Tag Archives: Al Bertolani

After being pigeonholed as a personnel clerk by the Army during the Vietnam War, Al Bertolani was able to parlay his pre-military experience into a position as a railroad conductor. One of four children, Al Bertolani was born in Chicago to Albert and Florence Sweeney Bertolani. The family lived in an apartment on Harrison and Claremont Streets. His paternal grandparents, who had emigrated from Lucca in Tuscany, lived below them on the first floor. Family gathered at his grandparents’ home weekly, and Bertolani’s grandmother spent days preparing Sunday dinner for her 10 children and their growing families. “I remember my …