Ref. 28604-63MOURNERS turned out in their hundreds for the funeral of Francesco Antonio Mazzotta hailed as the heart of Swindon's Italian community.
Some of the mourners had travelled from Italy for the service and Holy Rood Church, in Groundwell Road, was full to capacity as 700 friends and relatives crammed in to pay tribute to the former railway worker.
It was so busy that several of the congregation were forced to stand throughout yesterday's hour-long ceremony, which was led by Monsignor Richard Twomey.
Mr Mazzotta, who had six children and seven grandchildren, died of cancer on Decem-ber 30, aged 87,
He lived in Eastcott Hill, in Old Town.
He first came to Wiltshire in 1942 as a prisoner of war.
Following his release in 1945 he worked on a farm in Lech-lade before moving to Swin-don in 1954.
He returned to Italy to marry his childhood sweetheart, Angela, and the couple returned to Swindon to set up their family home.
His oldest son, Vince, a freelance car design consultant, said: "Everybody regarded him as a father figure.
"People would always come to him for help and advice and he helped many people set up their own businesses. He was the heart of the Italian community."
Following a series of hymns and psalms at the service Deacon Dennis Sutton addressed the congregation in Italian.
He said Mr Mazzotta would be missed by many people across the town.
"He was described in the Evening Advertiser as the heart of the community and he really was especially the Italian community," said Mr Sutton. "He helped people coming here as immigrants who did not know the language or culture."
Mr Sutton said it was not just the town's Italian community that would miss him.
"He was a lovely, friendly, helpful man, well known and respected by everyone," he said.
One of Mr Mazzotta's daughters, 42-year-old Carmela, had written a poem about her father, which was printed in the service programme.
It read: "Daddy we love you, daddy we care, your friends are all with us, your family will always be there."
After the ceremony the coffin was carried out of the church and onto a horse-drawn carriage, decorated with blue and pink wreaths spelling out the words "nonno" and "papa" the Italian for grandfather and father.
The coffin was taken to Whitworth Road cemetery and buried in a family plot.
Andy Tate
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