Beautiful Monument Honoring the Memory of Mary Bova

Photo by J. Mazza

This beautiful monument of the Sacred Heart of Mary  at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Sandusky, honors the memory of Mrs. Mary Bova.

Mary was born Mary Ciresi in Termini Imerese, in Sicily, in the 1880s. Her parents were Antonio Ciresi, and his wife, the former Rose Lombardo. By 1900 the Ciresi family was residing in Sandusky, Ohio, where Antonio operated a fruit market. 

In 1902 Mary Ciresi married John Bova. Sadly, John Bova died in 1915. Eventually Mary Ciresi Bova operated a grocery store at the corner of Monroe and Warren Streets in Sandusky, Ohio.

On July 3, 1937, Mary was trying to light a hot water heater in the basement of her home. She was severely burned when there was an accidental gas explosion, and she died from her injuries.

Mary's  son and daughter in law, Mamie and Joe Viviano ran the grocery store which Mamie's parents had started. An article in the November 23, 1941 issue of the Sandusky Register featured an article about the market.

Though the grocery store run by the Bova and Viviano families is no longer in operation, when you drive by the corner of Warren and Monroe Streets in Sandusky, you can be reminded of the many years the grocery served area residents. In the early 1960s, a sign in the front door of the  market read "That's Salada Tea."