This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: DiCostanzo; DeCostanzo Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/2dWBAEB/93.94.95.1.1 Message Board Post: Hi! I am replying to your interest in the name DeCostanzo. My grandparents were Angelina and Francis DiCostanzo. You may note that their name is spelled "Di" and not "De". That is because my dad's 5th grade teacher changed the spelling of his name with the stroke of a pen: "That's not the way we spell it in America!" Grandfather was a longshoreman. He lived on Summit Street in the Redhook area of Brooklyn, NY. That is where my dad grew up. Dad died on October 25, 2001, but when he was alive he would allude to some minor mob connection his father had. My granddad was also known as "The Judge" on the docks of Brooklyn. Supposedly he had some connection to Joseph Bonnano (Joe Bananas). Who knows. He was a good man, hard working and loyal to his family. Angelina is in Heaven. No doubt. I never knew this woman to do anything other than pray. Wherever she went, it always felt like you were in the presence of holiness and love. She was always extremely poor, but her home was always a shrine to the saints. She said so many Rosaries everyday, that I am sure she achieved some elevated state like the orientals strive for in using mantras. She was just a wonderful person. And she is with God. Dad spent 23 years in the US Army and retired a Lt. Colonel. He had dreams of striking it rich. He looked death in the eye and never let it defeat him. He died a poet, surrounded by family and friends. Anyway, let me know if you would like to know more. --Frank DeCostanzo