About Me

Valletta, Strada Carmine, 15
Valetta, Strada Zacharia, 11
Rabato, Strada Sant' Agostino 77
Malta, 25/3/60

We the undersigned Virgil and Frances wife of said Virgil Vella, daughter of Joseph Zarb and mother of Thomas Anthony John Charles Vella-Zarb born at Casal Zabbar, Malta, on the 1^st 1931 and now residing at 12 Crocker Ave, St Thomas, Ontario, Canada, do hereby declare that our said son is legally entitled to adopt the surname Vella-Zarb; the addition of "Zarb" being from the maiden surname of his mother, and added thereto for the simple reason that the surname "Vella" is very common in Malta and the addition of "Zarb" is resorted to for simpler identification.

Virgil Vella Frances Vella
Notary Dr V M Pellegrini,
witness to signatures and identity.

I remember the day that the Principal of the Lyceum [The Government of Malta's High School for Boys], then a Mr. J.P. Vassallo, stormed into one of our classes and asking the "Vella's" to stand up. More than half the class stood up. He begged us to do something about our names. Some were adamant about it, and did not want to change it, others added a middle initial, and some of us added our mother's maiden name.

The name "Vella-Zarb" then stuck. It was a good move in another way - you see, my grandfather, Tommaso Vella, was a freelance writer, and he used to be a "whip" for politicians. One day he would whip Mr. A, the next day, Mr. B, and so on. At shool several of my fellow students and teachers would tease me about "my" articles in the paper, and I would have to explain that they were not mine [I wish I had his talents though].....

On November 18, 1956, I married Joan Attard, who was called to God's kingdom on March 30, 1996. We had a good life for close to forty years, for which I thank God. We have five children, and seven grandchildren.
David is married to Joanne VanAsseldonk, and they have a daughter, Annette, and a son, Anthony.
Annette has a daughter, Ashley Marie, born on May 13, 2003
Pierre is married to Cynthia Flattau, and they have two daughters, Rachel born August 11, 1984 and Oriana born May 18, 1987.
Alex is married to Laura. They have a daughter, Ciara born April 19, 2000, who naturally is the cutest baby in the universe!
Michael and Judith have a son, Damieon born November 20, 1987.
Karen has a daughter, Sydney born June 29, 2005.

All grades were bunched together with two lady teachers teaching us. I was in grade three then and the inspectress came to visit telling the teacher that she did not want to see me and another student there next year. I sat for the entrance exam for high school entrance. I passed and was one of the qualifying eighty students from all over the island, ending up at the Lyceum High School for Boys in Malta at the age of nine and a half.

When I finished high school, St. Michael's College for Teachers had just started and I enrolled. With a Senior Matriculation diploma in my hand, the thought occurred to the Principal of the college, that perhaps I ought to be thinking about other avenues. I resigned from the College - the first "alumnus" or "old boy" but since I had only been enrolled merely for a couple of weeks, I could not join the "old boys' club" when it was later organized.

For a while, I twiddled my thumb for want of anything else to do. I was an accomplished swimmer and took Royal Life Saving Courses. For a while, I was a volunteer lifeguard with the Royal Life Saving Life Guard Corps, at Qui-Si-Sana, Sliema, Malta. I then took a job as a "substitute teacher" at the Tarxien Elementary School, and had some interesting experiences - e.g. meeting my old grade 1 teacher, a Mr. Meylaq, teaching at the same school! Since I was still young, and considered a "minor", the Education Department of the Government of Malta paid me half salary, i.e. ten shillings daily!

I then made up my mind to continue my education, so I took Pharmacy Courses at the Royal University of Malta.

Soon after Joan and I were married, we emigrated to Ontario, Canada

We lived in St Thomas, Toronto, Windsor, Pain Court, Bothwell, and Wallaceburg. We now have made Chatham, our home, and we love it.

I made a Cursillo in 1980 and was Lay leader in the Kent Cursillo movement for a couple of years and on team for several years.

I was on the Wallaceburg Public Library Committe and on the Drug Awareness Council for Chatham-Kent

To find out about the city of Chatham, which as of January 1, 1998 is part of the Municipality of Chatham Kent, please click here, for an overview of our Municipality, where you can see aerial views of it.

Chatham has a daily paper, THE CHATHAM DAILY NEWS, a Community Weekly Paper, "Chatham This Week", a Free Daily Chatham Sun, a Cable Station, three Radio Stations, etc.
Where on earth is Chatham, I hear you ask. Open your Atlases or check your World Globe. The location is 42^o24"N, 82^o11"W. Did you find it?