Sanchelli, Michael T.

Michael Sanchelli was born in the Swede Hollow area of St. Paul, Minnesota around 1915. His father, Antonio Sauchelli, was a railroad laborer who had emigrated from Benevento, Italy several years previously, as had his wife Maria Tarlizzo. The family lived in St. Paul until early 1925 when they joined Michael's uncle and grandfather in Montana. They returned to the Swede Hollow neighborhood in 1926, where Sanchelli grew to adulthood.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941 and served with the 116th Engineer Combat Battalion, mostly performing construction work in the New Hebrides. Following his discharge, Sanchelli returned to St. Paul in September 1945, marrying Sue Barilla in November. They continued to live in the old Swede Hollow neighborhood, which had a sizable Italian American population.

Sanchelli took a job with the U.S. Postal Service in 1945, working as a clerk in the St. Paul central post office until his retirement in 1974. Sue died in 1981, and Sanchelli married Josephine Falbo in 1986. Sanchelli remained active in Italian American and St. Paul historical organizations during his retirement, eventually authoring a great deal of reminiscent material about his family and about the history of Swede Hollow and its Italian community.

From the guide to the Michael T. Sanchelli reminiscences., 1991-1997., (Minnesota Historical Society)