Salvatore Vitale - Biography

Biography

He was born to Giuseppe and Lilli Vitale, who had emigrated from the village of San Giuseppe Jato in Sicily, where they planned to name him "Giuseppe", or Joseph in English. Two of his elder brothers, both named "Giuseppe", had died in child birth before Salvatore was born. He was the last child born to the family, and had three older sisters: Anna, Betty and Josephine. Josephine would later become the wife of Joseph Massino, a neighbor who lived in a home on Metropolitan Avenue, where Bonanno crime family patriarch Joseph Bonanno began his career in crime. Salvatore's childhood home was located five blocks from where Massino and his parents lived.

His parents tried again to conceive a son. As both of his parents worked during the day to provide for their large family, they entrusted the care of infant Salvatore to their daughters. His sister Josephine, who was four years older than he was, became a surrogate mother. The Vitale sisters spoiled their brother, giving him whatever he wanted and when he wanted it, which was usually provided to him by his sister Josephine. Although his elder sisters cared for him, Salvatore Vitale did not respond kindly to them.

Growing up, he never did anything wrong as a child, but seemed by family members to lack affection and was perceived as distant and cold. His father Giuseppe was reported to have once said that Salvatore should have been a girl instead of a boy. When Joseph Massino dropped out of seventh grade and began earning a reputation as a mob associate, he caught the attention of Salvatore Vitale's eldest sister Josephine, who was seven months younger than Massino. She had been voted best looking in her eighth grade class. Massino and Josephine began dating in 1956, married in 1960, and had a daughter, Adeline.