‘Coming from Chicago’ - Raised in Italian neighborhood in Chicago, Mike Bertucci established home in rural Cole County

A native of an Italian neighborhood in Chicago, Mike Bertucci moved to the Russellville area to live with his grandparents when he was a youth. He graduated from Russellville High School in 1957 and the same year married Juanita Anderson. He later earned his private pilot’s license and for 30 years worked for the Missouri Department of Transportation. In recent years, Bertucci has restored Model A Ford cars, including the one pictured. Courtesy of Jeremy P. Ämick

As a child growing up in an Italian neighborhood near the Chinese district of Chicago, Mike Bertucci occasionally encountered individuals associated with organized crime, some of whom were relatives. After entering grade school, his parents believed he had grown old enough to be placed on the train in Chicago and travel to the Russellville area to spend summers with his grandparents, Homer and Emma Stamper.
 
This experience in country living imbued Bertucci with a love of the community, later resulting in his decision to remain in Cole County, marry and raise a family. A Renaissance man of sorts, he has proceeded to achieve the distinction of earning his private pilot’s license, learning to restore tractors and vintage cars and refining the craft of making whiskey.
 
“There was one time back in Chicago, when I was still just a snot-nosed kid, I was riding a bicycle and came out of an alley and ran into a tractor trailer,” he recalled. “Part of the handlebar went through my leg, and I was laying there just bleeding out.”
 
He added, “But ‘Skids’ Caruso, a local mobster, saw the accident and knew my family and came and picked me up to take me to the hospital. I ended up bleeding all over his fancy suit and inside his Cadillac and may not have made it if it weren’t for him. He was always good to me.”
 
Frank T. “Skids” Caruso was one of the most recognized crime bosses in Chicago in the 1950s and was associated with racketeering and illegal gambling activities.
 
Bertucci also recalled spending time with his Uncle Bruno, who owned a locksmith shop in Chicago. On many occasions, some of the local mobsters brought him locked safes of unknown origin, paying him to have them opened.
 
 During many of his early years, Bertucci attended school in his Chicago neighborhood. Eventually, he was offered the opportunity to move to Russellville and live with his grandparents full-time. He completed all four years of his high school at Russellville High School, graduating in the class of 1957.
 
“After graduation I married my fiancée, Juanita Anderson, who was a year behind me in high school,” he said. “I went to work carrying bricks and mixing mud for a while for a local guy and then worked briefly in construction for my brother-in-law, until I suffered an eye injury.”
 
Bertucci and his wife became parents to a son and a daughter.
 
Eventually, Bertucci made the decision to change career paths when he was hired to work in maintenance at the former Missouri Hotel in Jefferson City. He also drove a school bus for a brief time for St. Peter Catholic School, which, in hindsight, was not the most ideal of experiences for him.
 
“I think if I had to do that again, I’d make a living stealing hubcaps,” he quipped.
 
But in 1963, he was hired by the Missouri State Highway Department, beginning a career that would last the next thirty years. While working in the shop, he found the time and resources to pursue his dream of flying, earning his private pilot’s license. Because of this achievement, he was often asked to serve as a co-pilot at his full-time job at the highway department.  
 
“They’d call me out of my work in the garage to fly right seat,” he said. “I’d have to go home and change clothes so that we could fly highway commissioners or go take aerial photos of places where they were doing highway construction projects.
 
He continued, “One of the planes we had was a turboprop and I didn’t have the license to fly a sophisticated plane like that, but one of the superintendents encouraged me to co-pilot anyway.”
 
Throughout his years with the highway department, Bertucci explained, he worked with some interesting pilots, including one who was quite “religious” and went on to fly in support of missionary work in Baja, California.
 
He also began developing several hobbies and unique pursuits such as restoring old tractors and participating in black powder shooting competitions. In recent years, he has restored Model A Fords and learned to “cook whiskey.”
 
In 1993, after having spent thirty years working for the state highway department, Bertucci retired and went on to enjoy spending time with his wife on their small farm near Russellville while also pursuing his varied hobbies. His wife, Juanita, passed away in March 2023 and was laid to rest in Enloe Cemetery near his home.
 
It has been many decades since Bertucci left his Italian community in Chicago and set his roots in rural Cole County. He had fully embraced the lifestyle of country living and feels blessed by the direction his life has carried him.
 
“I had my own small plane for several years and would fly to Chicago occasionally to visit family, but they’re pretty well all gone,” he said. “When I first came here, the people thought I was a little bit of a hoodlum … this Italian kid coming from Chicago.”
 
Smiling, he added, “And I used to tell everybody that I had been a tail gunner on a beer truck back in Chicago. But in the end, I met Juanita, and the people around here were so good to me, that when I was old enough to have a choice, this is where I decided to drop anchor and stay.”  
 
Jeremy P. Ämick is author of the historical compilation “Moments on the Moreau.” 

Mike and Juanita Bertucci celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2007. Juanita passed away in early 2023 and is buried in Enloe Cemetery near Russellville. Courtesy of Mike Bertucci