Elio Rosati, along with his wife Jackie, has been working behind the scenes in Toronto's Italian community for 44 years. They are intrepid fund raisers, passionate and reliable doers - the kind of people you'd love to have as friends and, most certainly, hosting the next dinner party.

Their parents were part of the first wave of Italian immigrants to arrive in Canada at the turn of the century. Elio's dad arrived in Canada in 1910. One of his first jobs was laying track for Toronto's new streetcar system. It was the beginning of a long career with the Toronto transit system that included working as a conductor and a motorman. It was a steady job during the Depression.

Elio and Jackie grew up in a predominantly WASP Toronto. Italians were stereotyped as gangsters or illiterate labourers. Both of their fathers taught them to ignore that attitude and to focus on their education which they did. Jackie became a nurse and Elio ran a successful construction business.

During World War II, when many Italian Canadians were interned, Elio joined the Canadian Air Force, flying submarine patrol over the Atlantic and fighting the Japanese in Burma. When the war ended, Elio stayed in Europe working for the missing research inquiry service, locating the bodies of missing airmen.

After the war, Elio and Jackie became involved in Toronto's Italian community and, in 1976, helped to open the beautiful Columbus Centre and Villa Columbo - a community centre and seniors residence complex.

Length: 23:44
Original Format: Video
Originally Broadcast: July 19, 1994 on CBC Television

• World War II in Southeast Asia - photos from Indiana State University.

• TTC history - a few paragraphs about the history of the Toronto Transit Commission.

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Catherine Olsen (Toronto, Ontario) is the programmer and the host CBC Newsworld's documentary series, The Passionate Eye and a story producer for Roughcuts. Previously, she hosted and programmed TVOntario's The Human Edge, where she tried to create a niche for point of view documentaries. Her 17 year career in television includes working as Vancouver's first female ENG cameraperson, experience as a writer, producer and anchor, and six year at CBC's The Journal as a producer/journalist.