Saverio "Sam" John Testa

Sam Testa was born on November 12, 1925 in Norwalk, CT, the second of eight children. His father was a hatter in a hat factory and later a milk dealer for a dairy; his parents had both been born in Italy.

Sam grew up on his family’s farm on Testa Place. He completed a year at Norwalk High School and then went to work for an electrical supplier and wartime Navy contractor in South Norwalk—Edwards & Co. He registered for the draft on November 15, 1943, just a few days after his 18th birthday, and enlisted at Fort Devens, MA on March 1, 1944.

Sam served in Italy with the 3133 Signal Service Company, and returned to Norwalk after his June 25, 1946 discharge. He married Anna Carmella Rose on April 19, 1947 in Stamford. Sam and Ann would become the parents of three children: Richard, John, and Patricia.

By 1950, Sam was working as a platform man with a milk distributor, but he soon took up driving a tractor trailer truck for construction firms, moving heavy equipment. He was a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and was proud of being a member of the crew that built I-95.

Sam and Ann's daughter, Patricia, made the local news in 1993 when she and her husband became the parents of quadruplets—while the couple was living with the Testas!

When not working or spending time with his family, Sam liked to dance and listen to country music. He also loved splitting wood and traveling. The family lived in Norwalk and Stamford, ending up in Darien, CT where they built a house. Later in their lives, Sam and Ann wintered in Jupiter, FL. Ann died on March 16, 2009.

Sam was a long-standing member of the Piedmont Club in Darien and the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Norwalk. According to his obituary, “he was known as ‘Cowboy Sam,’ riding through town in his red pickup truck with his cowboy hat on.”

Rick Beyer conducted a filmed interview with him in Darien, CT on November 25, 1925—the first opportunity he had had to interview a member of the 3133^rd. He was also able to present Sam with his Congressional Gold Medal on that visit.

Sam died on April 3, 2026 and is buried with Ann at Fairfield Memorial Park in Stamford, CT.

Sources:

1930 census

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/9007971?tid=&pid=&queryId=d07e4386-e1ff-47b3-8c34-7581c4a52a38&_phsrc=yZU5&_phstart=successSource

1940 census

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442/records/129467816?tid=&pid=&queryId=17fbc8cc-b703-4b39-98de-2eaa8c3a5f56&_phsrc=yZU12&_phstart=successSource

1943 draft card

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238/records/12191586?tid=&pid=&queryId=fa206121-f16a-47da-b493-e79acf9b60ff&_phsrc=yZU1&_phstart=successSource

1944 enlistment record

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8939/records/1759897?tid=&pid=&queryId=5488a75e-a663-486a-88c2-48927c971ab3&_phsrc=yZU7&_phstart=successSource

1947 marriage record

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/70865/records/1623904?tid=&pid=&queryId=05695b16-5b8d-440b-b4ae-e71cb2d10955&_phsrc=yZU31&_phstart=successSource

1947 marriage announcement in the Stamford Advocate (CT)

https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A1448A28D6430363D%40GB3NEWS-14F5A22D2A455846%402432308-14F3AFC231338AAC%4016-14F3AFC231338AAC%40?h=2&fname=samuel&lname=testa&fullname=&kwinc=&kwexc=&rgfromDate=1940&rgtoDate=1949&formDate=&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=range&processingtime=&addedFrom=&addedTo=&sid=ttrjepmrnozhbyurhovwnooljshvmeux_ip-10-166-46-113_1762117881288

1949 US city directory, Stamford CT

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469/records/16754369?tid=&pid=&queryId=3ec64d08-fc3f-44ea-a87c-e3cfecff33f8&_phsrc=yZU21&_phstart=successSource

1950 census

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62308/records/38838661?tid=&pid=&queryId=22325289-f5a3-4632-a6ec-526cbcac5f8d&_phsrc=yZU18&_phstart=successSource

1950-1993 US Public Records Index

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1788/records/410391953?tid=&pid=&queryId=b888f17c-4c4b-49b2-90f6-e4ab2e937ad4&_phsrc=yZU9&_phstart=successSource

1961 US city directory, Stamford CT

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469/records/17083704?tid=&pid=&queryId=c683a0b6-4e49-45cd-809e-f135c3bbb2b3&_phsrc=yZU27&_phstart=successSource

1967 US city directory, Stamford CT

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469/records/17425586?tid=&pid=&queryId=6ed24888-69aa-4699-b15a-d565732cb3b3&_phsrc=yZU29&_phstart=successSource

1970 Connecticut Voter Registration Records

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62739/records/1712785?tid=&pid=&queryId=dff24ed3-bcec-42c9-9dac-fe28855b0d4d&_phsrc=yZU16&_phstart=successSource

1993 article in the Stamford Advocate (CT) about the birth of his quadruplet grandchildren

https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A1448A28D6430363D%40GB3NEWS-146A343BC5EB5593%402449004-146A2D7086472C6F%400?fname=samuel&lname=testa&fullname=&kwinc=&kwexc=&rgfromDate=1950&rgtoDate=2025&formDate=&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=range&processingtime=&addedFrom=&addedTo=&sid=kcadkrwhgmpgllkuphrrvsqpdernpprp_ip-10-166-46-123_1762118913324

2009 Find a Grave record for wife

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/194866201/ann-c-testa

2025 (November 25) GALP Veteran Biography Worksheet from self

2026 obituary in the Stamford Advocate (CT)

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1326477349/?match=1&terms=GHOST%20ARMY