Martinez, California

You may have heard the long-circulating rumor that baseball legend Joe DiMaggio once visited his "Aunt Angie" while passing through Sheridan. In truth, Angie was not his aunt at all—Joe was nearly three years older than she was. What they did share was a common hometown: Martinez, California, a coincidence that likely gave the story just enough plausibility to endure for decades. It is entirely possible that the two never even met. Angie's documented connection, in fact, runs instead through Joe's cousin—a far more complex and verifiable tie that continues deeper into her story.

Angelina Jean Colacurcio, also later spelled Calicura, was born on July 21, 1917, in Martinez, California. Her parents were Saverio "Sam" Calicura and Angiolina "Angelina" Rodia Calicura, Italian immigrants raising seventeen children in one of Contra Costa County's largest families.

One of the first records Angie appears in is the 1920 US Census, listing her as age 1 (Her age was recorded wrong - as often happened) and living in Martinez, California.

During the early 1950s, Angie's life intersected with Eugene "Jack" Amato, a bartender also from Martinez, California.

Tragedy struck in Sheridan, Wyoming, in 1954. Baby Amato was born and died the same day, only four hours old. Funeral records list the mother as Jean, the father as Eugene Amato, and the residence as Martinez, California. This confirms that Angelina "Jean" Calicura was the child's mother.

Angelina's two obituaries. The first is from the Martinez News-Gazette, Martinez, California, December 30, 1986, Page 2, and the second is from the Tahoe Daily Tribune, South Lake Tahoe, California, January 2, 1987, Page 2.