<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1MPiu3_0wEfS8Lv00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1MPiu3_0wEfS8Lv00" width="1000" height="685" >MIDDLETOWN — On Friday, Laura Sacco and her mom, Anna Maria De Zolt, came to Middletown Town Hall from Italy to meet with Mayor Tony Perry and to help trace their family's connection to Middletown. At 83 years old, De Zolt made her first trip to the United States to check out a sculpture her long-lost relative, Geremia Grandelis, made for his son’s tombstone in Metuchen and to visit his final resting place in Middletown.The mother-daughter duo was also joined by their cousin, Cassie Corbett, who lives nearby and Alissa Rothstein, who helped them research their family's history.Grandelis was a very well-known sculptor who was born in the small village of Campolongo in 1869, trained as a sculptor in Venice, and lived in different places throughout his life, including Middletown. He died in 1929 and is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery, located at 100 Chapel Hill Road.Geremia worked with other sculptors to create the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, and the Library Company of Philadelphia, among many other masterpieces.While at Town Hall, Laura and Anna Maria presented Mayor Perry with a book that details Geremia's life and upbringing in Campolongo. De Zolt is also an artist and is currently working with a group known as “Arte Comelico” to paint a mural depicting Geremia's life on the exterior of his childhood home. The mural showcases a close-up of Geremia, a landscape of Campologno, and the Lincoln Memorial with an image of unity to symbolize the Emancipation Proclamation.Mayor Perry said he was honored to meet the four women and gave each of them his personal Challenge Coin so they have a piece of Middletown with them always, no matter the distance.</div></body>

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Ancestors of the late, famous Italian sculptor Geremia Grandelis visit Middletown Town Hall

MIDDLETOWN — On Friday, Laura Sacco and her mom, Anna Maria De Zolt, came to Middletown Town Hall from Italy to meet with Mayor Tony Perry and to help trace their family's connection to Middletown. At 83 years old, De Zolt made her first trip to the United States to check out a sculpture her long-lost relative, Geremia Grandelis, made for his son’s tombstone in Metuchen and to visit his final resting place in Middletown.