Maria Josephine Carrato, was born on October 5, 1910 in North Bergen, New Jersey to Italian immigrants Michael Archangelo and Maria Domenica Serenelli-Carrato. She was baptized Roman Catholic in Our Lady of Libera Church on 5808 Kennedy Boulevard in West New York, New Jersey in 1911. Maria Josephine was the oldest of four children.
She died on the afternoon of Monday, July 28, 1924 in an explosion as she worked at the plant of the Mount Holly Fireworks Company, which was owned by her parents. Sadly, the explosion also took the life of her father, Michael who was working with her at the factory.
On that fateful afternoon of July 28, 1924, Josephine, as she was known to her family and friends, was dancing with her sister Marie Antonetta to music on a record in the family home on 214 Water Street in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
When the song ended, Josephine prepared to go to the factory to work with her father. Before leaving, her sister Marie Antonetta begged Josephine to stay and dance just one more dance with her. Responsible Josephine told her sister Marie, "I cannot because Papa is waiting for me." Josephine then left to go to the factory to help her father.
Sitting in the doorway of the firework's work shop, which was one of several buildings on the property, Josephine was packing sawdust around three-inch bombs, when an explosion occurred. It killed both Josephine and her father. Josephine was only 14 years old.
Newspaper accounts of the accident at the time reported, "It was the opinion of Inspector James H. Tallon, of the State Department of Labor at Trenton, together with Lieutenant Norman Gaskill, of the Mount Holly Police Department, who both investigated the explosion, that the blast was caused when a spark was generated by a steel punch Josephine's father Michael was using to punch holes in cardboard for a spinning wheel."
Josephine was predeceased by her beloved mother Maria Domenica Serenelli-Carrato, who also died tragically in a fireworks explosion on the same property only two months earlier on May 27, 1924.
She was survived by her loving younger siblings Maria Antonetta Carrato age 12, Frank Michael Carrato age 10 and Lucia Maria Carrato age 9.
A funeral Mass was held for Josephine and her father Michael at Sacred Heart Church in Mount Holly, New Jersey on Thursday, July 31, 1924 officiated by Father Kelly with interment at St. Mary's Cemetery on Washington Street in Mount Holly, New Jersey at 9:00 a.m. where Josephine and her father Michael were laid to rest next to their beloved Maria.
Perinchief Funeral Home of Mount Holly, New Jersey handled the wake and burial.
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Biography written by Find A Grave Member gwtwqueenie. Please do not reprint without permission.
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The obituary of Maria Elizabeth Corrato can be found in the Mount Holly Herald.
Name: Corrato, Mary Elizabeth
Death Date: Jul 28, 1924
Place of Death: Mount Holly
Place of Burial: St. Mary's Cemetery
Publication: Mount Holly Herald
Aug 2, 1924
Page: 4
Column: 1
Notes: Age 14
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She died on the afternoon of Monday, July 28, 1924 in an explosion as she worked at the plant of the Mount Holly Fireworks Company, which was owned by her parents. Sadly, the explosion also took the life of her father, Michael who was working with her at the factory.
On that fateful afternoon of July 28, 1924, Josephine, as she was known to her family and friends, was dancing with her sister Marie Antonetta to music on a record in the family home on 214 Water Street in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
When the song ended, Josephine prepared to go to the factory to work with her father. Before leaving, her sister Marie Antonetta begged Josephine to stay and dance just one more dance with her. Responsible Josephine told her sister Marie, "I cannot because Papa is waiting for me." Josephine then left to go to the factory to help her father.
Sitting in the doorway of the firework's work shop, which was one of several buildings on the property, Josephine was packing sawdust around three-inch bombs, when an explosion occurred. It killed both Josephine and her father. Josephine was only 14 years old.
Newspaper accounts of the accident at the time reported, "It was the opinion of Inspector James H. Tallon, of the State Department of Labor at Trenton, together with Lieutenant Norman Gaskill, of the Mount Holly Police Department, who both investigated the explosion, that the blast was caused when a spark was generated by a steel punch Josephine's father Michael was using to punch holes in cardboard for a spinning wheel."
Josephine was predeceased by her beloved mother Maria Domenica Serenelli-Carrato, who also died tragically in a fireworks explosion on the same property only two months earlier on May 27, 1924.
She was survived by her loving younger siblings Maria Antonetta Carrato age 12, Frank Michael Carrato age 10 and Lucia Maria Carrato age 9.
A funeral Mass was held for Josephine and her father Michael at Sacred Heart Church in Mount Holly, New Jersey on Thursday, July 31, 1924 officiated by Father Kelly with interment at St. Mary's Cemetery on Washington Street in Mount Holly, New Jersey at 9:00 a.m. where Josephine and her father Michael were laid to rest next to their beloved Maria.
Perinchief Funeral Home of Mount Holly, New Jersey handled the wake and burial.
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Biography written by Find A Grave Member gwtwqueenie. Please do not reprint without permission.
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The obituary of Maria Elizabeth Corrato can be found in the Mount Holly Herald.
Name: Corrato, Mary Elizabeth
Death Date: Jul 28, 1924
Place of Death: Mount Holly
Place of Burial: St. Mary's Cemetery
Publication: Mount Holly Herald
Aug 2, 1924
Page: 4
Column: 1
Notes: Age 14
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Maria Josephine Carrato, was born on October 5, 1910 in North Bergen, New Jersey to Italian immigrants Michael Archangelo and Maria Domenica Serenelli-Carrato. She was baptized Roman Catholic in Our Lady of Libera Church on 5808 Kennedy Boulevard in West New York, New Jersey in 1911. Maria Josephine was the oldest of four children.
She died on the afternoon of Monday, July 28, 1924 in an explosion as she worked at the plant of the Mount Holly Fireworks Company, which was owned by her parents. Sadly, the explosion also took the life of her father, Michael who was working with her at the factory.
On that fateful afternoon of July 28, 1924, Josephine, as she was known to her family and friends, was dancing with her sister Marie Antonetta to music on a record in the family home on 214 Water Street in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
When the song ended, Josephine prepared to go to the factory to work with her father. Before leaving, her sister Marie Antonetta begged Josephine to stay and dance just one more dance with her. Responsible Josephine told her sister Marie, "I cannot because Papa is waiting for me." Josephine then left to go to the factory to help her father.
Sitting in the doorway of the firework's work shop, which was one of several buildings on the property, Josephine was packing sawdust around three-inch bombs, when an explosion occurred. It killed both Josephine and her father. Josephine was only 14 years old.
Newspaper accounts of the accident at the time reported, "It was the opinion of Inspector James H. Tallon, of the State Department of Labor at Trenton, together with Lieutenant Norman Gaskill, of the Mount Holly Police Department, who both investigated the explosion, that the blast was caused when a spark was generated by a steel punch Josephine's father Michael was using to punch holes in cardboard for a spinning wheel."
Josephine was predeceased by her beloved mother Maria Domenica Serenelli-Carrato, who also died tragically in a fireworks explosion on the same property only two months earlier on May 27, 1924.
She was survived by her loving younger siblings Maria Antonetta Carrato age 12, Frank Michael Carrato age 10 and Lucia Maria Carrato age 9.
A funeral Mass was held for Josephine and her father Michael at Sacred Heart Church in Mount Holly, New Jersey on Thursday, July 31, 1924 officiated by Father Kelly with interment at St. Mary's Cemetery on Washington Street in Mount Holly, New Jersey at 9:00 a.m. where Josephine and her father Michael were laid to rest next to their beloved Maria.
Perinchief Funeral Home of Mount Holly, New Jersey handled the wake and burial.
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Biography written by Find A Grave Member gwtwqueenie. Please do not reprint without permission.
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The obituary of Maria Elizabeth Corrato can be found in the Mount Holly Herald.
Name: Corrato, Mary Elizabeth
Death Date: Jul 28, 1924
Place of Death: Mount Holly
Place of Burial: St. Mary's Cemetery
Publication: Mount Holly Herald
Aug 2, 1924
Page: 4
Column: 1
Notes: Age 14
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She died on the afternoon of Monday, July 28, 1924 in an explosion as she worked at the plant of the Mount Holly Fireworks Company, which was owned by her parents. Sadly, the explosion also took the life of her father, Michael who was working with her at the factory.
On that fateful afternoon of July 28, 1924, Josephine, as she was known to her family and friends, was dancing with her sister Marie Antonetta to music on a record in the family home on 214 Water Street in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
When the song ended, Josephine prepared to go to the factory to work with her father. Before leaving, her sister Marie Antonetta begged Josephine to stay and dance just one more dance with her. Responsible Josephine told her sister Marie, "I cannot because Papa is waiting for me." Josephine then left to go to the factory to help her father.
Sitting in the doorway of the firework's work shop, which was one of several buildings on the property, Josephine was packing sawdust around three-inch bombs, when an explosion occurred. It killed both Josephine and her father. Josephine was only 14 years old.
Newspaper accounts of the accident at the time reported, "It was the opinion of Inspector James H. Tallon, of the State Department of Labor at Trenton, together with Lieutenant Norman Gaskill, of the Mount Holly Police Department, who both investigated the explosion, that the blast was caused when a spark was generated by a steel punch Josephine's father Michael was using to punch holes in cardboard for a spinning wheel."
Josephine was predeceased by her beloved mother Maria Domenica Serenelli-Carrato, who also died tragically in a fireworks explosion on the same property only two months earlier on May 27, 1924.
She was survived by her loving younger siblings Maria Antonetta Carrato age 12, Frank Michael Carrato age 10 and Lucia Maria Carrato age 9.
A funeral Mass was held for Josephine and her father Michael at Sacred Heart Church in Mount Holly, New Jersey on Thursday, July 31, 1924 officiated by Father Kelly with interment at St. Mary's Cemetery on Washington Street in Mount Holly, New Jersey at 9:00 a.m. where Josephine and her father Michael were laid to rest next to their beloved Maria.
Perinchief Funeral Home of Mount Holly, New Jersey handled the wake and burial.
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Biography written by Find A Grave Member gwtwqueenie. Please do not reprint without permission.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The obituary of Maria Elizabeth Corrato can be found in the Mount Holly Herald.
Name: Corrato, Mary Elizabeth
Death Date: Jul 28, 1924
Place of Death: Mount Holly
Place of Burial: St. Mary's Cemetery
Publication: Mount Holly Herald
Aug 2, 1924
Page: 4
Column: 1
Notes: Age 14
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Gravesite Details
Sacred Heart Cemetery is formerly St. Mary's Cemetery.
