The Petrone Family
from , Italy
They had five children.
Frank, Alfred, Serafina (Penny), Rita and Mary.
Frank Petrone
Mary
Alfred (Al) Petrone
Dr. Penny Serafina Petrone (1925 - August 22, 2005), born in Port Arthur, Ontario (now part of Thunder Bay) was a Canadian writer, educator, patron of the arts, and philantropist. She was the daughter of Luisa Sisco and Luigi Petrone and brother to the recognized and distinquished lawyer Alfred Petrone.
She
attended St. Joseph's School and the Port Arthur Collegiate Institute,
where she won the first Canadian Federation of University Women
scholarship given to an outstanding Grade 13 female student
in the Lakehead.
She received her Doctorate in English Literature from the University of Alberta.
Her research on the Canadian poet Isabella Valancy Crawford resulted in two books: The Selected Short Stories of Isabella Valancy Crawford and The Fairy Tales of Isabella Valancy Crawford.
Petrone also pioneered the critical study of aboriginal literature in Canada with her landmark books First People, First Voices and Northern Voices.
Her Native Literature in Canada was the first book-length history of the literature of Canada's First Peoples. For this ground-breaking research, Petrone was made an honorary Indian Chief by the Gull Bay Ojibwa and gained international recognition.]
After
her retirement from Lakehead University, Petrone's scholarly focus
shifted to the study of her Italian heritage. She formed 'I Literati',
a local reading group which focused on Italy's cultural heritage in the
fields of literature, art, music, history and film as well as on the
Italian immigrant experience in North America.
During her lifetime Petrone has received many honours and awards: The Corporation of the City of Thunder Bay Citizens of Exceptional Achievement Awards (Culture) in 1981, 1984, and 1989, 'L'ordine d'onore' from the National Congress of Italian Canadians (1994); the 'Order of Ontario' (1992); Canada 124 Medal (1992); Honorary Citizen of Piane Crate (1997); the Golden Jubilee Medal (2002); the F. G. Bressani Literary Award (2002); the Kouhi award for 'her outstanding contribution to writing in Northwestern Ontario' (May 2004). Petrone was also the recipient of Lakehead University's first 'Distinguished Teacher' Award in 1989 and the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations teaching award (1988).
In honor of her commitment, through the endowment of scholarships and bursaries of over 1 million dollars for students at the Lakehead University campus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, (NOSM), the NOSM Library is now called the Dr. Serafina "Penny" Petrone Health Information Resource Centre.
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