Keeping stories of the Sergio family alive 70 years after deadly shipwreck of Andrea Doria

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Joseph Sergio, a South Bend native, recalls the events from the Andrea Doria shipwreck, through the eyes of his grandfather. The Andrea Doria is viewed as one of the best maritime rescues of its time, but for the Sergio family, this wreck was a tragedy.

His family boarded the ship to travel from Italy to New York in search for a better life in Michiana. Sergio says, “At the time was one of the top passenger ships in the world. It was designed with the latest technology. It was beautifully laid out with artwork and everything. Even though they were in the third class, it was an honor for them to be on such a great ship coming back.”

Sergio says it was a foggy night in July of 1956, when the Stockholm ship was 20 miles off course, and made some errors. The bow of the boat went 40 feet into the front of the Andrea Doria. Sergio says, "It was a direct hit on our family, so they were killed instantly."

Sergio's grandparents survived, but he lost his aunt and four cousins to the wreck.

The memories from this night, stuck with the family for years. “A bunch of us grandkids sitting at my nana's house watching maybe Disney, but the show showed a ship on water on the ocean, and as soon as that came up, my grandfather raced in the middle and turned the TV off and said, 'we're all done here,' and we were all just like, 'what's going on?' There was nothing wrong with that show, you know. We didn't understand. That started to raise questions.”

When Sergio's grandparents traveled back to South Bend, his grandfather was a shoemaker at the University of Notre Dame. More recently, Sergio traveled to a 70th anniversary event for this shipwreck, causing him to re-open this generational wound. He left that event finding a sense of peace from this tragedy. Now he urges others to make the most of their time, as you never know what the future holds.