Her tombstone was never on her grave.

South Philadelphia.

Attached is a photo of A piece of my grandmother’s tombstone.  She died during the 1918 influenza on October 31, 1918 at the age of 26 years old in South Philadelphia.  Her name was Emilia Coia- We did a little more research and found the correct spelling of my grandmother‘s first name, which is AMELIA.  Her maiden name was Passante but her last name was still Coia.  

My father told me stories, he was about 7 years old at the time of the flu.   He contracted the flu so they wrapped garlic around his neck and gave him shots of whiskey.  Although he survived, he remembers many coffins on street corners.  He also said that he would go out to play after he recovered and his little friends were no longer around.

Her tombstone was never on her grave but in a family garage for many years and somehow I have had it for the past 42 years.

Contributed by Anthony Coia, Grandson of Amelia Coia.