By Victoria Stone-Meadows
It’s not every day a person is remembered and commemorated from two sides of the earth, but Cranbourne man Pio Qualizza was not an everyday man.
Known for his award-winning big vegetables and his warm and welcoming demeanour, Mr Qualizza was a man in a league of his own.
Born in the small Italian country town of San Leonardo, Mr Qualizza and his wife Filomena made an intrepid journey to Australia in 1959.
He fell in love with this big country and carved himself a home at a farm he dubbed “The Promised Land” on Pearcedale Road in Cranbourne South.
It was from The Promised Land that Mr Qualizza grew pumpkins and other vegetables of massive proportions that would go on to win prize after prize at agricultural shows and events.
Sadly in 2007, at the age of 78, Mr Qualizza developed late onset Parkinson’s disease to which he succumbed 10 years later on Wednesday 19 April 2017.
Daughter Margaret Qualizza remembers her father as a loveable funny man who would burst into song at the drop of a hat.
“He loved a joke and was a very funny man,” she said.
“Mum and Dad made the farm an open house; Dad even did the concreting on the drive way and wrote a great big ‘welcome’ in the wet concrete.”
“Everyone that came to visit came into the house and Mum made cheese and Dad gave people meat and wine; on the weekends the house was full of friends and family.”
Ms Qualizza said while her father worked hard all his life to carve out his own slice of paradise in Australia, it never dampened his spirit for songs, stories and jokes.
“He was an adorable father, a funny man, and he would always have a joke and absoutely loved to sing,” she said.
“He had a good voice and would always encourage us to sing. He had an unquenchable happy nature and loved to tell a funny story.”
Upon his passing, Mr Qualizza was surrounded by his whole family except his youngest son Ivan who happened to be in San Leonardo at the time.
The younger Mr Qualizza asked a favour of the small church in the remote town and the bells of the church in San Leonardo rang for 10 minutes to mark the passing of Pio Qualizza in Australia.
Pio Qualizza is survived by his wife Filomena, and children Margaret, Paula, Mario, and Ivan.
