Francesco Severino Passetti

Francesco Severino “Frank” Passetti, son of Vincenzo Passetti (1856-1932) and his second wife, Teresa Orazi (1860-1886), was born on July 22, 1881 in Frontone, Marche, Italy. In 1901 he emigrated to America arriving in Eynon (Archbald), Pennsylvania. On April 28, 1908 he married Santina Gambucci, also an Italian immigrant, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. They were to have ten children together. Like many immigrants in the northeast United States, Frank worked in the coal mines. From 1920-1935 he was employed by both the Riverside Colliery (Scranton Coal Company) and then the Johnson Colliery (Penn Anthracite Coal Company).

During this time his wife, Santina, began to attend Pentecostal prayer meetings and as a result confessed conversion and baptism with the Holy Spirit. She shared the news with her husband, who was also then converted -- he was reportedly baptized in the Holy Spirit while working in the coal mines. Frank Passetti soon felt called to full-time ministry, and he spent the rest of his life in pastoral work. He was often sought out for spiritual counsel and prayer.

With little formal education, Frank used the Bible to teach himself to read, and in 1937 he was ordained as a minister, transferring to the Italian Branch of the Assemblies of God in 1949. He pastored in Peckville, Pennsylvania and later the Italian Full Gospel Church in Newark, New Jersey. During his retirement, Frank served as an elder at Bethel Assembly of God in Newark, New Jersey. He passed away at Maplewood, New Jersey, on 5 June 1972 after a brief illness just prior to his 91st birthday.

Children:

• John Albert (13 Jun 1909, Eynon, PA–20 Dec 1991, Susquehanna, PA; m. Dorothy Alice Robinson 1913–2000)

• Lee Roger Passetti (1910–; m. Victoria nee Lukasiewicz 1915–2005)

• Joseph Passetti (14 Jun 1912, Eynon, PA– 14 Mar 1974, Cleveland OH)

• Theresa (1914 - 2009)

• Mary Passetti (12 Feb 1916–7 Jan 1990, Peckville, PA; m. Williard Theodore Lake, 1903–1956)

• Helen (1920-2010)

• Marjorie (b. 10.7.1930; d. 12 April 2013; m. Rev. Frederick A. Trunk, 1937–2020, Jefferson, GA)

• Ruth (m. Pasapane, Florham Park, NJ)

• Phyllis (b. 15 Aug 1926, m. Joseph Siena, Maplewood, PA; s. Ronald J.)

• and one other.

Sources:

Ancestry.com

Saggio, Joseph J., 'A Brief History of Italian Pentecostalism in America', AG Heritage n. 30 (2010), p. 36.