PETER J. SUPINA

Oct. 13, 1907 – Sept. 1991

by Philip Supina

 Peter Joseph Supina was born in Lyndora, Pennsylvania on October 13, 1907, the fifth of the eleven children born to Thomas and Joanna Supina.

He moved with the family to Ashford, Connecticut in 1908 where he attended local schools. In 1920 he left school and went to New York City where he worked at a variety of jobs. He tried to join the Marines in 1932 in the depths of the Depression. When the recruiting officer warned that he was underweight, he ate half a dozen bananas which put him just barely over the weight limits. He left the Marines early in 1935 when he won one of the lesser tickets of the Irish Sweepstakes, bringing him a little less than $4,000. He gave $500 to his parents, bought a new car and spent the rest of the money generously but unwisely..

Peter fought as a professional fighter in Michigan and worked at the Ford Works in Dearborn with his brother-in-law Eddie Chemushek. He returned to Connecticut in 1939 and met the love of his life, Theora M. Morse, a nurse from Louisiana. They were married in December, 1941, just after Pearl Harbor. He returned to the Marines and was assigned to the Naval Prison in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for the balance of the war. They had three children, Philip born on June 17, 1943; Norma Gail born on September 14,1944, and David Keith born on September 12,1945. The family moved back to Connecticut soon after the war and Peter went back to work at the state prison in Wethersfield, CT and then later worked at Hamilton Standard in Windsor Locks.

 In 1958, Peter Supina decided to head West to "strike it rich" in the tradition of famed uranium geologist, Charlie Steen. The entire family drove West and settled in Tucson, Arizona, the furthest "planted" branch of the Supina family at least at that time. He eventually got a job working for security at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson and his wife Theora worked at local hospitals. They both retired about 1970. Peter died of a stroke and colon cancer in September, 1991.