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Zuccarelli Reminisces About Moving to the South
In 1943,
jazz was king. The United States was in the midst of another
world war, fighting the Axis forces in five theaters of conflict.
America's young men were fighting on the fronts, while at home,
jazz provided an outlet for youthful energies.
In a nightclub in Washington, D.C., a young Chicago native was tickling the keys of a piano, playing in a four-man jazz group to a room full of smoke and people dancing to the reverberated sounds of Benny Goodman, when a woman sauntered up next to him on the bench. The young piano player didn't know that he was looking at a Southern Magnolia flower from the state of Mississippi. All he knew was she was very striking, loved jazz and loved to dance. "Oh, she was a very beautiful lady," Andrew Zuccarelli said recently as he looked at a photo of his wife, Aline Holifield Zuccarelli. "She immediately caught my eye."Zuccarelli declined to compare the first meeting between he and his future wife to any of the Bogart-Bacall movies, but he said it was close. "We began to see each other pretty regularly from then on and no matter where we played, she would always be there," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
A Map Maker by Day
Zuccarelli, after being passed over for his physical by the U.S.
Army in 1943, worked by day as a map maker for the U.S. Geological
Service in Washington, D.C. As soon as the sun went down, it
was time to hit the clubs and blow off some steam built up from
living in the global conflict that was World War II. "This
little group I found in D.C. was just the perfect thing,"
Zuccarelli said. "I loved playing jazz and we were a pretty
good group. We always had a gig."
Zuccarelli, who was born and raised in Chicago, Ill., knew his number was up and he prepared to be drafted, hoping he could serve his country any way he could. The fact he didn't pass his physical didn't deter him in his quest to help the country out in some way. Fortunately, as is his nature, he had a plan. In the time between being notified of his impending service and when he would have to go for his physical, Zuccarelli enrolled in a class on how to make maps. The armed forces were in direct need of everything in early 1943 as the bombing campaign in Europe against Hitler's industrial cities was just in its infancy. "The maps we made were aeronautical maps used by the United States Army Air Corps. The first maps I remember working on were for the invasion of North Africa against Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Corps," said Zuccarelli.
A Young Girl from Ellisville
While Zuccarelli was working diligently on accurate maps that
would in their own small way help beat back the Nazis, a young
girl from Ellisville, Mississippi, had arrived in Washington,
D.C. to try and find work herself. While visiting her aunt and
uncle, Aline Holifield found work at the United States Treasury
Department. And while there, she found Zuccarelli. "Back
then, girls were encouraged to come to clubs and dance with the
soldiers," Zuccarelli said. "It was during one of these
occasions that we met." Zuccarelli said that over the course
of the next several weeks, the couple fell in love and in 1945
were married. But that didn't stop the music. In fact, Zuccarelli,
still with a sliver of surprise in his voice, said Aline turned
out to be the singer of the band. "I still played in this
little band back in Chicago and Aline would come with us,"
he said. "Turns out, she had a very good voice."
During the war, Zuccarelli had studied to be an accountant. That was his job after the war ended and he worked for several big businesses back in Chicago. He also had a stint working with the Internal Revenue Service as well.
A House in Terrible Shape
Throughout the time they were married, the Zuccarellis would
come and visit Aline's relatives in Ellisville. Zuccarelli said
it was during those visits where he became comfortable with the
South. So much so that in 1975 when Aline found a home she fell
in love with, he knew he would be living here one day. "She
came down to visit her mother one time and she found this house
over here next to the Jones County Court House for sale. Now
this house was in pretty bad shape but Aline at the time was
a real estate agent back in Chicago. She called me and we discussed
it and she bought it. I was scared to death she had bought a
house that was in terrible shape," Zuccarelli said shaking
his head at the memory. But all of his apprehensions went away
when he and Aline finally were able to come and see the house
together six months later. "It turns out the house wasn't
as bad as I had pictured it to be. But it still did need quite
a bit of work," he said. Aline's brother, James Holifield,
acted as supervisor for the period of time it took for the house
to get renovated. It would have been very difficult, according
to Zuccarelli, for he and Aline to monitor the project all the
way from Chicago. But Zuccarelli said James did an admirable
job in making sure the work was getting done and the workers
were getting paid. In 1979, Andrew and Aline Zuccarelli moved
to Ellisville. Zuccarelli said there was no doubt in his mind
he would like living in Ellisville and the South.
A Good, Solid Hospital
After all, from all the trips over the years, he had met many
people and had made lasting friends, especially on the golf course.
Some of his golfing buddies were doctors who worked at the nearby
South Central Regional Medical Center. He alluded to the fact
that golf is a good sport to get to know someone. "Yeah,
we'd get out there and play some golf, and have a big time,"
Zuccarelli said laughing. "My getting to know some of the
doctors who worked at South Central helped me have confidence
in the facility." What struck Zuccarelli and left such an
impression on him was the quality of the hospital considering
the size of Laurel, Ellisville and the surrounding area. He said
he knew of bigger metropolitan areas where the care centers weren't
nearly as nice nor as professionally run and staffed. Many times,
Zuccarelli had visited friends who were staying in the hospital
and each time he said he came away with the feeling it was a
good, solid hospital with both caring and capable nurses and
doctors. In the last four years, Zuccarelli has been a patient
at South Central Regional Medical Center on several occasions
and his impressions from many years ago have not been changed.
"I've gotten very good treatment every time I've been there,"
Zuccarelli said. "The nurses are great and the doctors are
excellent." Zuccarelli still plays golf twice a week and
a little jazz when the mood strikes him. "I've met so many
wonderful people, both when I was playing music and when I was
playing golf," Zuccarelli said. But it was the bloom of
a Magnolia that led him to Ellisville.