Carmine Di Crescenzo was born in the Abruzzo region of Italy is 1933. Known as Chris to all of his friends and colleagues, his is a most interesting and entertaining story.
Chris’ family ran a large farm situated in the Apennine range and working the farm is one of his earliest memories. They farmed mainly crops – wheat, broad beans, peas with a small vineyard to make some wine from. A few animals were kept and Chris remembers that the animals needed to be brought indoors to escape the harsh winters of the region. The wheat, beans and peas would all need to be planted before the snows arrived as the crop would lay dormant during the winter and then sprout as the snow melted. World War 2 meant that Chris was unable to attend school and although he struggled without literacy skills he has lead an active and happy life. He says ”The farm is a good life, you grow everything you want. We had music every night. My uncle played the piano accordion.”
When he was 17 years old he placed third representing Italy in a downhill skiing competition. Unfortunately the medal stayed in Italy when Chris emigrated to Australia in 1952. His other great love was cycling, and he and a couple of friends would cycle all over the Abruzzo, much to the consternation of his father. Later years would see him represent Italy in cycling on both the road and the track. Following a crash whilst out on his bike involving avoiding an oncoming truck, Chris’ mum had to get him to the doctors without his dad knowing about it. Chris recalls his mum muttering “You silly bugger!”
With his father paying the required £250 to get his passage to Australia (he’s still upset that English travellers only had to pay £10) he set sail across the Mediterranean Sea, through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea, where it was so rough that he began to think that he wouldn’t make it to Australia. After 42 days at sea he arrived in Australia as a fresh faced 19 year old Italian who did not speak English. He and the others were packed onto a train and sent to work on the railways up near Bright, where they stayed in a makeshift camp and were given food that Chris says” Would only be given to the pigs at home in Italy”.
When asked how he found being in a strange land, not speaking the language and being all by himself, he said quietly “ Oh, that was very hard.” The promised two year work contract failed to materialise and Chris and his friends were left to find their own work. This led them to Geelong where 15 of them rented a house for £2 pounds a week. It wasn’t all bad though – the future Mrs Di Crescenzo happened to be living next door….
Eventually Chris found work at the Ford Motor Company, where he was taught to spray paint and once his skills were at the required level, he was transferred into the paint shop where he worked for the next 40 years, finally retiring in 1996. When asked if he had a favourite Ford, he remembers “Ah yes, the 1967 Falcon, the V8, our supervisor had one, and we could hear it coming down the road.”
Chris and Irene were married in 1969 (he thinks, or it might have been 1970) Together they brought up five children, who have added 12 grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren, and three great great grandchildren to the family. Chris’ love of skiing was shared by Irene and they would tow their caravan up to the high country for winter and bring it back to Geelong once the snow season had finished. His love of cycling continued as well and he joined the Geelong Cycling Club. He is a life member of the club and his many trophies and a championship sash adorn the shelves at home. He also competed in the famous Melbourne to Warrnambool road race twice, gaining a top ten placing (7th) but as he says “I never did a race tougher than that one”. Always fit and active, his first visit to a doctor was at age 75, and only because he needed to get proof that he was fit enough to continue to race his bike.
The lure of good fishing brought him to St Leonards, where he eventually purchased a block of land and built a house, finally moving here in 1968. He says that the fishing isn’t as good as it used to be “too many bloody boats” but he still loves being in St Leonards. He’s a life member of the St Leonards golf club where he held the position of executive bar manager for many years and he still plays 18 holes on a Saturday, although he says he can’t spend as long as he used to at the club these days. His advice to his fellow golfers? “ It’s fun, don’t get too upset”. The golf club members are responsible for Carmine becoming “Chris” as they took the middle part of his surname to Australianise it. Crescenzo became CHRISenzo and that became just Chris….. He is a much loved and respected member of the St Leonards Golf Club.
Thinking back to his younger days he says with a bit of a wink and a chuckle “ I was a little bit wild back then ….. but I enjoyed myself.”
He’s been back to Italy a couple of times although he says “ I couldn’t go back too soon because the army would get you.” He had to wait until he was older than 42 to avoid compulsory military service.
A top flight downhill skier, seriously good bike racer and a more than handy golfer, Chris is one of St Leonard’s living treasures. It was a pleasure to meet you and spend an afternoon chatting Chris.
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* Many thanks to Jason Pitt at St Leonards Golf Club for helping us get in contact with Chris and providing additional information for our story.
Humans in St Leonards 