NUGGET #45
Tulipani brothers: Five sons of Vincenzo and Evelina Branchini Tulipani served in WW2 and all returned, living the rest of their lives in Ridgefield. Aldo Anthony Tulipani (1916-2003), RHS 1934, was in the Army in the Philippines. He had a long career as a mail carrier in Ridgefield, and also as an accordion teacher (his car’s license plate, SQZBX was short for “squeezebox”). Joseph Anthony Tulipani (1918-2004), RHS 1937, was one of the first Ridgefielders to fight in the war; the member of an Army radar unit served in Australia, the jungles of New Guinea, and the Philippines and was with General Douglas MacArthur’s forces in the liberation of the Philippines. He kept elaborate diaries of his experiences. After the war he was the superintendent of Ward Acres for many years and also a semi-professional photographer. Albert Nazzareno Joseph Tulipani (1920-1994), RHS 1938, served in the Navy aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Wilson, escorting convoys to Russia on the “Murmansk run” and hunting German submarines, then in the Pacific in such battles as Wake Island and Guadalcanal. Also served on aircraft carriers. Back home, he was a guitar teacher who also played professionally in the region until the early 1960s, and worked at Brunetti’s Market and later at the Grand Union. Alfred Anthony Tulipani (1921-2013), joined the Army in 1942 and spent most of his service in Canada with an anti-aircraft unit, guarding Great Lakes locks. He maintained that his wife, Mary, was “the first war bride in Ridgefield.” The two met in 1943 at a Woolworth’s in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and were married a year later. After the war, Alfred became a superintendent of local estates, including Casagmo, as well as a landscaper. John Vincent Tulipani (1922-2002), RHS 1941, served with the Navy SeaBees in Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, and in the Philippines. He also played on the Navy All-Star Team with many former professionals. After the war he worked as a plumber and established his own plumbing business. All five brothers were musicians, playing together in the Tulipani Orchestra and with the Sagebrush Serenaders.
