Armando Fosco in the mid 1950s
Once back in the Windy City, my father took up a job for Nash Construction, while maintaining his professional association with Teets working for extra money. By the mid 1950s, he was working for Teets on a fulltime basis. Out of a number of young men that married into the Nappi Family, my father was the only family member that worked for Teets. His brother-in-law and close friend, Romie Nappi, worked under Paul Ricca at that time. As a side note, Romie Nappi was closely affiliated to the infamous Jack Ruby.
Through Romie Nappi, my father had enormous exposure to Paul Ricca. Many years ago, Paul Ricca taught my father a number of different lessons; however, one of the lessons was on taking things for granted. Paul explained that if someone salts their food before tasting their meal, it would likely mean the person would take larger situations for granted. I realize that some of you might view this example as confusing, but please understand that Paul Ricca proved to be a very methodical individual. My father respected Paul so much that he named one of his sons after him as a tribute to the late Paul Ricca.
The 1960s was my father’s heyday. In this decade he would make enough money to live comfortable for the rest of his life. He had a piece of ownership in a dozen different businesses during this time frame. Among those businesses are:
-Sam’s Coffee Service & Catering Company
-Meals on Wheels Catering Truck Company
-El Morocco Nightclub (bootleg gambling parlor)
-Golden Hour Nightclub (bootleg gambling parlor)
-Franklin Coin Shop (while he became a coin dealer in the 1960s, he would open this retail location in the early 1970s)
26 Comments
Great story, Joe.
Dear Merlin,
Thank you.
Hi Joe, I found this site by accident, coming from a family with as many stories as the bible it’s no wonder you have a vast source of great stories. My Uncle Arthur spoke of your father as if he was talking about a saint. I met your dad on several occasions and I always remember his wonderful smile and kind words. My uncle was involved with your Dad in several ventures. My aunt worked for dad at Meals on Wheels.
We should get together and chat, maybe we can fill in a few holes…
Oh and By the way the guy they mention in Mob Wives Chicago, William “WOLF”
DeSimone. The nickname is because of the beard he wore, he is no more a mob associate than the President! His occupation is house painter, he did the bathroom in
my condo years back he would not take a dime for the job, did it as a favor to my Mom.
Papa
The only ‘Art’ that my father had in his life was a man who died under tragic and sudden circumstances a little over 40-years ago. If your uncle is the same ‘Art’ that I have in mind, your uncle was one of my fathers closest and most trusted friends. Every weekend when my father and I would take our fishing trips, he always shared a great story about Art. Most people never heard of him, but would be very surprised to know how much he helped my father, Joe Shine and Teets. My mother knew Art well (of course through my father) and she misses him very much.
Please feel free to drop me a line in private anytime, jfosco@americannewspost.com. J
PS, judging by the hint you dropped, I know my dad’s Art is your late uncle. 🙂
Joe, how funny. Cerone (Esq) claimed to control union takeovers. I could see his father doing those things but not him. Esq was a lawyer not an Outfit boss. Cerone really impersonated his father a lot. Great piece on your father. I never knew much about him. He was obviously an important person. Thanks for sharing.
Dear Mart,
Yes, Cerone Esquire often tells stories that would cause his peanut gallery to consider the false idea that he is a powerful gangster.
Thank you for the kind words about my father.
You have a very handsome family, and I enjoyed reading about them! Also, Joe my family grew up in Taylor Street, before branching out to the Chicagoland suburbs! We are not associated with any mob type crisis! The only problem my family ever had with the mob was the kiddnapping from Al’s Restaurant in Cicero! I can’t understand why that it was on American news stations when the owner my uncle (in- law) was kiddnapped in Sicily by the “Black Hand” there!
Dear SQE,
Thank you for the kind words about my family.
The Black Hand is an interesting subject.
Joe, your father’s name did come up a couple of times in the past when talking to my uncle. I was given the impression that he was ‘made’ and was a solid respected guy under Teets Battaglia. As far as the desertion was concerned, the government for years has lied and used and abused young men into believing they were fighting for a just cause. I, personally, wouldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to fight in some bullshit war over false reasons. The ‘WHITE hOUSE’ was and always has been the largest Organized Cime group in the world. At least the Chicago Ouffit was more honest about what they did.
Dear The Don,
Thank you for your attempt at being companionate toward my father’s mistake.
Joe,
Your dad doesn’t look like the kind of guy who put up with a lot of crap. I wouldn’t have messed with him, that’s for sure.
Dear f@…,
He could be short tempered at times, but it was countered with an amazing sense of humor. It was best to keep him laughing and it was not very hard to do.
Thank you for reading the article and leaving a comment.
Joe, how did your father get along with the Elmwood Park Group? Outfit union men generally have to work with other made men and high level associates from all sections of Chicago. There has to be a high level of respect and trust for men to be put into those positions. In other words, besides being competent they have to have good people skills.
Dear The Don,
My dad got along well with Willie and Joe Gags. His dealings with Johnny were mostly done through his brother-in-law Romie Nappi. I never heard of anything bad about Johnny regarding my father’s dealings with him, or Romie’s dealings with him for that matter. I know he did not care for old man Jack Cerone or his punk kid. However, I am not sure if that was leftover baggage from his days with Teets. I do know that Teets despised old man Jack Cerone. I do not believe that Romie and/or my father had any other dealings with the others in Cerone’s crew.
Dear The Don,
Furthermore:
Many years ago, Paul Ricca taught my father many different lessons, however, one was on the use of salt. Paul said that if you salt your food before you taste it you take things for granted. My father’s lessons from Paul helped my father go along way for an uneducated felon. Despite my father being an employee for Teets, he had enormous exposure to Paul through his brother-in-law Romie. My dad loved Paul.
Therefore, many years later, when my father took over the Teamster Local, he used the skills that Paul taught him. According to one story that I heard, the first week on the job as boss of the Local, my father was in the office on a Saturday by himself getting things organized. All of a sudden, a handful of disgruntled union members came banging on the door demanding to see the new boss. My father opened the door, asked the fellows to have a seat. The members seemed surprised to be allowed in. As my father was asking them how they like their coffee, the members said, “enough of that coffee stuff, where is the boss, we want to see him?” When my father told them that he was the new boss, they could not believe it. They asked my dad why he was willing to fetch them coffee. My dad answered, “Because you pay my salary, now what can I do to help you fellows.”People like my father, who worked hard their entire life and were fortunate enough to become a union boss are the people that made a difference in the unions.
Unfortunately, a great number of union officials today are nothing more than descendents of late officials that were put in power through nepotism and most of these young people are monsters, drug addicts and braggarts, today. The new generation has caused the union to suffer.
Amen, Amen.
Dear The Don,
Thank you.
Joe,
I assume that you know Teets Battaglia was from Kenosh WI, too. Are you aware that some of the names of his criminal associates are redacted in his FBI file (via FOIA). I wonder if one of the redacted names could be your father’s. Have you ever attempted to acquire such records through FOIA?
Dear Horsey,
Why would I request Teets’ FBI file to research what I already know? And, yes, thank you for pointing out Teets’ connection to Kenosha. However, I was aware of it.
Joe,
Do you think that your Dad was ever on the radar of law enforcement for matters related to organized crime? What is your opinion of whether or not he was made?
Dear Merlin,
I do not know for sure if my father was ‘made’. The closest that I came to learning if my father was ‘made’ was through an immediate family member of Joe Ferriola. According to Ferriola’s relative, Ferriola had told him that my father was an “old time hit-man from Teets’ crew and was made.” While I cannot substantiate it, I admit that it does not seem far-fetched. Truly, I hope it is not true because I would not want to have a father that could have murdered a human being. I know that I found two different double barrel sawed off shotguns in my fathers Oak Park basement several years ago, well after his death. In addition, my father had a tremendous gun collection of all kinds of guns. He collected guns and coins and silver and gold bars and stamps. He carried a gun with him all the time. In addition, my father had a secret place in his basement that was set up for making bullets – he made his own ammunition. However, he was also an avid hunter.
According to my mother and older brother, the FBI followed my father and watched his home in Oak Park periodically during the 1960s. However, when I requested his FBI record under FOIA about 15-years ago, I received a notice stating that his FBI record was destroyed, which is consistent with the rumor that someone in the Nixon Administration destroyed his federal criminal record so he could have his Teamster position back. According to the U.S. Navy, my father served prison time for desertion. However, the Justice Department has no record of his conviction for desertion. Initially, the Justice Department did have his federal/military conviction information in the early 1970s, which is what caused him to be ousted as a union official. To this day, a felon cannot be an official for the Teamsters. Not only was my father reinstated as an official for the Teamsters after his federal record was destroyed, but he was later promoted to the chief officer of his Local, which is the Secretary Treasurer.
Merlin, Joe’s father & uncle Romie Nappi were ‘made’ men who belonged to the extended Taylor St. crew. Joe’s father was with Teets Battaglia. Uncle Romie, I believe, was direct with Mooney. They were involved more in the “white collar” part of the crew’s activity which involved union activity & political activity. Men of this caliber were made so there could be an easier access to them since they dealt with a wide range of people. This was particularly true of Joe’s uncle, Romie Nappi, who would have been considered during that time a ‘sleeper’.
Dear The Don,
I believe Romie worked directly under every boss since Ricca, especially Mooney. In fact, one of the Parrillo brothers told me that Romie used to book Paul Ricca’s action on the ponies. I have mentioned it several times in the threads over the years because it intrigues me; Romie and Butch Blasi were pinched in Texas together with Jack Ruby in the late 1940s, while attempting to set up Outfit operations. According to Willie Messino, Sherriff Guthrie threatened that he ordered his men to shoot to kill any hood from Chicago if they return as he chased all of them out of Texas.
Go to page 4-7 or 8 of the following link:
http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol9/pdf/HSCA_Vol9_5Fvi_Jones.pdf ; Jack Knapp aka, Jack Nappi, aka Romie Nappi is mentioned.
I remember reading that it was ruled out by some that Ruby shot Oswald on behalf of the Chicago Outfit because he associated with small time players and did not have the connections to be used in something quite so significant. As I pointed out, Ruby was connected to Nappi and Blasi. Nappi took over for the Hump and Blasi is the suspected triggerman in the hit on Mooney. Therefore, I would say that Ruby was connected to major players in the Outfit.
I agree with that assessment.
Yes: http://americannewspost.com/docs/jfosco/Fosco,_Armondo_-_Prio_file_3_pg_57.jpg
Here is another blip on the radar, but very harmless for of those who are named. lol
http://americannewspost.com/docs/jfosco/FBI-DeadList-Update-2011.pdf