The Scholarship for the Cousins of Angela Coniglio

        In 1912, at the age of twenty-three, Gaetano Coniglio married Rosa Alessi, then nineteen years old, in Serradifalco, Caltanisetta, Sicily. They lived in a region of Italy where Gaetano had been a sulfur miner and a soldier in the Italian army. Dreaming of a new life and new opportunities in America, Gaetano followed his brother Giuseppe to the "new world" in 1913.   Rosa (he called her "Rosina") had their first child, Gaetano (Guy) in Serradifalco in December 1913, and a year later she and the baby joined Gaetano in Pennsylvania.

        In America, the family grew, and eventually settled in Buffalo. In addition to Guy, their children were: Leonard, Raymond, Felice (Phil), Carmela (Millie), Concetta, (Connie), Maria (Mary), Anthony (Tony), and Angelo. Through Gaetano's and Rosa's hard work, they became home-owners and saw their family flourish. Gaetano passed on in 1944, but Rosa lived to welcome and revel in the birth of all twenty-seven of her grandchildren.schol.1.jpg (3730 bytes)

        Angelo married Angie Bongiovanni, and they had two kids; Angelo, and Angela, the youngest grandchild of Gaetano and Rosa. Angela was a vibrant child who grew into a young woman with many passions: sports of all kinds; competition; coaching; science and biology; and teaching.   

         For years Angela played goalie on boys' hockey teams; she played hockey and lettered in several other sports at Amherst Central High School; she played soccer for thirteen summers in the Empire State Games; and she starred in womens' soccer at Nazareth College, where she set school records for single game assists and career assists. She is in the Athletic Hall of Fame at  Amherst High

and at Nazareth College.  schol.3.jpg (4046 bytes)

        After college, Angela taught junior and senior high school Science and Biology courses, refereed girls' soccer, and coached girls' track, softball, basketball and field hockey. She was an advocate for women and minorities throughout her career. She loved teaching, and her students enjoyed her classes immensely. One student told a story about how Angela once stood on her head and swallowed gummy-worms in front of a biology class, to demonstrate the process of peristalsis.

        This scholarship uses funds that Angela left on her passing, and is intended to help her cousins achieve a goal she cherished: education. It is both a memorial to and a gift from your cousin Angela.

        The recipients of the Scholarship have been: Nicholas Steht, Phil Tiranno, Jordan Knight, Sammy Tiranno, Adam Steht, Natasha Miller, and Jackie Miller Feingold.   In 2004 Julia Coniglio received the award, and in 2005 Chris Tiranno was the 9th recipient.  In 2006, Sarah Lang received it, and in 2007, it went to Bob Coniglio.

If you want to apply for this scholarship, contact:

Uncle Ange, Aunt Angie, Denise Denisco Tiranno, or Maria Sowa Valint.

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