Our Family: The DiGregorios

Salvatore “Sam” DiGregorio was born in Lercara Friddi, Sicily on March 3, 1932, to Francesco and Guiseppa DiGregorio. The DiGregorio’s had eight children before moving to Liege, Belgium because of World War II. Sam married Theodora “Dora” on September 15, 1951. In June of 1954, Sam and Dora moved to St. Louis, Mo. with their two small children, Guiseppa “Josephine” and Francesco “Frank”. In the states, Sam and Dora had two more children, Antonia “Toni” and Giovanni “John”.

In June 1971, Sam seized an opportunity to start a small corner grocery store on “The Hill”. He worked long, hard hours to create a legacy for his family and his community. For 29 years, Sam distinguished himself as the proud owner of DiGregorio’s Italian Market where he earned a glowing reputation for his business and customer service. The market became well-known for delightful Italian salsiccia (sausage) and other Italian products, and Sam became deeply respected and admired by all those who patronized his store for his honesty, integrity, and excellent service.

Active in business until his death in 2000, Sam was an invaluable member of his community and was exceedingly proud of his professional affiliation with such organizations as the Bocce Club, and the Sicilian Cultural Association. In 1994, the UNICO, a charitable Italian group honored Sam as its “Man of the Year”. In 1998, the St. Louis Columbus Day parade committee proudly selected Sam as Grand Marshall in appreciation and recognition of service to the Italian American community.

It is our mission, to continue our grandfather’s tradition and character by providing the highest quality of products and customer service fifty years after the beginning.

Fast forward to today, our store is very much still in the family! We know familiar faces will always bring a sort of comfort to our customers, which is exactly why Dora still greets patrons from behind the register, today. Although our family is much too large now to introduce everyone in a short blog post, rest assured that Sam and Dora’s children and grandchildren are doing everything they can to uphold the DiGregorio legacy and following the groundwork that was laid before them!

From our famiglia to yours,

The DiGregorio’s