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Gaetano Armenti was born in Castelpetroso, Northern Italy in December, 1940. Gaetano’s father came to Australia to work and in 1957 he organized for Gaetano to emigrate. The journey took 29 days on board the “Roma” which docked at Fremantle. Gaetano was greeted by his father but unfortunately they had to part company 2 days later as his father had a job to go to in Corrigin.
Gaetano lived in East Perth with his Aunty and sought employment around the area. As he could not speak English and the Commonwealth Employment Service knew of D’Orsogna Bros which was established 8 years earlier, Gaetano was referred to their business in Stone Street, West Perth. The D’Orsogna families were renowned for assisting and welcoming new immigrants to their new country.
When Gaetano (small in stature), asked for a job (in Italian), Mr John D’Orsogna said “we need a man”. Gaetano said “I am small but I like to work”, to which Mr D’Orsogna replied; “good, start tomorrow”. Hence, Gaetano commenced employment with D’Orsogna Bros on 1st March 1957.
Over the years, Gaetano has spent a lot of time with Mr John D’Orsogna’s brother and co-founder, Mr Tom D’Orsogna, who he’s described as “his second father”.
Gaetano’s mother and youngest sister came to Australia in 1960. His eldest sister later married in Italy and moved to Canada.
Gaetano’s parents emigrated to Canada in 1984 but his youngest sister, Maria, remained in Western Australia.
When the new D’Orsogna factory was completed in 1972 at Palmyra, Gaetano continued his service with the Company. He has worked in the Cooking Department throughout his entire career and loved the move to the new modern factory, and today, enjoys his work even more after the installation of new Smokehouses in the plant several years ago. There is no comparison to the old days and all the work being done in “wood fired ovens”!
D’Orsogna Limited held a special dinner in March in honour of Gaetano and his wonderful achievement and the West Australian Pork Producers’ Association (WAPPA) also presented Gaetano with a Special Industry Award at their Annual Dinner recently.
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