrations and get-togethers. In this photo from left to right: Aunt Rose (Bates), cousin Dominic Precopio, Aunt Frances Precopio, Uncle Bob Bates, Aunt Marie Ellis, Uncle Busty and some others maybe Uncle Jim Ellis.
Mama and Sisters
Left to right: Rose (Bates), Marie (Ellis), Nonna (Josephine), Frances (Procopio), Vito. Late 1970’s.
Nonna
Josephine Sammartano (Giuseppina Angileri) was born in 1893 in Trapani, Sicily. She lived until 1981, dying just months before her son Vito. She spoke very little English, and her occupation was baseball maker. She could cook…I mean really cook. If she wasn’t making baseballs she was cooking and feeding us. She was the quintessential Italian grandmother. Having grown up by the sea in Sicily, she came to know what could be collected on a beach and eaten. We were never fed these, but Nonna collected periwinkle snails and seaweed on the beach for something she probably cooked for herself out of nostalgia. In this photo she’s probably in her eighties and is pictured here with Tony Precopio. Tony was our Harvard educated cousin who died in 2019 in California.
Sicily
Though born in the US, Vito lived in Sicily for some years as a youngster. He also returned there in 1976 and 1979 where he connected with scores of relatives. They paraded Vito everywhere calling him “professore”, and these visits were very important to Vito as during his final visit he was fighting colon cancer. He returned to his ancestral village in Trapani during both trips, and in this picture Vito is sitting on the bed where his mother, our Nonna, was born in 1893.
The Artist
Vito was a painter whose medium was usually on canvas with acrylic and oil paints. He was an artist who focused on abstract interpretations of his beloved seaside environs, and most of his paintings are immediately recognized by their colorful horizontal lines that hint at the horizons where ocean and land meet. In this photo Vito is making some finishing touches to one of his later paintings of the late 1970’s as evidenced by the more organic areas of the canvas indicating sand and dunes.
Sammartano Family Tree
This is a work in progress…
In the Studio
This is how we all remember our dad, Vito Sammartano. He was just so cool, and this photo encapsulates who he was to all of us lucky enough to be a part of his life. He just made it all work. After Chatham High School, Vito got a job teaching art at Salem State College where he would remain for his entire teaching career. He would serve as a full professor, chair of the art department, as well as Assistant President of the entire college for three years. He also concurrently served on the Massachusetts Arts Council being sworn in by Governor Sargent in the early 1970’s. Vito was very involved in everything, and he was a favorite teacher to scores of students for all the years he taught art at Salem State College.
An Early CV
"Cocktail" Party
Vito rarely drank as he was very sensitive to alcohol. Almost any amount of booze would leave him sick as a dog the following day. Here at the Club cocktail parties, he’d walk around and socialize with the members holding a ginger ale on the rocks. Here Vito hams it up with Mrs. Bainbridge.
Always Cooking
…with pipe in mouth.
Sunrise - Little Pleasant Bay
This would be the basis of a Vito painting.