Submitted by: Dan Rich

Carmela Maria Vitale

Sept. 28, 1904 - Sept. 3, 1996

South Bend Tribune 9/4/1996

Carmela Maria Vitale, 91, of Irish Hills Drive, South Bend, Ind., passed away Tuesday morning, in her residence. She was the proprietor of the Fairway Restaurant and Tavern on South Michigan Street from 1935 until she retired in 1972.

She was born Sept. 28, 1904 in Gerace Superiore, Province of Reggio Calabria, Italy. February 2, 1922, in Gerace Superiore, as Carmela Maria Barbaro, she married Carmelo Pietro Vitale. He preceded her in death on Aug. 2, 1966.

She is survived by a daughter, Laura Carpenter of Elkhart, Ind; two sons, Santo Joseph Vitale and Alberto Salvatore Vitale, both of South Bend; eight grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and two brothers, Frank Barbaro and Joseph Barbaro of St. Paul Brazil. A brother, Rocco Barbaro was listed as Missing in Action in World War II. A daughter, Rita Jankowski, preceded her in death on Feb. 4, 1995.

Funeral services will be on Friday, at 1 p.m., in St. Matthew's Cathedral, and burial will be in Highland Cemetery.

Friends may call Thursday, from 2 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. at Guisinger Colonial Chapel Funeral Home, 3718 S. Michigan St., South Bend. A parish rosary will be recited at 7 p.m., Thursday, in the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the St. Joseph County Cancer Society.