Talk:Dan Ronsisvalle

working on the draft below when i can... sagefats (talk) 11:05, 27 August 2021 (PDT)

Early Life

Ronsisvalle was born in 1936 in Maryland, the tenth of twelve children, to Benito "Benny" Sebastian Ronsisvalle and wife Josefina (née Castro). Benny and Josefina emigrated from Sicily in 1913 and 1914, respectively. Benny worked in construction and consequently had to move the family frequently to wherever he could find work, from Massachusetts to D.C. to Maryland. Ultimately, the Ronsisvalle family settled in the greater Washington, D.C. area in Hyattsville, Maryland. In 1923, the family began attending a local Protestant and Pentecostal church in northeast Washington, whose congregation was largely Italian-Americans.

In the 1930's, the family faced numerous hardships exacerbated in part by the Great Depression, including his siblings having to find work as children, the death of his brother Jimmy at the age of three, his mother's illness, and his father's struggles with alcoholism and gambling. With the advent of World War II, the family's standard of living improved as more members found gainful employment. The family was able to purchase a home in Washington, D.C. It was during these years that Ronsisvalle and his siblings developed an interest in music, and developed their talents singing and playing music. Ronsisvalle himself learned to play the steel guitar. Throughout the 1940's, three of Ronsisvalle's older sisters formed a group called The Italian Gospel Trio, and they performed at churches and revivals throughout the United States and Canada. Ronsisvalle would eventually join his sisters providing accompaniment as a guitarist and vocalist. Ronsisvalle became a born-again Christian in 1948, while performing with his sisters at a revival in Florida.