Phyllis fierro
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Italian: from a personal name or nickname from the month of May, maggio, from Latin Maius (mensis), from Maia, a rather obscure goddess of fertility, whose name is derived from the same root as maius ‘larger’ and maiestas ‘greatness’. This may have been bestowed on someone born or baptized in the month of May, or it may have been used to refer to someone of a sunny disposition, or who had some anecdotal connection with the month of May, such as owing a feudal obligation then. In Roman Catholicism, May is especially associated with the Virgin Mary, so the name may well have had a religious significance.
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Ralph George Macchio was born on November 4, 1961 in Huntington, Long Island, New York. He started out in various TV commercials in the late 1970s before appearing in the puerile comedy movie Up the Academy (1980), then a regular role in 1980 on the television series Eight Is Enough (1977) followed by a decent performance as teenager Johhny Cade in the The Outsiders (1983) based on the popular S.E. Hinton novel about troubled youth.
In 1984, Macchio scored the lead role in The Karate Kid (1984) directed by Rocky (1976) director John G. Avildsen. The film was a phenomenal success, being highly popular with adults and children alike. The movie spawned two equally popular sequels The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989), both again starring Macchio and Pat Morita, and both directed by Avildsen.
Macchio also starred in the blues road movie Crossroads (1986), featured alongside Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny (1992) and, looking to toughen up his image, Macchio played a hit man in A Good Night to Die (2003). Arguably, movie audiences still identify Macchio very
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Rafiele “Ralph” Maggio, 98, a veteran and lifelong town resident, died Sept. 23.
Maggio’s family came to the U.S. from Italy. At the time, his mother was pregnant with him. When he started school, he took the name Ralph, the Americanized version of his birth name.
The Maggio family began their new life in Enfield, and to this day, all of Maggio’s family remains in the area.
“He was a dedicated family guy,” said his son, Louis. “We always had the whole family for Sunday dinner. It would always be a mob of us around the table. That was a tradition my grandma started. We still do it to this day.”
Ralph Maggio, born in the Thompsonville section of Enfield in 1915, served in the military during World War II as part of an antiaircraft crew.
“He was very proud of that,” his son said. “He talked about it often. He was over in New Guinea in the Pacific Theater. He would talk about the islands more than the actual action he saw.”
In Enfield, Ralph Maggio worked the for Bigelow Sanford Carpet Co. for about 20 years
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