Leo Linquata
1899-1996
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Leo Linquata
arrived in this country from Sicily when he was two
years old. He made the then treacherous journey
across the Atlantic with his mother, Rosalia, and
his siblings. Marco Linquata, Leo’s father, was in
the port of Boston waiting for the arrival of the
family.
Leo had a primary school education until he
was twelve years old. At that point he began
commercial fishing to help
support his family. After years of fishing, Leo
graduated to be captain of the family fishing boat,
the Natalie II, a WWI converted sub-chaser.
In 1930, Leo left
fishing and, with other partners, he started the Progressive
Fish Wharf Incorporated during the heart of the depression
in 1930. Even so, at this time Leo was only earning
$20.00 per week, a true representation of the
difficult economic situation in America. Eventually,
he became sole owner of the company around 1949. At
the height of production, the company was buying one
million pounds of whiting (fish) a week and was
producing 600,000 lbs of finished product; the
fish was processed, packed, frozen, and shipped all around the
country. During that time Michael Linquata, Leo’s
first son and eldest child, was running the
operations - buying the fish and supervising all
production. Progressive Incorporated soon began to
supply oil under the Progressive Oil Company’s name.
Leo owned Progressive Fish Wharf Inc. until 1970 and
Progressive Oil Company until 1990.
It was not
unusual for Leo to pursue profitable endeavors; he
was a true entrepreneur. In 1941 he began Harbor
Cove Fisheries Incorporated which, similar to
Progressive Fish Wharf, processed and shipped fish
products. This was an incredibly important business
during these war years and some of the 20 million
pounds of fish that Leo processed and shipped per year was sold to the U. S. Army.
Leo was a man of
many accomplishments. He was
especially proud in his involvement in establishing
the St. Peter’s Club – a club for fishermen which
opened in 1935. Today it is a yellow brick building
on Rogers Street near St. Peter’s Square. As a
founding member of the St. Peter’s Club, Leo played a
large part in the creation of the St. Peter's Fiesta celebration. Fiesta pays homage to St. Peter – the
patron saint of fishermen – and includes many
traditional events from Italy such as the walking of
the “Greasy Pole” and the rowing of “Seine Boat
Races.” Today, it is one of the busiest times of the
summer months and
is certainly the most anticipated event in the
Gloucester area – a true testament to the spirit and
rich tradition in the community. The Fiesta is held
in the last week of June.
Leo’s other
contributions to Cape Ann are numerous. These
include being the Director of the Sawyer Free
Library, Director of the National Fisheries Dealers,
and President of the Gloucester Fisheries
Association for several years each. Leo was a member
of the Knights of Columbus for over fifty years, and
a member of the Rotary Club for fifty-nine years. He
was Director of Gloucester Safe and Trust Bank and was President of the Cape Ann Savings Bank
for two years. He was Chairman of the Red Cross for
five years, was the President of the Cape Ann
Symphony for one year, and served a term as a
Gloucester City Councilor. Leo was additionally part
of a group which sought to bring new business into
the Gloucester community in the early 60’s– the Cape
Ann Industrial Group was responsible for the
building and zoning of Blackburn Industrial Park in
1963.
Leo passed away
in 1996 at the age of 97. His wife, Anne passed
before him in 1993. Leo has five
children - Michael Linquata, Rosalie Parco, Julia Scandalito, Anita Curcuru, and Maryanne McCollum.
All of his children have remained in Gloucester and
are very active members of the community.
