Italian-American Man of the Year

State Senator Roman Prezioso, Class of 1967, was named Italian-American Man of the Year by West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival in Clarksburg. He lives in Fairmont with wife Deborah.

Roman Prezioso

Roman’s parents, Amelia Ann Yerace Prezioso and Roman Prezioso, Sr., ran Prezioso Grocery at the top of Jackson Street.

Author Joseph Tropea, retired George Washington University professor who wrote a book that clarified erroneous reports about the 1907 Monongah mines explosion, won the honor in 1995. Joe’s grandfather, Domenico Tropea, was in Monongah on December 6, 1907, though he quit working in the mines before that time. Dominco’s brother was Tony Tropea, who with Rose Loss Tropea owned Tropea Grocery in Monongah.

Frank Oliverio, Class of 1944, won it in 1996; Larry Argiro, husband of Rose Demus Argiro, Class of 1941, and one-time owner of Country Club Bakery which invented the pepperoni roll, in 1997. A. James Manchin got the honor in 2003. Michael Oliverio, Class of 1954, in 2008. Joe Manchin in 2009. Joe Retton, Fairmont State’s super coach, in 2013.

Raffaella “Folly” Romano Basile is Italian-American Woman of the Year. Her late husband, Tom, was a successful insurance agent in Clarksburg.

Honorary Italian Man of the Year: Coach Mike Carey, coach of the WVU women’s basketball team.
Honorary Italian Woman of the Year: Lotus Averil MacDowell, who has an art gallery in Bridgeport.
Mother of the Year: Catherine Joan Tiano Mancina. She is the widow of Joe Mancina, once my roomate during my WVU days. Joe was a tax auditor for the state for three decades. And a prankster who got me good with one at the rooming house where we stayed with 6 other students. They had six children, five girls and a boy.

The festival runs through Sunday at the Gaston Caperton Center.