Eva (Bresciani) Barsanti
Eva and Frank Barsanti
Ron, Carol and June with parents.

                                                  Eva (Bresciani) Barsanti

I was born in Mendon in 1913. My parents were Frank and Carol Bresciani. I had four brothers and one sister. My father worked for the Hopedale Highway Department. When I was very young, we moved to a house near where Hammond Road is now.

When I was in first grade Miss Billings was my teacher. I was left-handed and back then they used to try to make everyone write with their right hand. Rita Gaffney and I had to stay after school to learn to write like everyone else. I didn’t want to stay after and I cried. The pencil was taped to my hand to help me learn how to write.

When I was eight my parents bought land from Charles Pierce and built a house on Pierce Street. They had a garden and grew potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, corn, and all the usual garden vegetables. We also had chickens. Later, after I was married, my mother-in-law tried to teach me how to wring a chicken’s neck, but I wouldn’t do it.

Games that kids in the neighborhood (Alda Caprini, Lena Bresciani and my sister, Edie) would play back then include bunny in the hole, hide and seek, jump rope, jacks, the jackknife game, Red Rover, May I?, and hopscotch.

The high school was where the Sacred Heart Church parking lot is now. I had to leave school and go to work after my freshman year. From the age of thirteen to the age of seventeen I worked at the Brae Burn Inn, which was a boarding house. It was located where the parking lot at the corner of Adin and Hopedale streets is now. My job included making beds, waiting on tables and doing kitchen work. Mrs. Carron taught me how to make pies. When I was paid, I’d bring the money home and give it to my parents.

We used to have what we called “kitchen dances.” My father played the clarinet and his friend played the accordion. We had two open rooms that were used for this. People would come and sing and dance.

Patrick’s Store was our neighborhood store. It was where Stone’s Furniture is now. The intersection was called Patrick’s Corner. Maisey Moore worked there. She would always have her forearms wrapped with the paper the butcher used to wrap the meat. She’d keep a pencil in the paper. When anyone would buy a few items, she’d add up the sale on the paper. There was also a store where the liquor store on Route 16 is now. Leo Ethier ran it. We could call him or bring over a list for our order and it would be delivered. We’d pay weekly.

The Depression was awful. I wouldn’t want to see that again.

The Walker house was quite a place. It was where the Route 16 entrance to the cemetery is now. Lucy Day lived there.

Until 1935, when Sacred Heart Church in Hopedale opened, we went to Sacred Heart in Milford. We didn’t have a car so we had to walk over there. I was married there in 1931.

My husband, Frank Barsanti, grew up in Milford. When his mother had a bathroom put in her house, she decided that plumbing was a good occupation, so Frank went to Wentworth Institute and became a plumber.

For the first year of our marriage we lived with Frank’s parents. Then we built a house across the street from them. Frank had his plumbing shop next to the house. We had three children. June (Meaden) was born in 1931, Ronald in 1938 and Carol (Pellegrino) in 1942. I didn’t work after June was born. Frank wanted me to stay home with the children.

We bought a tv in 1947 or 1948. It was the first in the neighborhood so there would often be lots of kids at our house. Eva Barsanti, 2009.

      
HOPEDALE Mrs. Eva L. (Bresciani) Barsanti, 95, of Hopedale MA. died Friday evening (August 21, 2009)at the St. Camillus Health Care Center in Whitinsville, MA. after a period of declining health. She was the widow of the late Frank J. Barsanti who died in 1991. Mrs. Barsanti was born in Mendon MA, the daughter of the late Frank and the late Carol (Oppi) Bresciani and was a life-long Hopedale resident. Mrs. Barsanti attended the Hopedale public schools as a young girl and was a longtime communicant of Sacred Heart Church and belonged to the church’s Womens Club. Mrs. Barsanti was employed at the former Brae Burn Inn in Hopedale many years ago. Mrs. Barsanti is survived by (2) daughters, June M., wife of William J. Meaden and Carol, wife of Robert A. Pellegrino both of Hopedale; (1) son, Ronald F. and his wife, Patricia (Alberta) Barsanti of Milford; eight grandchildren, David Meaden of Hopedale, Cindy (Meaden) Megna of Houston, TX., James Barsanti of Framingham, Wendy (Barsanti) Kangas of Franklin, Tracy (Pellegrino) Wagner of Uxbridge, Robyn (Pellegrino) Tower of Nashua, N.H., Tracy (Moore) Hennessy of Mendon, and Eric Moore of Milford; twelve great-grandchildren; (2) sisters-in-law, Gemma Bresciani of Hopedale and Viola Barsanti of Milford; several nieces and nephews. Mrs. Barsanti was the sister of the late Louis, Fred, Stephen, and John Bresciani and the late Edith (Bresciani) Pagnini. Her funeral will be held on Tuesday morning (August 25) at 9 AM from the Edwards Memorial Funeral Home, 44 Congress Street, Milford MA followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10AM in Sacred Heart Church 187 Hopedale Street, Hopedale MA. Burial will follow in Hopedale Village Cemetery, Mendon Street (Rte 16), Hopedale MA. Visiting hours will be held on Monday (August 24) from 5PM-8PM. Memorial donations in her late memory may be made to the St. Camillus Activities Fund 447 Hill Street Whitinsville, MA. 01588 or to the Alternatives Unlimited, Inc. 50 Douglas Road Whitinsville, MA. 01588.Milford Daily News 8/24/2009.         
      
The poem below was written by Eva’s grandson, Matthew Wagner, and delivered by him at her funeral service.

Dear Grammie,

Your mark on this world and on the people you’ve touched,
Has grown larger and larger without you knowing just how much.

You loved and you cared for family and friends,
Until that day came when it was the end.

We will remember you in our hearts, our souls, and our minds,
As the gentle woman who was so kind.

Your strength was like something never seen,
The strength to live as a perfect dream.

You were like a light that was strong and bright,
And your guiding light would help us through the night.

You have a place in the hearts of the people you’ve met,
And you will always be remembered and we will never forget.

It was tragic when you left and we are very sad,
But you’re in a better place and for that I’m glad.

When I came to you home of peace and love I always rang this bell loud and clear,
Now standing here on this altar today, I will ring this bell one last time for all to hear.

I love you Grammie!
Love, Matthew
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Eva with brother, John Bresciani

Left to right – Edie (Bresciani) Paganini , John Bresciani, Steve Bresciani, Fred Bresciani, Eva (Bresciani) Barsanti, Louie Bresciani. (my grandparents anniversary). Frank and Carola Bresciani in the middle of picture with my mom and her siblings

Eva and her granddaughter Wendy (Barsanti) Kangas