Jul 01 2008
Godfather II Rosario ‘Ross’ Gangemi dies
Mafia boss Rosario ‘Ross’ Gangemi farewell mobbed by mourners
Glittering goodbye: pallbearers carry the gold-plated coffin of Mafia boss Rosario Gangemi. Picture: Peter Ward
MICK Gatto was just another face in the crowd yesterday at the funeral for Rosario “Ross” Gangemi, a man described by police as a Victorian mafia boss.
A black sea of about 400 mourners, including Carlton Crew identity Gatto, washed into St Monica’s Catholic Church in Moonee Ponds to farewell the Calabrian-born fruit marketeer.
Gangemi, 86, died in John Fawkner Hospital on June 28 after a short battle with leukemia.
He was buried in a gold-plated coffin.
The Herald Sun last week revealed Gangemi served alongside Melbourne mafia godfather Liborio Benvenuto for about 20 years.
One of Gangemi’s sons, Nicholas, described his father as “a man with real values and real morals”.
“He was a gentleman among gentlemen, a friend among friends and a leader among leaders,” Mr Gangemi said at the funeral.
He said his father had helped thousands of people and commanded respect “not many people could achieve”.
The congregation heard Gangemi was born in 1922 and, after a tough childhood, spent time as a soldier in a German concentration camp in World War II.
He migrated to Melbourne in the 1950s.
A father to three sons, he lost his wife in 1965 and only daughter at an early age.
Nicholas said Gangemi made his “fair share of sacrifices” and worked hard in the fruit and vegetable wholesale industry to provide for his children and grandchildren.
“His passion to succeed was beyond measure,” his son said in his eulogy.
“He always put others before himself and never wanted any recognition.”
The congregation heard that Gangemi was a “tower of strength” until diagnosed with leukemia.
“One month later he passed away,” Nicholas said.
Canberra mafia boss Pasquale Barbaro, a police informer who was murdered in 1990, had been secretly taped naming Gangemi as one of Melbourne’s Calabrian mafia bosses.
Gangemi was allegedly involved in extortion at the Melbourne wholesale fruit and vegetable market for more than 25 years.
Police believe he ordered the death of Calabrian-born Melbourne gangster Vincenzo Angilletta in 1963 as part of the infamous Victoria market murders.
Mafia boss Rosario ‘Ross’ Gangemi farewell mobbed by mourners - Paul Anderson and Keith Moor - July 08, 2008 12:00am - Herald and Weekly Times - This story was found at: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23985090-2862,00.html
