Pakenham Village Tributes : Paola Magnani

Paola Magnani: a woman who will be fondly remembered by all those who new her. Her strong Italian ways and her broken English were a story in themselves. Her extremely strong personality made sure that she always had the last word and was dismissive of those who doubted her. Paola had an aura about her that when she walked into a room you would know that she was there. A magnetic personality.

The following has been written by Paola's daughter -in-law Anna.

Paola was born in Emilia-Romagna region in the north-west of Italy, which is where she first met Magnani, her husband to be on a farm owned by the Zavalloni family. It was also during this time that Mr Zavalloni, an Italian prisoner of war in England, had met and married Margaret Whiting whose father owned the orchard at Pakenham, and they found that they needed help on the land with the orchards.

In the summer of 1950 Mr Zavalloni asked his family in Italy to send their best man over to England to help manage the land.

By this time Magnani and Paola were married and even though Paola was now six months pregnant with their first son Benito, they set off on the long and arduous train journey to England with very few belongings and no grasp of the English language.

When they arrived they moved into a bungalow on the fruit farm and despite the trauma of the long and difficult journey, when they awoke on their first morning in Pakenham Paola decided that this was going to be their new home and this was where she wanted to stay.

After 15 years of living on the farm, Paola, Magnani and Benito moved into the bungalow they had had built on the site of Twitchet's Shop and adjoining houses next to The Bell house in Pakenham village street and four years later their second son William was born. Paola and Magnani continued working on the farm and they both loved their work and especially enjoying being part of the village community they were both well known and loved by the people of Pakenham and enjoyed the life that they led in the village and Paola in particular was renowned for her famed "heckling" at the village Pantomime.

People always new that their door was always open. Unless it was the front door, then they would hear the shout of "Go round the back". Everyone was always welcome.

In time Paola's family grew. First proudly becoming grandparents and equally becoming great grandparents. There family was their passion and their pride and joy.

PV&CN - July 2014