Frank DeSante’s immigration story is so strong, it still holds four generations later. Sicilian on his mom’s side, Frank’s great-grandfather Paul (Paolo) Cannone emigrated to the United States in the early 1900s and settled in South Philadelphia. Frank’s great-uncle, Pete (Pietro) Barbaro established a barber shop at Eighth and Greenwich. Although they didn’t speak a lot of English, they had a lot of legacy to leave.

Frank’s grandparents Catherine and Dominic Pasquarella were actually born and raised in South Philadelphia and then migrated, as many Italian Americans did at that time, to Yeadon, Pa.