The Licciardi Family (1937). From the left: Luigi, Yola, Adele, and Dina (Photo property of Emily Kowalski Schroeder.)

Dina Licciardi was born in 1914 in Iselle, Italy, a small outpost on the Swiss border in far northern Italy. Her mother, Adele Parazzini was from Milan; her father, Luigi Licciardi, was Sicilian and served in the Italian Army before and during WWI. After the war, in 1920, he immigrated to the United States, and Adele, Dina, and Dina's younger sister, Yola, followed in 1921. They settled in Cleveland, Ohio.

Dina graduated from Cleveland's John Adams High School in 1932. She worked as an assistant buyer in retail and as a keypunch operator, and, along with the rest of her family, was closely involved in local Italian-American social and community groups.
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In 1943, Dina answered the call to serve and joined the U.S. Coast Guard Women's Reserve (SPARS). She spent her entire time of service in Florida, first in Palm Beach during training and later in Miami.

This website was created and is run by Dina's granddaughter, Emily Kowalski Schroeder. All photos, pamphlets, letters, and other items listed on the site are presently in possession of the website owner.