Person Page - 256

     Paulo Vassallo was born in March 1897 in Malta.
     He began military service in 1918 at San Francisco, CA, USA, draft registration: age 21, illiterate.

     Jno Vassallo was born in Malta.

     Sister Pauline Maria Xuereb RSCJ was born on 31 January 1906 in Birkirkara, Malta. She was issued a Maltese Passport age 27, religious nun; from St Julians, Sacred Heart Convent on 10 July 1933. Declared destination was USA.¹ She died on 11 January 2004 at Oakwood, Atherton, CA, USA, at age 97; age 97. She was buried at Oakwoods Grounds, Atherton, CA, USA. Biography Paulina Xuereb was born in Birkirkara on January 31, 1906, the seventh of eight children of Francisco and Vincentia (Mifsud) Xuereb. She had her first thoughts about perusing a religious life in her teens when she learned about the Society of the Sacred Heart from two friends in her parish. On July 5, 1929, Paulina joined the Society. As such, she was to be both the oldest and earliest of the six women to join the Society and to leave for the United States in August 1933. A write-up on Sr. Paulina Xuereb appeared in the January 2020 issue of this newsletter. What follows is a more detailed account of her life.
Sr. Paulina took her first vows on November 21, 1932. Upon her arrival in Chicago she appears to have been posted, almost immediately, to Lake Forest where, until 1938, she served as an aide in the kitchen and was the refectorian.
Lake Forest, 30 miles (48 km) north of Chicago, was the home of the Academy of the Sacred Heart and Barat College, which shared the large “Old Main” building. Their origins date back to 1858 when Mother Margaret Crawley, RSCJ, established the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Chicago. In 1860, it moved to Taylor Street and was renamed the Academy of the Sacred Heart. The Sisters moved the school to Lake Forest in 1904. Barat College, named after St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, the foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart, was chartered by the state of Illinois as a four-year college for women in 1918.
Barat College
The College is now defunct and the Academy of the Sacred Heart is now Woodlands Academy.
Meanwhile, between 1938 and 1939, Sr. Paulina served as refectorian and in the vestry at the Sacred Heart Convent, on Sheridan Road in Chicago. Her next posting was in 1939 to Forest Ridge in Seattle, where she was to serve as cook and refectorian and did housework.
The Sisters of the Sacred Heart had opened a convent at 1013 15th Avenue in Seattle in 1907. Two years later, they built a convent and day school at what became 1617 Interlaken Drive E. The school was named Forest Ridge owing to its location. It operated on this site until 1971 when the Sisters moved to larger quarters in Bellevue, a city just east of Seattle and separated by Lake Washington.
Forest Ridge Convent of the Sacred Heart,
Seattle, WA
Between 1963 and 1970 Sr. Paulina lived at the San Francisco College for Women/Lone Mountain College serving as infirmarian and working in the laundry and vestry. For several months in 1970, she was the infir-marian at Menlo Park, 25 miles (41 km) southeast of San Francisco. Her next posting was to Convent of the The Maltese Presence in North America July 2021
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Sacred Heart Elementary School on Vallejo Street in San Francisco, where, from 1970 until 1972, she served as an aide in the kindergarten class and did housework. She is also known, at some point, to have taught elementary school at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Houston, Texas.
This Academy was opened on September 8, 1960 and named in honour of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne who, with four other Sacred Heart nuns, was among the first members of the Society to come to the United States. Located at 10202 Memorial Drive in Houston, this all-girls private school goes from K3 through the 12th grade.
The Old “White House” of Duchesne Academy, Houston, Texas, 2008
Sr. Paulina Xuereb, RCSJ
Between 1972 and 1982, Sr. Paulina lived at the Provincial House on Miller Avenue in South San Francisco. This building, formerly the convent for the Immaculate Heart Sisters, was opened in 1965 and stood between All Souls Church and the parish school. After the Immaculate Heart Sisters left the parish, the convent was rented out to the Religious of the Sacred Heart as their Provincial House.
While at the Provincial House, Sr. Paulina served as teacher’s aide and as “Community Homemaker,” welcoming countless visitors. She also tended the chapel and garden and cooked delicious meals.
In 1982 Sr. Paulina moved to Oakwood, in Atherton, California, serving as refectorian and tending to the garden until her health no longer permitted it.
Oakwood Retirement Center for the Sisters of Sacred Heart opened in 1971 on the Sacred Heart Schools campus.
Sr. Paulina died at Oakwood on January 11, 2004 and was interred on the grounds.
Oakwood, 140 Valparaiso Avenue, Atherton, CA
Gravestone, Oakwood Grounds, Atherton, CA.
     She immigrated on 23 August 1933; Sr. Paolina Xuereb came to the United States on aboard the Roma and disembarked in New York Harbor on August 23, 1933. With her were five other sisters of the Society to the Sacred Heart, all en route for the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Chicago, IL, then at 62 Sheridan Street. She was a (an unknown value) between 1963 and 1970 at San Francisco College for Women/Lone Mountain, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Obituary: on 14 January 2004: Paulina Xuereb Sister Xuereb -- beloved member of Sacred Heart
San Francisco Chronicle (CA) - Wednesday, January 14, 2004
A funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday for Sister Paulina Xuereb, a nun who served the Society of the Sacred Heart for 71 years in San Francisco, Seattle and elsewhere. Sister Xuereb died Sunday of congestive heart failure at Oakwood Convent of the Sacred Heart in Atherton. She was 97.
She was a native of Malta and entered the Society there in 1930, later taking her vows in Illinois. During her years of service, Sister Xuereb cared for sick and aging sisters in San Francisco and Menlo Park and taught grade school at Duchesne Academy in Houston. Her longest periods of service, though, were at Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Seattle, where she served as "refectorian, " providing food and welcome for students and visitors from 1939 to 1963, and as "community housekeeper" in San Francisco from 1972 to 1982, in charge of hospitality at the provincial house. "She was our 'Sister Welcome,' who took care of the house, took care of all of us," said Sister Mary B. Flaherty of Seattle, who shared a home with Sister Xuereb for 15 years. "Everyone knew everyone, and everyone loved her. She was one of the humblest, happiest people you can imagine. Her chocolate chip cookies were legendary." Sister Xuereb moved to Oakwood, a retirement center for her religious order, in 1982.
Obituary: on 14 January 2004: XUEREB, Paulina Maria - Religious of the Sacred Heart, age 97 died at Oakwood, in Atherton, CA on Mon., Jan. 11, 2004. Born and raised in Malta, Sister Paulina entered the Society of the Sacred Heart on July 5, 1929 at St. Julian's in Malta. Since coming to the United States in 1934, she has served in Chicago, Seattle and in California, at Lone Mountain College, at the California Provincial House in So. San Francisco, and finally at Oakwood in Atherton. For the last 11 years, she has been known for her generous and creative ways of serving her religious sisters and the many people associated with this Oakwood Community. Sister Xuereb – beloved member of Sacred Heart
A funeral mass will be celebrated Saturday for Sister Paulina Xuereb, a nun who served the Society of the Sacred Heart for 71 years in San Francisco, Seattle and elsewhere. Sister Xuereb died Sunday of congestive heart failure at Oakwood Convent of the Sacred Heart in Atherton. She was 97.
She was a native of Malta and entered the Society there in 1930, later taking her vows in Illinois. During her years of service, Sister Xuereb cared for the sick and aging sisters in San Francisco and Menlo Park and taught grade school at Duchense Academy in Houston. Her longest periods of service though were at Forest Ridge Schoool of the Sacred Heart in Seattle, where she served as “refectorian” providing food and welcome for students and visitors from 1939 to 1963 and as “community house keeper” in San Francisco from 1972 to 1982, in charge of hospitality at the province house. “She was our ‘Sister Welcome’ who took care of the house, took care of all of us,” said Sister Mary B. Flaherty of Seattle who shared a house with Sister Xuereb for 15 years. “Everyone knew everyone and everyone loved her. She was one of the humblest, happiest people you can imagine. Her chocolate chip cookies were legendary.” Sister Xuereb moved to Oakwood, a retirement center for her order in 1982.
Obituary: on 14 January 2004: Sister Xuereb - beloved member of Sacred Heart
A funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday for Sister Pauli
na Xuereb, a nun who served the Society of the Sacred Heart for 71 years in San Francisco, Seattle and elsewhere. Sister Xuereb died Sunday of congestive heart failure at Oak- wood Convent of the Sacred Heart in Atherton. She was 97. She was a native of Malta and enterec the Society there in 1930, later taking her vows in Illinois. During her years of service, Sister Xuereb cared for sick and aging sisters in San Francisco and Menlo Park and taught grade school at Duchesne Academy in Houston. Her longest periods o: service, though, were at Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Seattle, where she served as “refectorian,” providing food and welcome for students and visitors from 1939 to 1963, and as “community housekeeper” in San Francisco fron 1972 to 1982, in charge of hospitality at the provincial house. “She was our 'Sister Welcome/ who took care of the house, took care of all of us,” said Sister Mary B. Flaherty of Seattle, who shared a home with Sister Xuereb for 15 years. “Everyone knew everyone, and everyone loved her. She was one of the humblest, happiest people you can imagine. Her chocolate chip cookies were legendary.” Sister Xuereb moved to Oak- wood, a retirement center for her religious order, in 1982. A funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday, and she will be buried in the cemetery on the Oakwood grounds.
Sister Pauline Maria Xuereb RSCJ.

     Judith Arlene Russell was born circa 1937. She married Raymond Robert Callejo, son of Michelle Angelo Calleja and Mary Debrincat. Judith Arlene Russell died in August 2000 at Pacifica, CA, USA.
     Her married name was Callejo. She was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 1996.

     Diane Jean Peterson was born circa 1939. She married Raymond Robert Callejo, son of Michelle Angelo Calleja and Mary Debrincat, on 3 November 1956 at San Francisco, CA, USA. Diane Jean Peterson and Raymond Robert Callejo were divorced in June 1975; also 5 Dec 1980.
     As of 3 November 1956,her married name was Callejo. Diane Jean Peterson was living in 2022 in Elk Grove, CA, USA.

     Jeanne Victoria Mula was born on 25 March 1941 in San Francisco, CA, USA. She married Jerry E. Baker on 5 October 1968; age 28 and 27.
     Jeanne Victoria Mula was listed in the 1940 US Census of Joseph Mula and Marianna Rosa Theresa Falzon in 1950 at San Francisco, CA, USA; age 48, produce truck driver. Her married name was Baker.

     Jerry E. Baker married Jeanne Victoria Mula, daughter of Joseph Mula and Marianna Rosa Theresa Falzon, on 5 October 1968; age 28 and 27.

     Giovanni Tonna was born in Mosta, Malta. He married Maria Said. Giovanni Tonna died before 1913.
     Research: While the brothers were in San Francisco, their remaining families in Mosta lived on the same street, Sda. Matteo Callus at # 23 and #8 respectively.

     Maria Said married Giovanni Tonna.
     Her married name was Tonna.

     Michaelangelo Camilleri was born in Mosta, Malta. He married Annunciata Sciberras.

     Annunciata Sciberras was born in Mosta, Malta. She married Michaelangelo Camilleri.
     Her married name was Camilleri.

     Giomarie Muscat was born in Malta. He married Ursula Camilleri. Giomarie Muscat died in 1958 at Malta.
     Research: Parents: Carmelo Muscat & Carmela Sammut.

     Ursula Camilleri married Giomarie Muscat. Ursula Camilleri died in 1974 at Mosta, Malta.
     Her married name was Muscat.

     William P. Quinn married Josephine Mary Tonna, daughter of Joseph Tonna and Carmela Camilleri. William P. Quinn and Josephine Mary Tonna were divorced in April 1970 at San Mateo Co., CA, USA.

     Gus L Moran married Josephine Mary Tonna, daughter of Joseph Tonna and Carmela Camilleri, on 5 September 1953 at San Francisco, CA, USA.

     Reno Chircop was born on 1 January 1934 in Qormi, Malta. He married Georgia Josephine Vella on 21 July 1957 at Qormi, Malta.

     Richard Sam Chircop was born on 21 August 1958 in San Francisco, CA, USA. He married Wendy (?)

     Wendy (?) married Richard Sam Chircop, son of Reno Chircop and Georgia Josephine Vella.
     Her married name was Chircop.

     Daniel Chircop was born on 20 December 1966 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA. He married Tina (?)
     Daniel Chircop was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 2024.

     Tina (?) married Daniel Chircop, son of Reno Chircop and Georgia Josephine Vella.
     Her married name was Chircop. Tina (?) was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 2024.

     Diana Chircop was born on 10 January 1969 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA. She married Ash Reyes.
     Her married name was Reyes.

     Ash Reyes married Diana Chircop, daughter of Reno Chircop and Georgia Josephine Vella.

     Joseph Francis Chircop was born on 9 August 1960 in San Mateo Co., CA, USA. He died on 30 May 2016 at South San Francisco, CA, USA, at age 55. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, CA, USA.
      Obituary: : Joseph Francis Chircop -- August 9, 1960 - May 30, 2016 -- Joseph Francis Chircop passed away peacefully on May 30, 2016 at the age of 55. Beloved son of Georgia Chircop, loving brother of Richard, Daniel, and Diana, special family member of Ron Tomasello. Joey enjoyed attending the Ogden Day Program and spending time with his family. Joseph Francis Chircop was also known as Joey Chircop.

     Ellery Mizzi was born.

     Krystal Antoinette Mizzi was born on 13 September 1984 in San Francisco, CA, USA.
     She was living in 2022 in San Bruno, CA, USA.

     Pacifico Calleja was born on 17 April 1905 in Mosta, Malta; Naturaliz Doc gives Valletta; 15 Apr 1905.¹ He was issued a Maltese Passport age 16, engine cleaner; accompaning my father on 28 April 1921. Declared destination was New York, NY, USA.¹ He married Theresa Caruana on 11 January 1942 at Mosta, Malta. Pacifico Calleja died on 2 May 1993 at Federal Way, WA, USA, at age 88. He was buried at Gethsemane Cemetery, Federal Way, WA, USA.
     He emigrated from Malta on 21 June 1921 to Ellis Island, New York, NY, USA. He immigrated in 1933 to Mosta, Malta. He immigrated circa 1946 to San Francisco, CA, USA. He emigrated from on 2 April 1951 to New York, NY, USA. He worked for 17 years with Paul Sant in lumber department between 1951 and 1968 at Goodman's Lumber, San Francisco, CA, USA. He was naturalized on 8 June 1965 at San Francisco, CA, USA; lumber handler. He and Theresa Caruana immigrated on 22 February 1968 to Birkirkara, Malta; Teresa along with their children Mary, Joyce, Joe, Rita, George and Tony. Pacifico Calleja and Theresa Caruana immigrated in 1974 to San Francisco, CA, USA. Pacifico Calleja and Theresa Caruana immigrated in 1986 to Federal Way, WA, USA.

Pacifico Calleja was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle Pacifico Calleja - One of the Unsung Heroes by Greg Caruana, NSW MALTESE E-NEWSLETTER 287 September 10, 2019

Pacifico Calleja was born in Mosta on the 17th April 1905. He was the third child with two older brothers and two younger sisters. His parents were Annunciato (Lonzu) Calleja (Tas-Siggijiet) and Teresa (Zeza) Bugeja. He attended Mosta Boys’ School and finished year 6 Grade. He left school at the age of 12 years and went to work with his father as a assistant builder. Around May of 1921 Pacikk (as he was known) left Malta together with his dad Lonzu on the ship “Empress of Asia” and arrived in Ellis Island, New York Harbour, USA on 21st June 1921.
Pacifico and Teresa Caruana on their wedding day
Pacifico worked at Charles Restaurant (chain) for about nine and a half years. He started washing pots and pans and ended up as an assistant baker. He then went to work at Woolworths as a short-order cook for about 6 months. Then he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana for the next two years with his father’s brother Wenzu Calleja, who was a wine and spirit maker. In 1933, Pacifico returned to Malta, where he was more of an entrepreneur. He ordered two buses from Italy, which arrived as parts and he hired a mechanic to assist in the assembly. He painted these buses brown with lead paint as Mosta buses. He had a construction business with his brother Karmnu. They also had a grocery store and a petrol station.

When war started in Malta in 1939, he converted three cars into trucks and leased them to the British Army. At the same time, he helped some of his friends get work, by allowing them to drive needed supply to the British troops that where in Malta.
On January 1942, Pacikk met Teresa Caruana. She was a refugee with her family in Mosta from war-torn Paula where she used to live. They got married on the 11th January 1942. Teresa and Pacific had 6 children: Lannie, Carmen, Tessie, Victor, Nancy and Mary. After the war, there was not much work in Malta, so Pacikk decided to migrate for the second time to the United States. His oldest brother Joe was a foreman at “Goodman Lumber” in San Francisco. And he offered him a job there.
In 1952, Teresa with five siblings Carmen, Tessie, Victor, Nancy and Mary retuned to the United States via New York. Then Pacikk caught a plane from San Francisco to New York and the family returned to San Francisco by train. By then, the family grew with the addition of Joyce, Joe, Rita, George and Tony. Pacifico had to work really hard to provide for his family; he worked long days and did side jobs building fences and other odd jobs. In the meantime, he helped lots of people, especially his fellow Maltese.
Pacifico and his parents Annunziato and Tereza
Pacifico and Teresa decided to return to Malta once he retired. So, on the 22nd of February 1968 Pacifico sent his wife Teresa along with their children Mary, Joyce, Joe, Rita, George and Tony, the youngest, to Malta on Pan American Airlines. On the 17th of April 1968, Pacific retired from work after 17 years with Goodman Lumber at the age of 63. He never had a sick day or a day vacation. He then flew to Malta, along with his daughter Carmen, about a week later. The family lived in Lija for a few months while their home was being built in Birkirkara; then on the 28th April 1973 their daughter Joyce got married and left to the States. Two weeks later, their son Joe left for San Francisco.
On January 1974, their daughters Carmen and Mary left for San Francisco, with everyone retuning to the States and with Rita and George coming of age, the house being too big. In 1974. Pacific and Teresa where thinking of selling their house and buying a smaller one. But Tony the youngest one, now 14 years old, suggested that since everybody was returning to the States perhaps it was time to go back to the States. Pacifico and Teresa lived in San Francisco from 1974 to 1986. Then they moved to Federal Way, Washington.
The golden-hearted Pacific passed away on 2nd May 1993 at great age of 89 years. Theresa lived there in Washington till 2000. Then she moved to New York and lived there, until she was 84 years of age. On the 4th of January 2004, she passed away to go and be united with her beloved husband Pacifico.
This incredible loving couple worked hard to maintain their family and they bestowed their love wherever they were. These are my loving Ziju Pacikk, and my Zija Teresa. Which I am pretty sure they are enjoying eternal rest. Pacifico Calleja was also known as Pacikk.

     Teresa (Zeza) Bugeja was born in 1878 in Mosta, Malta. She married Annunciato (Lonzu) Calleja, son of Venerando Calleja and Felicita Baldacchino. Teresa (Zeza) Bugeja died in February 1858 at Malta.
     Her married name was Calleja.
Teresa (Zeza) Bugeja Parents: Giuseppe Bugeja 1818–1878 & Maria Muscat 1818–1878.

     Joyce Marlene Calleja was born on 13 July 1953 in San Francisco, CA, USA. She married an unknown person on 28 April 1973.
     She witnessed the immigration of Pacifico Calleja and Theresa Caruana on 22 February 1968 at Birkirkara, Malta; Teresa along with their children Mary, Joyce, Joe, Rita, George and Tony. Joyce Marlene Calleja immigrated in 1973 to USA.

     Anthony Falzon was born on 17 January 1925 in Qormi, Malta. He married Maria Calleja. Anthony Falzon died on 24 October 2019 at CA, USA, at age 94. Biography Anthony "Tony" Falzon January 17, 1925 - October 24, 2019 Born in Malta. Resided in San Francisco, California. Tony passed away peacefully at his home with his family around him. He was born in Malta and came to the United States after World War II. Tony served in the Royal Navy for 8 years during that War. Tony left behind his loving wife, Maria Falzon; his two sons, John and Raymond; and many nieces and nephews here in San Francisco, Malta, and Australia.
     Anthony Falzon was also known as Tony Falzon.

     Alfred Rapa was born on 11 December 1953 in Ghajnsielem, Gozo, Malta. He married Mary Rose Buhagiar, daughter of Eucharistic (Christ) Buhagiar and Rose Bajada, in 1974. Alfred Rapa died on 22 October 2019 at Manteca, CA, USA, at age 65. He was buried at St. Anthony's Catholic Cemetery, Escalon, CA, USA. Biography Freddy Rapa, as most of us friends and family know him, passed away on October 22, 2019. Freddy was a very talented singer born in Ghajnsielem, Gozo and was well known in Gozo and Malta. Many of you may know him or his wife, Mary Rose, and her family, Christ and Rose Buhagiar, who lived in the Portola District for many years. Many of you may remember when he and his son, David, performed at one of our Malta Day events a few years ago. The following is an article written about him and includes him singing Censu l-Malte u Katarin, a song he wrote, which won the Malta Song Festival in 1996. in 2019.
     He was a member of the Maltese American Social Club in 1997.
Obituary: on 30 October 2019: Alfred Rapa was born in Ghajnsielem, Gozo, Malta on December 11, 1953, and passed into eternity on October 22, 2019, under the loving care of his family in Manteca, California at the age of 65. Alfred is preceded in death by his father Loreto Rapa, father-in-law Eucharistic Buhagiar and niece Claire Farrugia. Alfred is survived by his mother Antonia, his wife of 45 years Mary Rose, their children, David (Stephanie), Mark (Dorianne), Matthew, and Lizette (Eric Smith); grandchildren, Carson, Preston, Brayden, Angelica and Maks; his siblings, Assunta (Carmel Attard), Josephine (Stephen Farrugia), Emanuel (Theresa), and Catherine (Joseph Mercieca); mother-in-law Rose Buhagiar; brothers-in-law, Joseph (Susan), Lino (Gerilyn), Raymond (Tarita) and Chris (Maria Elena); seventeen nieces, six nephews and numerous cousins.
In life, “Freddy” (as he was known to most) was a multi-talented artist, artisan, entertainer and businessman. His many achievements in music, theater and painting garnered him both international and local recognition. Professionally, Freddy channeled his natural gift for architectural design, passion for working with his hands and tireless work ethic into his company, Rapa Homes, crafting beautifully unique living spaces throughout Northern California for over 30 years. Freddy treasured his Catholic faith, sharing his magnificent singing voice in service to his Lord and community as cantor at Presentation Church in Stockton, California for many years.
Through it all, Freddy’s family was his pride and joy. Together with his beloved Mary Rose, they raised a family based in love, faith, creativity, industry and a deep appreciation for both his native Malta and their longtime home in the United States. Freddy’s sense of adventure and engaging personality endeared him to many, and he will be deeply missed by his significant community of family and friends. Alfred Rapa was also known as Freddy Rapa.