SLIDESHOW THAT  WAS PLAYED AT THE CELEBRATION
 

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO SEE THE SLIDESHOW:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQ3pLcxnTdTDufRAP5Y1q6SNF2jLjzBA3bBbGQbi2SRhrKG3uyKPTRz7kMY-OX5SUfz2Hc-GdKkmxwj/pub?start=true&loop=true&delayms=3000

125 years ago, a Galveston hurricane survivor made a promise. Five generations have kept it.

By Jarrod Wardwell, Staff Writer

Sep 8, 2025

Ingrando family relatives said they hosted their 125th annual service Sunday with about 120 people inside the gymnasium at St. Thomas High School on Memorial Drive.

Courtesy Of Hayley Nava Cardoso

Monday marks the 125th anniversary of the deadliest hurricane in United States history, and one of the same Houston families that huddled through its landfall is still here to tell its story.

Every year since the Great Storm of 1900, which killed an estimated 8,000 people as it battered Galveston and Houston, five generations of Houston's Ingrando family have gathered for a Catholic Mass to remember the hurricane's anniversary.

Ingrando family relatives said they hosted their 125th annual service Sunday with about 120 people inside the gymnasium at St. Thomas High School on Memorial Drive. It was a larger-than-average turnout for a milestone moment celebrating a survival story spanning more than a century in Houston.

Courtesy of Hayley Nava Cardoso

The hurricane made landfall on Sept. 8, which is the feast day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Catholic faith, and in Siciliy, it was "the biggest day of the year," according to 44-year-old descendant Michael Mandola.

The Ingrandos survived the storm, and 125 years later, the annual family Mass is still going strong.

The family hosted its 125th annual service Sunday with about 120 people inside the gymnasium at St. Thomas High School on Memorial Drive, members said. It was a larger-than-average turnout for a milestone moment celebrating a survival story spanning more than a century in Houston.

"It's just something that has not been forgotten, and we don't want it to be forgotten," Nash D'Amico, a 76-year-old descendant, said. "And it's just wonderful to be part of it."

D'Amico is one of more than 300 descendants of the Ingrando family, many of whom attend the Mass to pay homage to their roots, survival and legacy in Houston each year.

The family's history in Houston dates back to the turn of the 20th century, when the family of six had migrated from Sicily shortly before the historic hurricane. The father who pledged to hold the annual Mass supported his family with a two-story grocery store at McKinney and Sampson streets.

The Mass has cycled through locations across the decades, beginning at the Church of the Annunciation and later moving between Sacred Heart Church, St. Dominic Center, St. Anne Catholic Church and St. Thomas High School. Some years, the Mass has taken place in homes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it happened over Zoom. 

The Ingrando family line has made its mark on the Houston community, with the Frank and Jennie Ingrando Foundation playing a central role. The foundation opened an orphanage along the Gulf Freeway in 1956, donated $26,000 to a children's library at Dominican College in 1970, funded improvements at Southmayd (now Ingrando) Park in the East End in 1971 and gave St. Joseph Medical Center land in 1972 to build a nursery for high-risk newborns, according to the family.

Some modern-day descendants also are restaurateurs behind names like Ragin’ Cajun, Carrabba’s, Damian’s Cucina Italiana, D’Amico’s, Ciro’s and Mandola’s Catering. After the Mass, the family enjoyed lasagna courtesy of restaurateur Bubba Butera, who owns Frankie B. Mandola’s Catering and also owned the since-closed Damian’s Cucina Italiana. 

"It started as a celebration of survival," said descendant Roz Pactor, "and it's evolved into a celebration of gratitude and thankfulness because we're all here." 

Ingrando family relatives said they hosted their 125th annual service Sunday with about 120 people inside the gymnasium at St. Thomas High School on Memorial Drive.

Family members came from as far away as San Francisco and were a mix of ages, including some of the younger family members who will likely be tasked with the next major anniversary.

"We said we'll turn this over to them for the 150," Pactor said.

Keith Calkins former sports anchor and writer for St. Thomas wrote an article about the 1900 Storm mass.  Thank you Keith for such a beautiful account of our family.  

The Patriarch, The Pledge and Forever

Allegiance

125th Anniversary Ingrando Family Mass Celebration

The cornerstone for the St. Mary Cathedral Basilica in

Galveston was laid in 1847, the same year the Catholic

Diocese of the city - and all of Texas - was established.

Sunday Masses at the mother church of Catholics in the

state routinely conclude the Prayers of the Faithful with a

request “for the protection of all natural disasters and for

the needs of our holy family parish, let us now turn to the

Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede for us as we pray The

Memorare.”

The congregation then unanimously responds:

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it

known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored

thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of

virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I

stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the WordIncarnate, 

despite not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear

and answer me. Amen.

On Saturday, September 8, 1900, Italian immigrant Ignacio

Ingrando stood but blocks away from the cathedral in his

home at the corner of Jackson St. and Chenevert St. He

was perched in the advent of unprecedented peril, not with

a petition for the Virgin Mary but an all-consuming plea

coupled with a lifelong reciprocal pledge if his family were

to be spared from the titanic hurricane fast assaulting

Galveston.

Blessed Mother, if you save my family, I’ll have a Mass

said in your honor every year.

In the aftermath of the deadliest natural disaster in United

States history, carnage and destruction dominated the

Island and the Cathedral stood nearly in ruins.

Inexplicably, its battered tower remained intact. Mary, Star

of the Sea (Stella Maris), erected to watch over the Island

following the storm of 1875, may have swayed and

teetered to the brink of collapse but never ceased to stand

watch.

And Ignacio’s urgent plea to Mother Mary was mercifully

answered, his trust warranted. He and his wife, Margarita,

and their children - 14-year-old Frank, 12-year-old Rosie,

four-yr-old Annie and two-year-old Jennie - had somehow

braved and survived The Great Storm of 1900.

Driving Forces

Nash D’Amico is savoring his 50th vibrant year as a

prominent presence in the lauded Houston restaurant

scene. He relishes the remarkable milestone in the

minefield that is his chosen profession. But D’Amico’s

focus has been fixed throughout 2025 on an entirely

separate climax that carries a legacy more entrancing and

exalting than any other he has seen or experienced in his

75 years.

In September - and for the resounding 125th consecutive

year - D’Amico and his extended Italian-American family,

descendents of Ignacio and Margarita, will converge to

commemorate their annual Mass dedicated to Mary

Mother of God in gratitude for Her benevolent intervention

and supreme protection during Galveston’s darkest hour,

and Her ever-present grace decade after decade since

Ingrando’s fateful appeal.

“It’s next to impossible for me to convey the affection our

family holds for the Virgin Mary,” Nash says. “It’s

multi-generational and into the second century -

phenomenal. I’ve spent hours contemplating Her

influence in our daily lives, not just the yearly September 8salute.

It’s beyond my comprehension that we all are

bonded by our Catholic faith in this intimate way.”

D’Amico, Roz Bilao Pactor and Jeanice Guzzetta Netzel

are the latest driving forces preserving the Storm Mass

observance, having assumed the lead torch from previous

caretakers, learning of the riveting homage from their

respective parents and grandparents, passed through

perfect practice.

”No one says ‘you’re next,’” Nash laughs. “All you have to

do is raise your hand once and you are a volunteer for

life.”

The three intimates grasped from an early age that while

the perennial tribute signals a home-style feast and family

frolic, the devout significance surpasses a simple poignant

pause for remembrance.

“Grandmother Bilao (one of the three Ingrando sisters who

endured the tragedy) told me stories as I was growing up

how she held on to poles during the storm so that she

wouldn’t be blown away,” Roz says. “My mother was a

huge believer that this occasion was much more than a

family reunion and she instilled that deeper meaning in me

and my brother, Steve.

”Jeanice says “our ancestors overcame so much during a

difficult life after arriving from Sicily. They were poor. They

were immigrants. They lived on the extreme margins. I’m

convinced that their belief in the Virgin Mary guided them

through extremely tough times, not just the hurricane. My

mother and her three sisters had amazing reverence to

Mary. The rosary was what you did every day. And our

September 8 Mass is part of that fabric of who we are.”

Acts Of Faith, Take 1

Jeanice Guzzetta Netzel and her four older brothers were

taught from an early age the Italian way of valuing and

nurturing relevant relationships.

Her father Sam’s greater-than-self service included four

years with the United States Marines during World War II

in the Pacific Theater. He returned home to Houston to

partner with his brother Joe for more than 40 years in a

specialty meat market and full service food store. More

than a neighborhood retailer, Forest Oaks Grocery was a

community institution and family enterprise that included

Jeanice’s mother, Jeanette (née Bilao), in the

Meadowbrook/Allendale areas of south Houston where la

famiglia e tutto.

“When we turned 13, my brothers and I were expected to

work in the meat market, making sandwiches, sackinggroceries, 

whatever was needed,” Jeanice says. “I still

remember putting together the weekly promotional circular

with my dad. We had three check-out registers up front,

first name courtesy with most of our customers. It wasn't

unusual for my mom to extend credit to a struggling family

until they were again on solid financial footing.”

Jeanice saw her parents live the standard of steadfast

devoir to family and faith. She adopted the credo as a

married mother of two, ascending the corporate tiers of

retail fashion. After a near-three decade career with

Foley’s and Sage Stores, Jeanice left as a vice president

and joined Newmark Group’s Houston office, an associate

within the tenant representation team prioritizing industrial

and office sectors of commercial real estate.

In her years attending Blessed Sacrament Catholic School

and Incarnate Word Academy, Jeanice admittedly recalls

the Storm Mass as more close knit family than grand

soiree. “But that changed with the 100th anniversary. We

had more than 100 attending at the Church of

Annunciation, then filled a banquet room for the reception

and dinner at Frankie Mandola’s Damian’s.”

But what jolted Jeanice during the festive jubilee

celebration was who was startlingly absent. Jeanette had

recently died at age 71 after a stroke. The void waspalpable. 

“My mom was daily dedicated to the Virgin Mary

… believed in her heart that our devotion to Her saved our

family during the Great Storm and has guided us all in life

ever since. The Storm Mass meant so much to her and

after her passing, I drew a much deeper respect, too.”

Acts of Faith, Take 2

Fashion was arguably the first love for Roz Bilao Pactor

but her Italian descent has gained ample energy to where

the two uber pursuits share equal billing.

After a 30-year tenure as a merchandising director at

Foley’s (where she met her husband, Alan, now the

director of operations at Ladco Design Center), Roz has

become a prestigious blogger/influencer and designer

fashion marketing consultant.

For Roz, the Storm Mass ignited an intense appreciation

for her genealogy. Since 2016, the third-generation

Italian-American has organized yearly excursions to her

motherland with the next journey scheduled for September

2025. “It’s a revelation to discover our deep ancestry. I’ve

cried during my visits to Sicily as birth certificates from the

family tree were pulled out. I couldn’t believe I was staring

at documents more than 100 years old. And the people

there are so loving and willing to provide.”Paramount, 

Roz has acquired a heartfelt insight into

Ignacio’s Catholic conviction so fervid and his 1900

circumstances so troubling that he realized human

remedies were insufficient, and it became necessary, as a

sole resource, to seek for the assistance from the Divine

power.

”There must have been a spiritual quality within my great

grandfather that was a force so strong,” Roz says. “He

prayed to the Blessed Virgin to intervene during the chaos,

not just a frantic wish or blind hope. He believed in his soul

and that was the way he lived. And that’s what we all are

trying to emulate and cherish.”

Roz was honored in 2023 at Houston’s annual Italian

Cultural & Community Center Luncheon with her brother,

renowned in popular music circles as Steve Tyrell. The

venerable Grammy-award winning producer, two-time

Emmy nominee and notable crooner vocalist owns more

than a dozen album releases reaching top 5 status on

Billboard’s Traditional pop charts. The depth and width of

his glittering achievements range from film soundtracks for

mega-million box office draws to recurring engagements at

the posh Cafe Carlyle in New York City and the historic

village of Castigionce del Trinoro in southern Tuscany.

Their father, Steve Jr., died in 1965 when Roz was 15.

Her mother Christine (née Costa) remained vigilant,

infusing beloved family traditions, particularly fidelity for

the Virgin Mary. A mission Roz has vigorously assumed

for her two daughters, Christine and Nicole, and three

granddaughters, Haylie and middle-schoolers Harper and

Harley who readily recognize unprompted the time of the

year “we’re going to the Storm Mass.”

“We have never taken this birthright for granted,” Roz

says. “Our kids as adults see us keeping the flame alive.

They understand the expectation is to follow that example,

not as a burden but in highest regard to what has come

before them.”

Acts Of Faith, Take 3

Nash D’Amico could never have predicted what would

morph from such humble beginnings. His 1975 opening of

Damian’s in Huntsville with cousins Tony and Damian

Mandola not only introduced creative, robust Italian

cuisine to novice palates but also laid the bedrock for

future gastronomic triumph.

What began with a wealth of authentic recipes and

unbridled ambition for excellence expanded into a host of

prosperous Houston locations. The underlying consistent

tenet - change wasn’t merely expected but essential.

D’Amico’s Italian Market in Rice Village emerged as his

flagship enterprise, a cozy Little Italy oasis that welcomes

like a grandmother’s warm hug, with or without marvelous

meatballs marinara. Much more than red sauce revival,

it’s endurance is due to, yes, a forever popular Sunday

Gravy, but also wood fired pies that carry serious

pedigree, premier parm and an array of well crafted

classics with traditional flavors.

For all the proper panache Nash possesses for his

position among Houston’s first families of food, the

prestige pales in contrast to his passion for his family’s

allegiance to their sacred ally, the Immaculate Mother of

God.

“I absolutely believe our parents, grandparents, great

grandparents want us concentrating on the Blessed Virgin

Mary, and through those virtues, to Jesus Christ and the

Almighty Father,” he says with utmost fervor. “This

dedication is about getting each and every one of us

through heaven’s gate.”

Like Roz, Nash has encountered an epiphany to his

bloodlines through a series of pilgrimages to Sicily,

particularly a 2024 visit to Ignacio’s small comune

Contessa Entellina in Palermo where the Feast of

Madonna della Favara takes place every year on, wait,

September 8.

“I felt such an incredible belonging, ” he says. “Our glue is

the Virgin Mary. It’s outside my comprehension that our

family is so united by our Catholic faith and especially our

love for Mary. I sense the power borders on the

supernatural.”

It’s no happenstance that Nash seems repeatedly

attached both professionally and personally to Galveston.

For more than a decade through 1996, Nash D’Amico’s

Pasta & Clam Bar graciously dished for born-on-the-island

residents and getaway artists alike, first on The Strand

and then a second location on the West End. Subtly

stunning Scampi Lambrosino, inventive Clams Casino and

unsurpassed Paglia Fieni Papalina were but a few

decadent plates rating rave reviews. Now it’s a

condominium on Broadway St. and Seawall Blvd. that

beckons “for relaxation instead of work. Something drove

those Sicilians at the turn of the last century to Galveston

and I’m also drawn to the Island for a reason. It’s

magnetic and undeniable.”

A Day Of Infamy

Friday, September 7, 1900 began as many mornings on

Galveston island - sultry and sweltering hot before the

heat of the summer retreated in the afternoon with winds

out of the north. But a closer inspection along the East

Beach revealed a disturbing development. Rising water

levels in the face of opposing winds were an uncommon

occurrence and carried a sensitive yet unannounced

warning - storm tide.

Far out at sea a mammoth threatening turbulence was

piling up walls of water and pushing them toward the

shore. The rain began after midnight with the tide forcing

itself into the harbor causing the water levels to climb

more than six feet. By Saturday afternoon, the wagon

crossing and three railroad bridges across the bay were all

submerged. If anyone was considering relocation, it was

too late.

The torrential downpour unleashed from a sky as dark as

twilight. Back yards four blocks from the beach were

alarmingly part of the Gulf of Mexico. The ensuing soaring

winds would measure at the Weather Bureau an

outrageous 145 miles per hour, driving a 15-foot wall of

water over the Island when the highest point was but

nine-feet above sea level. Roofs sailed through the air as

if broken down delivery boxes; bricks and timbers rocketed

out of nowhere; homes were gone and streets

disappeared; waves washed against pilings creating water

retention areas of more than 20 feet.

Once the center of the hurricane passed west of the

Island, not a building escaped damage. The estimated

death toll claimed between 6,000 and 8,000 residents, or

one in every six citizens, signaling man’s ultimate

impotence against nature.

A calamitous hurricane ripped and roared through the

dazzling port city when the Island ruled the Gulf Coast.

Through the seemingly endless hours of demoralizing

despair, devastation and catastrophic loss, Ignacio and

Margarita fiercely held tight with their children and their

belief in the Virgin Mary to evade the snares of

unspeakable adversity.

Yet, even through audacious valor and acts of courage, it

was less than certain if preservation was fortuitous,

coincidence or miracle.

”I don’t believe in luck or coincidence,” Jeanice says

explicitly. “But I absolutely believe in Mother Mary.”

Terms Of Engagement

When the descendants of Ignacio and Margarita convene

at St. Thomas High School to salute 125 joyous years of

fidelity to the Virgin Mary, Fr. James Murphy, CSB will

serve as the lead celebrant for the venerated Storm Mass.

A pillar in Houston’s Catholic Basilian community, he

became involved with the private ceremony more than a

decade ago through an association with Jeanice’s

husband, Mike Netzel, the esteemed athletic director at St.

Thomas for nearly 25 years.

Netzel is recognized for revitalizing and elevating Eagle

Athletics into the preeminent private college prep program

in Texas. Fr. Murphy has excelled in a myriad of influential

leadership roles with St. Thomas, including school

president from 2019-2024. He currently serves as vice

president of mission, and his celestial majesty has

anchored and enhanced an already sanctified event.

“Fr. Murphy brings a solemn yet enthusiastic presence and

his impact over the years cannot be overstated,” Jeanice

says. “He provides such a continuity that we were

missing. He’s absolutely a blessing and vital part of our

ceremony.”

When Fr. Murphy conducts from the provisional altar in

Reckling Gymnasium, he will address a collective

representing six generations, all linked through a shared

inheritance more valuable than trust fund riches. The

pious, nurtured admiration for Mother Mary has withstood

the tenuous tests of time while allowing for varying levels

of individual spirituality.

The unwavering resolve sweeping through more than a

century of piety has weathered through the nation’s Great

Depression sandwiched between World Wars, the volatile

social unrest of the 1960s, Houston’s grand oil boom then

bust in the 1980s, the country’s startling, paralyzing

shutdown in response to COVID-19, and the combustible

and divisive political en garde that existed well before and

since the pandemic, as well as inevitable and often

unmentioned personal trials and tribulations.

Nash’s business partner is his daughter, Brina, who

oversees the restaurant’s lucrative catering and special

events activities while collaborating in a variety of daily

duties.

Brina is also continuing her family’s enduring ties with St.

Ann’s Catholic Church. The mother of three daughters -

Charlotte, Lilliana and Samantha - treasures “a very

special landmark year for the Storm Mass and our family.

My daughters are developing memories and a kinship that

will shape their lives forever.”

Jeanice’s niece, Stephanie Guzzetta Lyle, is

“overwhelmed by the commitment our family has given to

this thanksgiving, a true testament to our Catholic faith.

It’s important that we as the upcoming generation continueto bring our family together and express gratitude for the

faith-filled gesture Ignacio displayed so many years ago.

God is good.”

For years, the Netzel’s participation included their

daughters, Jillian and Olivia. They remember as children

the delight of the Storm Mass taking place in their home

parish at St. Ann’s where they attended school.

“It was as if we had a secret party in a familiar space,”

Jillian says.

Fast forward to the now and the siblings represent distinct,

expanding families. Olivia and Michael King were married

on the Island in November 2023 and she’s expecting their

first child later in 2025. In January, Jillian and Jason

Roberts lovingly brought Christopher “Kit” into the world.

”It’s wonderful sharing this history with my husband,” Jillian

says. “Jason comes from a much smaller family and loves

how we uphold these traditions. And I’m anticipating the

years ahead, sharing these special moments with Kit and

hoping he grows up feeling a deep sense of pride in his

heritage.

“The Storm Mass is a powerful reminder of the resilience

of our ancestors and is a meaningful honor to thatstrength. 

This shared history isn’t just a story - it’s what

keeps us all connected and affirms the bonds we share.

As part of the next generation, I sense a strong motivation

to maintain what our ancestors worked so hard to

preserve. We will ensure the legacy continues to thrive as

we welcome new family members into the fold for the next

125 years.”

Heart And Souls

Jillian’s final stages of pregnancy with Kit were anxious

and uneasy. He was delivered prematurely, weighing less

than five pounds, and immediately required a stay in the

neonatal intensive care unit. The family’s emotions were

raw through the uncertainty. But some momentary solace

from a most unexpected source, an otherwise anonymous

interaction, shook Jeanice like a shock of lightning. She

was fortified by a spirit that has immersed and lifted the

Ingrando clan since combating the historic mayhem that

consumed Galveston in 1900.

“Jillian needed relief at a very sensitive time,” Jeanice

vividly recalls. “An overnight nurse checked in with her

around 3:00 a.m., just making her routine rounds. For

some reason she referenced the Virgin Mary, even though

she wasn’t Catholic, and mentioned that saying the rosary

might provide some benefit. And I said, ‘Oh yeah, Mother

Mary and I are tight. I say the rosary every day.’

“Again, I do not believe in coincidence. For me, that

exchange is what our Storm Mass encompasses, this

patronage and alignness with Mary, surfacing throughout

our day-to-day lives and especially when most needed.

This is about God providing amazing strength through

Mary to keep our family together. Mary is the one who

keeps this Storm Mass going year after year after year

after decade. She is the one who gives us the

perseverance to continue and She will give our next

generation the same strength.”

Driven By Dreams

Come September 7, many of the dedicated Ingrando

descendents assembled on the St. Thomas campus will

no doubt engage internally with various relatives in the

afterlife.

Roz believes “my mom and dad are with me all the time.

And they’ll be looking down that day along with my dad’s

sisters with such dignity. We all hold such appreciation for

their sacrifices to make our lives better.”

Jeanice will enjoy lively banter with her mother, Jeanette.

“She had the best laugh, and we will have a great laugh

because she will be so happy, such a beautiful soul.”

Nash houses an exhaustive series of pragmatic questions

for Ignacio, starting with the departure from the Palermo

port on a December 3 and not arriving in New Orleans

until January 1, open seas for that daunting duration with

two young children born in Sicily with two more soon to be

born in America.

“What drove him to pursue such a destination against

formidable odds, almost dangerous, only to be soon

confronted with the storm of storms - what’s the message?

It’s larger than life. I’ll never solve the puzzle,” Nash says.

But the inquisitive D’Amico is in fact the ultimate answer

man relating to the topic of a relentless adoration to the

Virgin Mary, the cause-and-effect resulting from the

intersection of emphatic faith and mortal desperation 125

years ago.

“There’s great Italian pride among us,” he says. “But

never lose sight of the real intent here, what our Blessed

Mother is trying to stress us to understand. Get …

through .. that gate.”