Five Generations, One GE Family
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Since GE got its start in 1878, the company has had a tradition of hiring families. In certain cases, whole family trees end up looking like GE organizational charts. One of those families is the Colucciellos, who live in upstate New York.
In the early 1900s Michael Colucciello and his father, Luigi, started traveling from their Italian village, Fontanarosa, to the U.S., spending the winters working for GE. Each summer the pair would then return to Italy, a cycle that lasted nearly two decades.
Finally, in 1923, Michael officially moved to the U.S. and took a permanent job at GE’s engineering facilities in Schenectady, NY. Eventually, six of his eight children also took jobs. Then those children’s children took jobs, and so on. In all, five generations of the Colucciello clan have followed suit.
Over the past 100 years, the family has produced 16 employees, totaling some 270 years of combined experience. To give you an idea, the Colucciellos have been with GE from the time the company produced the first radio broadcast to when GE created the world’s first hybrid locomotive.
Slideshow description
Schenectady, NY: Clifford stands in GE's Building 86, once home to the Turbine Department in the 1900s.
Family members stand in front of GE's Building 37 built in 1925 and cited in the National Register of Historic Places as "the first truly industrial research facility in the United States."
Richard and Ray Jr. outside the main entrance of GE in Schenectady, NY.
Ray Jr. and Eleanor outside the main entrance of GE in Schenectady, NY.
Karen, Ray Jr., Richard, Clifford and Eleanor visit the family home of Michael and Maria Colucciello in Rotterdam, NY.
Karen and Eleanor outside the family home.
Official Proclamation by the Mayor of Schenectady declaring August 8, 2009 as Colucciello Family Day in honor of the family's long history and service to the community.
Nicolina is one of the eight children of Michael and Maria Colucciello. She retired from GE with 42 years and 5 months of service.
Michael and Maria Colucciello came to the United States from Fontanarosa, Italy in the 1920s seeking a better life for their family. Here are the Colucciellos today at a recent family renunion.
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