My Story
MY STORY
As a young child I grew up in what I thought was a normal family until as I grew older I realized that there was something quite not right with family relationships and the world. It all started when I was a young kid, my grandmother had told me the story of my Uncle Adam Richetti being a gangster. I was fascinated to say the least. However when I had told my parents what she had said at dinner one day, there was an uneasy quite, and then the reply, "We don't talk about that in this house." So except for the communications that I maintained with my grandparents, aunts and uncles the subject was closed for discussion with my parents until much later in my life.
There were many occasions when groups of family would get together, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and a rare family reunion. The 4th of July was probably the biggest celebration and best of them all. The only problem was that when everyone would get together there was always an underlying discussion out of most of the children's presence more often than not resulting in a disagreement between various family members. As I became more aware and as time went on the discussions always seem centered on those that were involved with Adam and Eva, my father, and those responsible for not doing enough to help out with their predicament almost 25 years after the Kansas City Massacre.
The story concerning my father's abandonment by his mother Eva still interests me today after all of these years. It is also one of my most notable accomplishments in my life, not for myself but for my father's piece of mind. I was probably 12 years old at the time when I was told the story and could never understand why or how my Dad's mother Eva could have not wanted him and left him on the steps of the Topeka Agency which was an orphanage in Topeka, Kansas. As a child it was difficult to understand that your own mother did not want you. Once I arrived home that evening after hearing that story, I questioned my father while sitting at the kitchen table. My younger sisters and mother had retired for the evening so my father tried to tell me the story as he knew it.
Smoking a Camel unfiltered cigarette and drinking a beer he began. When he was finished I did not know anymore than what the original story had been, and neither did he. He just didn't know and that is all he had been told his whole life. He lived his life until the age of 70 never knowing why his real mother Eva abandoned him even though Eva lived with us from time to time she never explained to him why.
There was only "Their" version and they stuck to it all of those years. I was left with a question that I knew bothered my father his whole life until I was able to discover his records at the orphanage almost 28 years later.
Continuing to grow up in this family was still quite unique. I lived with my Grandparents every summer until the end of August. My Grandfather Henry loved to tell me the stories while sitting on the back porch on the wood bench swing. My Grandmother Minnie and her brothers were always loving and willing to share, and my how they all could cook. I enjoyed their company and the stories they told of the old country. They told of their rough life in Oklahoma and how tough it was. Some of them told of coming to this country from Italy and Europe.
The stories of how the government approached neighbors, friends, coworkers, and even the mailman to spy on family members probably were the worst. Those actions continued to instill fear upon many family members until they died. The resentment that it created with many members in the community. How they feared to go to town because of the whispers and looks they received. How other family members were taunted, and sometimes how fist fights broke out because of the name calling. How they feared and didn't trust the mailman even 40 years after all of this took place. Some of the taunting and malicious remarks still continue to this day in that small town of Dillonvale by those who remember or know.
Looking back my Parents were I would have to say guarded with me and my sisters. Until many years later it never dawned on me and it wasn't until many years later that I questioned my parents about all of this. Their reply was: "We wanted you to grown up with your own destiny not that of your Grandmother, Aunts and Uncles." "We did not want your friends and our neighbors to know who you were and the stigma that many of the other family members had to deal with growing up." It was then that I understood. My Dad's life was influenced by his Aunts, Uncles, and Mother. It was very difficult for him as there were undo pressures and expectations put upon him from time to time to be like his Uncle Adam. Minnie Richetti who was Eva's sister had adopted Fred and raised him very strictly so he would not become like her brothers and sisters, that was her fear and influence on his life.
The many stories intrigued me as a young teenager for years, however my parents kept close tabs on me and those stories often chastising other family members for speaking of them. Then life took a different turn for me when I graduated and entered the real world and the US Air Force. I spent 8 years traveling the world finally landing at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. My dream come true! I loved to fish and hunt and fullfilled a life long dream. Between the military, travel, 2 marriages, and 3 children I had no interest nor time and had almost forgotten all about the family history or the stories my Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles had once told me.
Several years ago one night while surfing the internet, I had for some unknown reason thought about my Uncle Adam Richetti and started to recall some of the stories that I had been told. I began to research his name and the Kansas City Massacre. I stumbled across the FBI web site and WOW! Was I shocked! I had never been told of the magnitude of his involvement nor that this was one of America's biggest crimes at the time. I began a journey to find out all I could about the Kansas City Massacre and my Uncle's involvement. Through a course of events and conversations with my father I was eventually led down many different paths and astonishing discoveries about my family.
One of which had finally laid to rest the reason my Father had been "so called abandoned" at the orphanage in Kansas and filled a hole in his life that had been there forever. It was an adventure in my life that continues to this day.
11 Oct. 99, News week Magazine on page 8 published a small article with pictures concerning the lawsuit that was being contemplated. The unnamed client in the article is myself Fred S. Sustik.
Well you ask, what about me? Well I have continued to write about this very wild and unique story, it has consumed a great deal of time and effort. I have attempted to capture as much history about my family as possible to pass down to my children, and their children's children.
I had been involved in researching a possible lawsuit for a wrongful death sentence where Adam is concerned. Through researching this I have come to the same conclusions as have many historians. My Father and I have also met with noted historian and writer Robert Unger who has been involved with a book on Adam and the Kansas City Massacre, "The Union Station Massacre, The Original Sin of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI". Mr. Unger has also been involved with several History Channel specials on the Kansas City Massacre and Adam's questionable involvement. The History Channel has also contacted me concerning the various pictures and documents that I possess.
I have had several offers from writers who have expressed interest in this whole story, but have continued to pursue this on my own at this time. I have made many contacts and associates a lot of them very interesting people.
In my spare time I am an Operations Manager at Walt Disney World at the Distribution Center, Merchandise Warehouse, where I have been for over 20 years.
My wife and I enjoy the beach and the many hidden treasures Florida has to offer. The tourists only see the amusement parks, but hidden away from all of that are the quiet oasis off the beaten path. We enjoy riding in the wind with my motorcycle, enjoying life as it presents it's self.
