Gaspare DiGregorio, "The Don"

Born in Castellammare del Golfo, Trapani, Sicilia, Italy on 4 Oct 1905 to Leonardo DiGregorio and Maria Ciaravino. Gaspare DiGregorio married Vita Lasala and had 1 child. He passed away on 11jun1970 in Smithtown, Suffolk, New York, USA.

Gaspar or Gaspare DiGregorio (c. 1905-June 11, 1970) was a New York mobster and a high ranking member of the Bonanno crime family who was a key figure in the so-called "Banana War".

A caporegime in the Bonanno family, DiGregorio had aspirations of becoming consigliere. However, family boss Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno made his son Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno consigliere, leaving hard feelings with DiGregorio. In 1964, fearful for his life, Joe Bonanno disappeared from New York. After a while, the New York Mafia Commission appointed DiGregorio as the new family boss. That decision was opposed by Joe's appointed successor Salvatore Bonanno and a war soon erupted within the Bonanno family. At one point, DiGregorio arranged a nighttime peace meeting with the Bonnanos in a house in Brookyn. DiGregorio and his men arrived first; when the Bonnanos arrived, DiGregorio's men started shooting. Miraculously, no one was hurt.

The so-called Bonanno War continued even with the brief return of Joe Bonanno in 1966. Although DiGregorio was supported by Mafia Commission members such as Carlo Gambino, Tommy Lucchese, Joe Colombo and Stefano Magaddino, they eventually became dissatisfied with DiGregorio's efforts at quelling the family rebellion. They eventually dropped DiGregorio and swung their support to Paul Sciacca. The war effectively ended in 1968 when Joe Bonanno suffered a heart attack and Sciacca became boss. DiGregorio was out in the cold.

DiGregorio spent his final year living with his family in Long Island. On June 11, 1970 Gaspar DiGregorio died of lung cancer at St. John's Hospital in Smithtown, New York.

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DiGregorio, an in-law of the Bonannos and Magaddinos, was a clothing manufacturer and a prominent member of the Bonanno Crime Family in New York City. DiGregorio served as best man in Joseph Bonanno's wedding and was godfather to Bonanno's oldest son Salvatore (Bill).

DiGregorio was a native of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and was likely connected with the Magaddino and Bonanno families while in Sicily. After entering the U.S., he married the sister of Buffalo crime boss Stefano Magaddino. After her death, he remarried.

He was a trusted group leader within the Brooklyn-based Bonanno Crime Family. With support from Magaddino, DiGregorio seized control of the Bonanno crime Family after Joe Bonanno disappeared in the early 1960s. Joe Bonanno's son fought the takeover and the so-called Banana Wars were the result.

Joe Bonanno re-emerged in 1966 and promised to get his Family in order. The Mafia Commission, which had pushed out Bonanno and welcomed DiGregorio's takeover of the Bonanno clan, withdrew their support for DiGregorio. DiGregorio was in poor health and seemed unwilling to engage in a fight with his old friends the Bonannos. Paul Sciacca, DiGregorio's top lieutenant, took over day to day operations of the anti-Bonanno faction and eventually made himself a candidate for boss.

After several years of quiet living with family on Long Island, DiGregorio succumbed to lung cancer at St. John's Hospital in Smithtown on June 11, 1970. He was buried in St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.

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Gaspare DiGregorio, a small garment manufacturer who was catapulted to national notoriety in 1965 as the reputed successor to Joseph (Joe Banan as) Bonanno as boss of a far flung Mafia empire, has died in the obscurity to which he retired four years ago.

Mr. DiGregorio, 65 years old, succumbed to lung cancer on Thursday in St. John's Hospital in Smithtown, L. I. At the James Funeral Home in Massapequa, L. I., where a wake is being held for the alleged Mafioso, a spokesman refused to give information about funeral arrangements, saying: “The family don't want anything in the newspapers.”

It was learned from law enforcement sources that burial will be on Monday in St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale after a 10 A.M. funeral mass at Sts.Philip and James Roman Catholic Church in St. James.

The mild‐mannered, bespectacled man of medium build, who was never convicted, was described by law enforcement agents as a “sleeper” in organized crime when the Federal Bureau of Investigation listed him as the new boss of the Bonanno “family” some months after Bonanno had been kid napped on orders of the Mafia's national commission and forced to abdicate.

Further reading

• Bernstein, Lee. "The Greatest Menace: Organized Crime in Cold War America". Boston: UMass Press, 2002. ISBN 1-55849-345-X
• Bonanno, Bill. "Bound by Honor: A Mafioso's Story". New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. ISBN 0-312-97147-8
• Bonanno, Joseph. "A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno". New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003. ISBN 0312979231
• Capeci, Jerry. "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia." Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2

External links

• The American "Mafia": Who was who ? - Gaspar DiGregorio
• Court TV Crime Library: The Banana War
• [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspar_DiGregorio]