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Transcript: Innovation - 5 Generations of a GE Family - The Colucciellos

1. 5 Generations of a GE Family - The Colucciellos

   Ray Jr. Colucciello :

   We have 16 members of our family at GE 270 years of service in total. It's 5 generations. My grandfather started here -- I believe -- in 1907. My grandfather and grandmother had 8 children of which about 5 to 6 of the children actually were employed by GE, and I'm a descent of one of the 8 children. This is the house where my grandmother and grandfather spent most of their lives once they got to the United States. We're Rotterdam, New York, which is part of the county of Schenectady. From here my grandfather would walk to GE every day for about 33 years. They had their 8 children, and actually 3 were born in Italy, and 5 were actually born right in this house, so we came to look at some old pictures and pass on some old memories.

2. Eleanor Colucciello:

   This is a picture of my handsome father, Michael Colucciello, Sr. when he retired after 32 years in 1955.

3. Ray Jr. Colucciello:

   Times were tough in the U.S., and times were tough in Italy, but the U.S. had "the GE," as Uncle Mikey said it, so that's why they came here, was really for employment.

4. Eleanor Colucciello:

   They wanted a better life for the children. They were very hard workers.

5. Richard Colucciello:

   Eight kids, that in itself, working at GE fulltime, walking to work, not a train, not a car, right, come home. You've got a garden to go take care of -- you know -- to feed your family.

6. Clifford Colucciello:

   One time GE allowed the people, if they wanted to grow food on a plot of land that they gave out by the river. I think it was an island on the river. He would actually go out there after work, after working 8 or 10 hours or whatever it was a day here, he would go out there and work his garden, and then whatever produce he got from that, the company actually would buy back those crops and actually use them in the cafeterias. At my grandmother's funeral, a number of people came up and actually thanked the family that their family survived the depression because my grandparents offered them food when no one else could do it, because they had chickens there. They had vegetables and so forth. They actually fed a lot of neighbors for a long time.

7. Richard Colucciello:

   "Mangia, mangia," as our grandmother used to say.

8. Clifford Colucciello :

   Yeah, this is unusual sitting around these tables without laying food someplace here. I wasn't really sure when I got out of the Army exactly what I was going to do, but when I returned to the area, of course everyone said, "You got to go down to GE. That's where everybody in the family has worked."

9. Karen Colucciello :

   Everybody in the town all worked at GE, so I always wanted to work at GE, because of that.

10. Richard Colucciello:

    And so most of the kids, as they went through high school they would walk down the road to GE and start working.

11. Clifford Colucciello:

    I grew up watching my mom come to work here every day. I heard her talking about GE all the time, and I thought I'm going to work there someday. My grandfather was working here still then, and it was just something always in my blood.

12. Richard Colucciello:

    After 16 years, I've really fit into the GE family, and I am very proud to be a member here. When you're out in the community and you tell people where you work, I think it holds a lot of prestige in the area to know that you're a GE employee.

13. Clifford Colucciello:

    A few years ago, they had that campaign that you guys might recall. It said "GE is me." Well, people used to tease me a lot about that I should have a tattoo on my body, "GE is me," and that's kind of my connection with GE -- I guess. It's kind of like a second family.

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